The Last-Minute Window

November 18, 2015November 28, 2017 / Lauren Harper Newton / 4 Comments

Our powder room may be small, but it’s got personality! There are so many things we love about this teeny little room, but one of its finest features almost didn’t happen! You may remember from the floorplan redesign that the Nest’s powder room is not an original feature of the house. We decided early on that it would be smart to add a bathroom to the side of the house where all the living spaces are located (duh!). So, we added two little walls (and two pretty doors!) in what we call the office and – voila! – a powder room was born.

Because we re-plumbed the entire house, adding another sink and toilet was relatively easy. The challenge was making this little [water] closet not feel like an afterthought… so we decided to use the other half of the diamond-paned window that was originally in our master bathroom. Great idea, right?? Except: 1.) we only had one of the two window panels restored professionally (to keep in the master bathroom) and 2.) all the window openings had long been decided and windows installed months ago. Ugh! But Lauren we HAD to have this window! So, who did we call? My dad.

Good ol’ Richard Harper already has a recurring role in this story, so why not write one more chapter? Not only did he come to the rescue to restore the other half of the window for us, but he installed it, too! Here’s the proof:

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_8386

The master at work! Removing old glazing and stripping the wood.

The Newton Nest_Powder Room window reglazing

Adding new glaze to the window panes. Is there anything this guy can’t do? 🙂

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_7764

Making the first cut; no turning back!

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_7770

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_7802

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_7805

We see the light!!!

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_7809

Perfect cut!

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install

Installed and trimmed.

I kid you not, adding this little window completely transformed our tiny powder room. Not only are we glad to have the natural light and a view of the Camelia tree in the side yard, but we saved and repurposed the other half of a very special original feature of our Nest. Win-win!

The Newton Nest_Powder Room Window Install_IMG_0311

I mean, can you even imagine this room without a window?

Subway Style

November 4, 2015January 23, 2017 / Lauren Harper Newton / 2 Comments

Q: What’s shiny and white and mudded all over?
A: Our bathroom tile!

Honk, Honk! The Nest’s bathrooms just got a little touch of subway flair…tile, that is. We chose a simple white, glossy subway tile for the showers because it suits our style and the era of our home. We punched it up a little by using pewter colored grout and adding a simple accent of “pencil tiles” around the perimeter of the shower walls about ¾ of the way up. We also opted to add little niches in each shower to hold shampoo bottles, etc.

The new stuff is fun and, as it turns out, MUCH easier than repairing and restoring the old… but we knew that already, didn’t we? (Cue my parents saying, “Nothing worth having comes easy.”)

The Saga of the Snaggletooth Tiles

Besides being absolutely filthy, the tile in our nest’s bathrooms was in relatively good shape and because we decided to keep the old cast iron bath tubs, too (taking those monsters out would have destroyed the tile around them), we decided that it was a no-brainer to save the original tile. However, there were a few “snaggletooth” holes to fill where we had relocated doorways and some patching needed around the edges of the rooms where we lost a few tiles during the plaster demo.

The only problem: it was impossible to find replacement tiles that would even come close to matching our original ones [insert “they don’t make things like the used to” comment here]. Our tile professional was ~~too chicken to attempt~~ concerned by the only option left: to “harvest” tiles from parts of the floor that would be covered by a vanity, so Matthew and I were forced to try our hand at chiseling out these precious tiles on our own. Thankfully, it was a DIY success not a disaster…although, it definitely tested our marriage a few times. Whew! Glad that’s over.

Hard at work harvesting tiles.

Mid-jigsaw puzzle.

Grinding away at the space for a new marble threshold in the hall bathroom.

Threshold installed! Not bad for a couple of newbies, right?? (Not as easy as it looks, though…we broke the first one trying to level it.)

Finally starting to clean up the old tiles!

Many hours of elbow grease later…good as new!

Shower niche installed!

This orange KERDI backing is a moisture-proof “wallpaper”that goes right over the sheetrock before tile installation.

Tile selection! Classic white subway tiles and pewter grout (we went with the medium gray at bottom).

