The Office

I am slowly but surely chipping away at making this house exactly how I want it. Levi Yoder installed my office cabinets a couple weeks ago, I had countertop installed last week, and Page and I finally got my upstairs floors sanded and coated with varnish this weekend. It's been a busy couple of weeks and I'm glad to see all my "big" projects finally come to an end. There are still dozens of smaller projects to accomplish but with these big things done, it's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
The floor sanding went about 100 times better this time around. I rented an oscillating sander instead of a drum sander. The oscillating sander was much easier to maneuver than that heavy drum sander. With the drum sander, all you could do was go back and forth and it left little gouges in the floor when I got to a wall to move it over. And I couldn't get close to the walls. The oscillating sander could move in every direction when it was on and I could sand right up next to the wall. I wish I would have known this one when I was doing all the other floors. Oh well, it's all been a learning experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. When we got to the point of putting the varnish on the floor, we knew that we had to figure out something different than hand brushing it on. I went to the True Value in Centerville and luckily the people there were very knowledgeable and helped me out. They recommended that I use a paint pad when applying the varnish. After discovering that the paint pad was the way to go, I could honestly go back over to True Value and give them all big hugs!! The paint pads were 100% better and the job got done much faster.
My cabinets speak for themselves. Since I LOVE my kitchen cabinets so much, I just had Levi use the same wood and the same finish for these. It's a knotty ash with a natural finish. Levi and his guys at Countryside Cabinets do such great work! I can't say enough good things about working with him and about the cabinets themselves. Pictures don't do them justice.

So there is a picture of my finished floor and cabinets. The floor is absolutely beautiful! I wish they all turned out this amazing.
Next project...building a dining room table. Stay tuned...

Beautification of Allison Brown"ville"

My office cabinets are finally in the works! I met with Levi Yoder a couple weeks ago and he got things measured and the cabinets designed. I am VERY excited to see the final product. They are going to be just like my kitchen cabinets. Installation is scheduled for the 1st week in September.

This past week, I also had my uncle push out the road fence along the front side of my 80. He dug the trees out with his excavator and then pushed the brush down in one of the ditches. It looks about 10 BAZILLION times better. I plan on putting the fence back when the CRP contract expires when I am getting ready to turn it into pasture. I decided to take it out because it was an eye sore and it the fence itself was shot. Here are a couple before and after pictures.

There is also a new face in this "new" old house. In April, I took Kody down to breed one of my neighbor's female border collies and the deal was that I would get choice male. Well Ory, the female, had the puppies a couple months ago and I welcomed a new pup home earlier this week. I named him Luke, he is a purebred Border Collie, and he is about the sweetest little thing you will ever meet. Kody is doing very well with him being around. I thought that maybe he might be jealous but I think he is glad to have a new buddy to play with.

This COOL Old House

Well I had to break down and get central air installed this past week. We have only had about 5 REAL hot days and I couldn't take it. I had Fry's in Millerton do the work. They also installed my furnace. I got to thinking, either my ancestors were real tough or I am a real wimp. They lived there for 80 or so years without air and I don't even live there a year and I have to get air. I will say that it has felt WONDERFUL in just the past few days that I have had it.



I also went ahead and planted some bushes at the end of the week in my beds that are along the south side of my house and also some willow bushes on the west side. I did my shopping at Ogle's Greenhouse in Albia. They had a very good selection and were very helpful. It's nothing fancy but it will look nice next spring when they are flowering.




My Mom and I also went to the grand opening of The Rustic Star in Chariton this weekend. It is a VERY cool home decor store. I ended up bringing a couple things home with me and I plan on going back. If you are ever in Chariton, you need to check it out. It is west of the square, right before you get to the new Dollar General store. The website to The Rustic Star is www.rustic-star.com

Some of the upcoming projects of the next couple weeks are getting my upstairs floors finished and HOPEFULLY measuring for my office cabinets. The projects never stop :).

Allison's Acres

Wow!! I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted! A LOT has happened since my last post from last year! We were lucky and had a very mild winter. Although, I did happen to learned that heating my old house isn't very good on my checkbook. I knew it wouldn't be the best but I also didn't think it would be that bad. I have alot of things to do before next winter. I am just thankful that the winter was pretty good to us. I am looking into adding an outdoor woodstove in the future. I've talked to a couple of people that do have them and they say nothing but good things about them. So I might have to seriously consider that in the near future. We also got the crop planted in a very timely matter. For the most part everything looks great, but we are in need of some rain pretty badly.
The house was also featured in the Corydon Times Republican's Spring Home edition of their paper. Shelda Lundsford came out and toured the house and interviewed me and wrote a very impressive piece about the transformation and the history. She also mentioned of doing some more stories of the history of the house and the farm, which I think would be very neat and I'm sure I would learn even more things about my ancestors.
I also just purchased something else that goes quite nicely with my house. I managed to buy 80 acres of ground right across the road from the house.

