I have told my hubby that all I want for Christmas is a kitchen for three years now! Though working on the structural damage on our farmhouse is not fun, we can finally see that our kitchen project is gaining traction! I probably won’t get a completely finished kitchen this year, but check out all the progress we have made in the past few weeks…
Before
After all the rotten joists and sill plates had been replaced.
Fixing the water and termite damage caused by neglect and quick fixes drained our already tight budget, but we were glad that we caught the issues hidden beneath the vinyl before it was too late. We actually hired a few guys to do the structural repairs because we felt that it was out of our DIY comfort zone and skill level. We left it to the pros and decided that while they were at the farm we would have them enlarge a few of the openings between the kitchen, dining, and living room.
Before
During
Now
Opening up one side of the stairs is really exciting to me. I can just picture the girls coming down the stairs for breakfast. This will make the kitchen feel bigger because your eye will travel to the wall beyond the stairs. You can also see the stairs when you walk in the front door now that we have removed that little bit of wall where the entry table once stood.
This is our improved layout
Once we add a newel post and railing to match what is upstairs, climbing the stairs will feel much safer. We are also looking forward to being able to get furniture up and down the stairs more easily. Can you believe my husband, brother, and dad got our large cast iron tub up these stairs? I wish I had a picture of that!
Before
This is a shot from my design software so at least you can get an idea of our vision for the space.
Right now we are busy exposing the living room ceiling to give a bit of height and texture. An added benefit to doing this to the ceiling is that we save all the money we had budgeted to cover the crumbling plaster ceiling and can use the money somewhere else.
I will share more about that next time…
Want more Bryarton Farm in your life?
If you are enjoying following our continuing story and want to see more, please Subscribe! You can also see additional pictures of our little fixer upper farm on the prairie, by following us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube & Pinterest. Help support our “forgotten farm restoration project” by visiting our Etsy Shop!
Please join the conversation by leaving a comment below…
Already looking better but the computer image is beautiful! I admire your perseverance in such a huge undertaking! Thank you for sharing the journey!
I love following your progress. This house is amazing and I love your vision. Have you ever considered doing elliptical arches instead of full half circles? I think it would be more authentic to the architecture and period of the house. We just did one at our house and it turned out beautiful. I ordered the arch kit for just the Frame online and it was reasonably priced and super easy for my hubby and I to do. I’m sure if you google elliptical arch kit it would came up. Whatever you do, it will look great. I love you blog. Thanks for taking us all along for the journey.
I love your very observant comment Bridey! We actually already have an elliptical arch between our dining room and living room. We planned to mimic it in our new openings too, but my design software is a rather cheap version that only offers one type of arch. So don’t worry we agree with you and are using the more appropriate elliptical arch shape. I must thank you however for bringing to our attention that kits for this project exist! We were just going to wing-it! Thanks for coming along on the journey, God Bless
Thank you for your sweet comment Amy. I’m glad you have joined in our journey.
I get so excited when I see you moving forward. Sort of bizarre considering it’s not my house nor do I have anything invested in it other than the desire to see your little family all snug in your finished home. Thanks for sharing!
That is not bizarre at all Lori because as a true friend you care for our story to have a happy ending. We are so glad to call you friend and are blessed to receive your sweet encouraging words! Much Love back acha, The Floyd Family
It is looking so beautiful! You all are doing a wonderful job of restoring this home. I look forward to continuing to follow your progress.
Thanks for sharing your progress! It’s given me the inspiration to keep going with my own renovation project
We love finding friends all over the world who are passionate about restoration! Thank you for your comment and glad to have you along for the journey. Renovations feel easier to survive when you are have the support of like-minded friends!
I absolutely love following the progress you all are making on your farmhouse. It’s so beautiful and amazing how beautiful it is. Thanks for sharing.
Helllo,
I’ve been following your account for several months now. I’m looking for information on your foundation journey. We are faced with a very shallow crawlspace, and are getting conflicting advice about how to proceed. Encapsulate? So shallow. Pull up my original floors? I’m so confused. Looks like you pulled up floors. Any advice or posts I can refer to?
Colleen
Yes, we carefully pulled up our floors fixed the termite damage and then put the original floors back down. I don’t recommend getting any advice from someone who stands to gain financially from giving you advice like a contractor or sales person. Check out http://www.thecraftsmanblog.com for honest restoration advice