Boxes and boxes of tile… here we go!

Eeeeeeek! Major progress!

Master shower’s tile is up!

Hall bath, too!

Tub Transformation

Once the new tile was installed, that pristine white subway tile only accentuated the sad state of our bathtubs. We knew that refinishing them ourselves was not in our wheelhouse, so we called in the professionals. After some research, Matthew found a company called GlazePro in North Carolina that would travel down and – in just two days – completely transform our beat-up bathtubs by scouring, sanding, stripping, patching, and re-glazing. I don’t know much more about the process, but the results are nothing short of miraculous! Take a look-see for yourself:

The miracle worker in action – scraping, sanding, and patching all the imperfections.

Patching complete.

Reglazing in progress… That orange contraption is a portable exhaust system to vent the paint fumes outside. Impressive!

Can you believe how good this looks??? We were shocked by the transformation. It’s perfect. I think I heard angels singing when I laid eyes on our BRAND NEW old tubs!!

No sign of our butler yet…

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015 / Lauren Harper Newton / 2 Comments

… but we sure do like his pantry!

If Jeeves were here, I’d ask him if he liked the burnt sienna backsplash in his Butler’s Pantry… something tells me that his answer would be an enthusiastic “no ma’am.”

The “before” picture — check out those lovely tiles 😉

Burnt Sienna! A perfect match.

Once upon a time, this delightful Crayola color may have been a popular choice, but not anymore! So, we had to bid farewell to all those little orange tiles and give the butler’s pantry a well-deserved makeover.

First things first, I easily chipped away the tiles with a hammer and chisel because the adhesive had lost a lot of its strength over time. Unfortunately, the adhesive kept a very strong bond with the plaster wall between the upper cabinets and the counter top. I tried to chip away at it with every tool I could find, but finally had to resort to our orbital sander and heavy grit sandpaper. It was a dusty, tedious, goggle-fogging job, but I finally got it down to the smooth plaster underneath with only a little damage that required simple patching.

No more tiles!

Close-up of the stubborn glue left behind.

I had to stop every few minutes to wipe out my goggles. Yuck!

Next, we discussed what to use for the new counter top that would complement and preserve the charm of the original cabinets. We landed on the idea of “up-cycling” some of the original ceiling joists we cut out to vault the ceilings in the family room and master bedroom. We took this idea to my dad, the forester and master craftsman, to request his expertise and ask for his help to bring the new counter top to life.

Naturally, he had an ever better idea! Our joists were certainly thick and sturdy enough to do the job, but they were made of pine. As mentioned in the floor refinishing post, pine does not stain well and our “vision” was of a darker, richer wood counter top, not raw pine. It just so happened that my father (the forester, master craftsman, AND wood hoarder 🙂 ) had a stash of beautiful walnut left over from when my parents built their kitchen island. Glory! It was just the thing. We are so fortunate that the Harpers were willing to part with such special materials and my dad created a handmade walnut counter top for our butler’s pantry by joining two large pieces together and lovingly applying coat after coat of tongue oil and polyurethane.

Special Delivery!

Cutting it down to size.

Daddy’s favorite cutting stance. I believe we have seen this move before 😉

Ready to install this beauty!

Wrangling it into place.

Fastening it from underneath, so we don’t mar the wood.

My guys admiring their work…

My dad also made a matching cove molding to give it the perfect finishing touch!

It came out better than I ever expected. In fact, it may just be my favorite part of our nest…

Ta-daaaaahhh! The finished product. Absolutely fantastic.

…and a very special message hidden on the underside. 😉

A Home for our Dishes…

September 18, 2015 / Lauren Harper Newton / 2 Comments

That’s right! Our dishes now have a cozy little place to call home, because…our cabinets are in! In addition to outfitting our kitchen with a special set of custom cabinets, we also designed built-in storage for the laundry room and our master bathroom. So, our laundry detergent, dirty clothes, and toiletries also have places to call home in our little nest 😉 Our cabinet maker took in lots of questions, sketches, and patiently listened to us jabber on about “our vision” for getting the most out of our space, then he brought our sketches and plans to life with the most beautiful cabinets we’ve ever seen!