This is in CRP until 2017 so I can't really do anything with it until my CRP contract is up. After the contract expires, I plan on turing it to pasture. Every time that I look at it, I imagine seeing cattle grazing the hills. This is something that I am very excited about and I'm glad I was able to proceed with it and get it done.
As for the house. Page and I...well mainly just Page, has been working on getting the rest of the paint stripped off the floor upstairs so we can go ahead and get that sanded and finished. It's slow going but it is coming along. I also have plans on getting Levi Yoder back and building cabinets for my office that will be in my loft. Hopefully we can get together next week and he can get it measured and get plans rolling. I am very excited about getting this done!
Thanks again for sticking with me and staying interested in this life long project. Until next time...

Lessons Learned

Sorry for being MIA lately. We've been busy around "Brownville" getting things ready for harvest. We are thinking that later this week we should be going pretty heavy.
I also want to THANK everybody that made it out to my open house a couple weeks ago! I really enjoyed showing off all my hard work and seeing people's reactions. If you didn't make it out and want to see it, just give me a holler and I would love to show you.
One more thing that I did get accomplished since I last talked to you was getting my barstools made for my bar. They are pretty neat and go great with the house. I also had a couple short ones made to set on my porch.

So now I want to share a few lessons that I learned over the past 20 months while the planning and renovating was going on...
DON'T SET DEADLINES: When I first got possession of the house on Febuary 18, 2010, I thought it would be done in 9 months. Boy, was I wrong!! I had to remember that I was on the contractor's schedule, not mine. It may take longer than what you would like, but it will get done!
DON'T THINK TWICE: If anybody out there is thinking about remodeling or building a new house, don't think twice about doing it. If you think twice then you will most likely think three times and then you will talk yourself out of it. If you want to do it, DO IT. Yes, it would be easier to go buy a house but in my case, there is not another house in the world that has the same history as 1309 220th.
Select a contractor you feel comfortable talking to/has the same taste: This was a biggie for me. I had alot of different ideas on my house and it was nice to be able talk to Travis and Darryl about them and not have them give me weird looks. In fact, they also gave me a few ideas. A few of the things I did was their first time doing it. So it was a learning experience for both of us. Also, you have to make sure you like them because they are the ones you are paying and it's always better to pay somebody you get along with then somebody you don't.
Speak your mind and don't settle: If something isn't how you want it, then speak up!! It's alot easier to fix things in the process then when it's done. Probably cheaper too. Also, don't settle on ANYTHING. There are a couple of things in my house that I said would be "good enough". Well now I'm wishing that I would have done it better or chose soemthing else.
Ask questions: Don't be afraid to ask questions. No question is stupid. If you are paying for it, you might as well know where it goes and what it does.
Help out to save money and don't be afraid to get dirty: They say that half of the cost of building or remodeling is the labor...IT'S TRUE! So help out as much as you can to save some money! The money you save now could help buy a couch, table, bedroom set, kitchen accessories, etc. in the future. Also...GET DIRTY!! I knocked off all of the plaster by myself and pretty much got the house ready for drywall. It was nasty. Alot of people told me I couldn't do it by myself in a week but guess what...I got it done...by myself...in 6 days! I also sanded and refinished my wood floors with major help from Page, my neighbor. If I would have hired, it probably would have cost $4,000-$5,000 and that's money that I KNOW I can use elsewhere. Yes, I had never done it before but alittle bit of research online can go along ways. Plus, what's one more skill?? I now can proudly say that I know how to sand and re-finish wood floors.
Who cares if you look silly picking something out: I took an old barnboard in to match my paint and an old piece of tin in to match my floor. You don't think I looked goofy doing that??
Think outside the box:Canning jar lights, barn board headers, and a rusty tin kitchen ceiling...need I say more?? It's your's. Do what YOU want.
One more word of advice that a good friend shared with me, "You've got to work for something." :)

This "New" Old Open House

I'm starting to get all settled in and the house is pretty well finished. There are a few little projects I need to do but that can wait until winter. I just want to thank everybody that has followed this blog for the past few months and giving me the support you have. It's always so nice to hear somebody tell you how good your house looks. I just want to invite everybody to the Open House that I will be having. It will be on September 10th, starting at 2 pm. I plan on having snacks and beverages in the afternoon. If you want to wait around and come out later, that would be fine too. There will be grilling later in the evening, a small bonfire, and you are more than welcome to bring your own drinks. So I hope all of you can make it. If you can't and you would like to see the house, just get ahold of me and I would love to show you around. If you need directions, don't be afraid to holler. I will admit that I'm out in the middle of nowhere but I am centrally located and easy to get to. I hope to see everybody in a couple of weeks! Have a good week and enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Moving time!!

Slowly but surely I am getting moved in. It seems like I'm making 10 trips to Mom and Dad's and back each day. It's been fun though. I'm sure my parents love it because I'm uncluttering their basement. It's almost like I'm moving away to school again.

I also decided to paint my porch railing and floor last week. My railing was looking alittle rough so this coat of paint will help preserve it. I think it turned out very nice.

I also got a couple of my most prized possesions moved to the porch as well. My parents got me some windchimes for my birthday last year. They are the most beautiful sounding things ever!! I also have the glider that my Great Grandpa Sullivan made. This glider means alot to my family because we all have memories of sitting on it with Grandpa on his porch and watching trains go by. I bought it at his estate auction and there isn't any price I wouldn't pay for it. I have a feeling this thing will get plenty more sittings from now on.

And one last thing...I stained my inside railing. Check 'er out...

Until next time...