We decided on a traditional shaker-style cabinet (with a little added “bead” detail in the door panels) painted Sherwin Williams‘ Pure White to match our trim. For a traditional house like ours, keeping things simple just felt right. And once it all came together, our new cabinets seemed to blend right in with those in the butler’s pantry that are original to the house.

While we have done what we can to maximize the floor plan of our nest, we are still working with – by today’s standards – small spaces, so we put a lot of thought into our designs to use every square inch of space! Here’s what we came up with:

Kitchen Cabinets

This sketch was our first pass at a layout for our kitchen cabinets… and it’s pretty close to the final design!

Cabinets going in… no island yet.

Hello, Kitchen!!

Putting on the trim.

Prepping for paint… again. (Working late into the night; Matthew’s halo is shining bright! 😉 )

Trim painted and hardware on. It’s starting to look pretty good around here 🙂

Door Details

Drawer Details

Special thanks to my Aunt Julie who researched the cabinet hardware for us and found great quality knobs and pulls for a really good price!

Sneak peek at the Butler's Pantry cabinets (I'll do a full post on this soon!) With a fresh coat of paint and new hardware, they blend right in with the new cabinets!

Sneak peek at the Butler’s Pantry cabinets (I’ll do a full post on this transformation soon!) With a fresh coat of paint and new hardware, they blend right in with the new cabinets!

One of my favorite things we did in the kitchen was turning the old ironing board cabinet into a place to keep all our spices. The cabinet maker removed the old built-in ironing board (and relocated it into our laundry room cabinets) and added small shelves just the right size for spice jars. I had our cabinet maker restore the little "trap door" used to store the iron and keep that as part of the cabinet -- so cute!

One of my favorite things we did in the kitchen was repurposing the old ironing board cabinet into the perfect place to keep all our spices. The cabinet maker removed the old fold-down ironing board (and relocated it into our laundry room cabinets), then added small shelves just the right size for spice jars. I had our cabinet maker restore the little “trap door” at the bottom that was used to store the iron. It felt right to keep this little piece of history as part of the cabinet — so cute!

Laundry Room Cabinets

Our sketches:

The finished product:

Cabinets over the Washer/Dryer.

Floor-to-ceiling cabinets for all kinds of laundry things…

Like… storage and ironing…

…pull-out folding surfaces…

…and laundry hampers!

Master Bathroom Vanity Cabinet

Installed!

Hardware on!

It wouldn’t be The Newton Nest without a couple of older pieces mixed in with the new…

While we’re talking about cabinets, I’d be remiss not to point out two pretty special ones that aren’t custom, but fit pretty seamlessly into our space – if we do say so ourselves! 😉 Both of these found pieces made themselves at home in our hall bathroom, giving it a lot of character and extra storage space!

1. The Hall Bathroom Vanity

The hall bathroom vanity was just a pedestal sink before we began our renovation. We worked hard to create a more functional space there by moving the doorway and creating an “end cap” wall at the foot of the tub to close in the shower and form a definitive vanity space. This little nook is the perfect spot for a petite vanity, so Matthew and I searched for months for a piece of furniture we could repurpose in this space. After trips all over Greenville and nearby Asheville, and lots of Craigslist surfing, we found ourselves at a little salvage place in Powdersville, SC and stumbled upon a small server that was just the thing! Cute, isn’t she?

2. The Hall Bathroom Built-in Cabinet

The hall bathroom “built in” was a completely different story. We weren’t looking for something like this at all. In fact, my mom stumbled upon this cute little antique cabinet and had the idea for us to build it into the wall (like a giant medicine cabinet) above the toilet in the hall bath. It took her about a month to convince me to buy this from a little antique store in Seneca, SC, but I’m SO glad she did! It has become an adorable focal point as you enter the hall bath and an essential storage space for toiletry items and guest towels.

Here’s the cabinet! This is the picture my mom sent me from the antique store. It’s the only one I have showing the cabinet with the legs still attached.

Making this little gem a reality was no easy task though (what else is new??). Since my mom came across the cabinet back when we were still doing the framing, my dad was able to frame a hole in which the cabinet could be set. Acting like an oversized medicine cabinet, this idea would allow us to use the full depth of the cabinet without having it stick out into the room more than a few inches. Genius! Well, until we realized there was an old iron sewer vent pipe right where the cabinet would go… Luckily, our plumber had planned to shatter all the old sewer pipes and replace them with new ones as part of our plumbing scope. We just made sure to have him route the new pipe in a different location clearing the way for our special cabinet.

See the giant black pipe right where we want to put the cabinet?

Not any more! 😉

Next, the cabinet itself had to be modified. My dad helped us by cutting off the cabinet’s legs. A delicate job that almost came off without a hitch… until one of the glass panes broke. 😦 This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we replaced the lower panes with bead board which now allows us to use the lower storage space for toiletries that are better kept out of sight. We also had to trim the trim. Yes, we had to cut down the trim at the top of the cabinet, but just the part that would interfere with recessing it into the wall. Make sense?

Holding it up to make sure we like it. “A little higher, Dad!” 😉 😉

The perfect vantage point for trimming the trim!

Look at that concentration!

Lastly, my mom swooped in to put on a few coats of paint before installation. And, voila!

Mom carefully painting both hall bathroom cabinets — what a life saver!

Finally… time to install!

Ta-daaaah!

Removing a Relic

May 10, 2015 / Lauren Harper Newton / Leave a comment

We think our Nest has lots of special features, but one of these is a certain type of wood paneling that has my dad – the master forester – seeing hearts. It’s called Wormy Chestnut… or as Richard Harper calls it, “a true relic.” Apparently, this woodland artifact is basically extinct and wormy chestnut lumber is an extremely rare find these days…and Matthew and I [GASP] wanted to paint it. So, in swooped the mighty mustachioed forester to rescue the Chestnut lumber in all its wormy glory from those who seek to whitewash its beauty beyond recognition!

The room we call our office was paneled floor-to-ceiling with the “good stuff,” so in lieu of covering up something so special with paint, we decided we would rather share the Wormy Chestnut with someone who really appreciates it! It took a few tries to discover a method of removing the tongue and groove boards with little damage (because they are so old, they’ve become fairly brittle), but the forester finally landed on a crude-but-effective system of prying each board away from the wall about an inch and then using a saws-all to cut through the nails holding it to the wall. Then his trusty nail puller (me) dutifully pried out the remaining nails.

What will the forester do with his loot? Well, he’s not sure yet, but Matthew and I have a feeling it will be something very special and maybe a little piece of it will make it’s way back to the Nest one day 🙂

Close-up of the grain and pattern of American Wormy Chestnut.

In case you would like to know more about why Chestnut lumber, especially Wormy Chestnut, is so rare, here’s a little explanation from the Nest’s very first guest blogger:

So… what’s so special about the American chestnut?

Before the turn of the 20^th Century, American chestnut was a dominant hardwood tree in the eastern United States occurring mostly in the Appalachians from Maine to Mississippi. Some of the largest trees reached heights almost 100 feet with diameters over 9 feet occurred right here in the Southern Appalachians which occupied 25 to 40 percent of the lower cove forests. Large crops of its sweet nut were enjoyed by humans and were a major contributor to wildlife forage.

Unfortunately, an Asian chestnut tree imported to the U.S. around 1900 carried a bark fungus commonly called the chestnut blight. The American chestnut had little resistance and the blight virtually girdles the tree killing it. By the 1930s, an estimated 3 billion trees had died.

The wood is somewhat rot resistant and many trees lay on the forest floor for years before being salvaged, hence the “wormy” effect of the lumber where insects bored throughout the tree; a.k.a. wormy chestnut.

The wood was strong, light, and was widely used for construction, furniture, and decorative trim. It has a true brown patina – not too light, not too dark… just right to warm a room – chestnut! My favorite is a room paneled with variable width boards that have been left to age to its natural brown patina.

Small shoots of American chestnut are still living throughout the Appalachians, but are soon attacked by the chestnut blight before reaching a few feet tall. Hybrids are being developed to resist the blight. One live chestnut hybrid in the Clemson area is almost 18 inches in diameter and about 60 feet tall – there is still hope!

So, what really is so special – it is a relic of a once great tree important to the forest, and… well… I just like it!

Richard Harper
Professional Forester, Retired

There you have it, folks! Straight from the Forester’s mouth.

Here are a few photos of the removal process:

A “before” picture of the Wormy Chestnut walls.

Getting started!

Saws-alling with a smile! 🙂

Pulling off the last few boards.

The loot!

Here’s a little Forester Flashback of Richard in his early forestry days. He’s on the cover of Westvaco CFM News magazine, November 1983.

From Stoop to Porch

April 28, 2015 / Lauren Harper Newton / Leave a comment

Nothing says, “Welcome, friends!” like a sweet little covered porch!

Truthfully, there wasn’t really anything wrong with our original front stoop; a sturdy set of stairs and a little landing leading right up to our front door. Totally functional? Yes. Something to remember? Ehhhh, not really.

Its lack-luster presence and barely-there overhang at the front door (hardly enough to keep a guest out of the rain as they ring the doorbell) just wasn’t exactly the warm welcome we wanted. So, with a few very simple changes/additions, our so-so stoop has become a precious porch!

We worked with our builder to design a simple, architecturally appropriate overhang that would shelter the entire front stoop and add a little extra curb appeal to the front. I could describe it all to you, but wouldn’t you rather see pictures? I thought so…

A few “before” pictures:

Before! In fact, this photo is so "before" that it was one of the very first photos we snapped as we were beginning the journey to buy the house (September 2014)... it was ours roughly one year later!

Before! In fact, this photo is so “before” that it is actually one of the very first photos we snapped way back when we were a couple of baby birds just beginning the journey to buy our Nest (taken September 15, 2014)… it was officially ours roughly one year later (we closed on September 25, 2015!).

The “after” pictures:

Well hello, pretty porch!

Side view! You can see here how much farther the porch roof extends from the house. It now shelters the entire landing.

New front door!

Close-up of the tongue and groove ceiling.

And just in case you didn’t quite get the picture… here are a couple of side-by-sides:

A Climate Controlled Nest

March 19, 2015March 25, 2015 / Lauren Harper Newton / 1 Comment

If you’ve ever lived (or even vacationed) with Matthew Newton, then you know he is king of the thermostat! So, obviously, quality climate control is a high priority in the Newton Nest.

True to form, we have completely removed all the old ductwork and reconfigured the HVAC system in our little nest. The most drastic change between new and old is the relocation of the furnace and a/c unit from the basement to the attic. Why, you say? Because the original ductwork – all running from the downstairs up – was not up to code (too small, weak and no real intake registers). So, to install new, updated ducts in the original layout required us to run large intake ducts through the laundry room and two of the downstairs bedroom closets. Losing all that storage space was a total deal breaker for us. So, cue the creative thinking caps!

Side Note: Matthew hates to be hot, so he keeps the 'stat set pretty low year-round. So low that Miss Pepper sometimes has to wear her winter hat to keep warm!

Miss Pepper’s creative cap also keeps her warm when her dad cranks up the air conditioning!

Our solution was to run all the new stuff from the upstairs down, so we could route all the ductwork through the attic, putting vents in the ceilings of the downstairs instead of along the baseboards. This setup is pretty unusual for our area, but it’s very common to have heating and cooling units in the attics of homes on the coast. The only concession we had to make to accommodate this arrangement was cutting through three out of the four dormers upstairs to allow for ductwork. Yes, this was less than ideal, but we decided it was much more appealing to sacrifice space in the upstairs bonus room rather than our main living areas downstairs – plus, we will gain some super cute window seats in these little nooks to conceal the ductwork. Not a bad trade, right??