Our Striped Dining Room Taken Back to 1916

The Dining room was the very last room that we finished in our restoration project.  I think it is my favorite.  Though it was small, had striped wallpaper from the 70's and ceiling to floor wall to wall drapes, it had the most potential.    Here is a look at it.

In the photo above I am actually standing in the kitchen in the pocket door space.  There is evidence that the original house had a door there that SWUNG into the dining room.  We elected not to keep it as an opening, later you will see why!  To the right, there was actually a wall, you can see a desk there in the corner. We took that wall out as it was there to hide the plumbing and the sewer line. It made the room smaller and formed a narrow hallway on the other side. Where the arch is we discovered that it originally was a double pocket door.  We were unable to put both doors back in because we rerouted the heating and electrical to the left of that arch.  Also, we had to remove the orange door, which leads to the front door, to get our refrigerator in the house.  We decided not to put it back up and instead, since there is no room for a closet, we put a coat rack that I made from an old piano, on that wall.  This is just inside the front door and opposite the staircase.  

Here is the doorway to the kitchen where the 1940's pocket door was, and in which I was standing to take the first photo.  We needed to make the doorway a little wider to put the refrigerator in that space on the other side in the kitchen, and the house is concrete, so we had to jackhammer it out.  The grey stripe on the wall is probably an outline of where a piece of trim hung originally in 1916.

 

   This is the space where the wall was that made the hallway on the back side of the dining room.  It now opens up the room and allows for a nice walkway to the back door.

 My sister Nancy came to visit a couple weeks after we moved in and she started stripping the paint on the staircase with a heat gun. (The dining room is through the doorway.) This process took me 5 years to complete. It was an inch by inch process. In the cracks I had to use dental picks to get the paint out. Then a chemical stripper was used, followed by a chemical wash then the stain and top coat. All of the original trim had 4 or 5 layers of paint on it. The top layer being a minty toothpaste green, the other layers were varying shades of the green as well, except the bottom color was a creamy white. The original stain was a deep red mahogany color. I chose Bombay Mahogany as the new color.

  

 

I decided to stencil the walls to look like the original wallpaper and to hang a textured border on the ceiling,  but I was stumped on how to actually go about making the fridge fit in the opening  without sticking way out and taking up all of the kitchen space?  The only real option was to box it in and lose part of the dining room. So we did, but then we had a big box in the dining room that stuck out like a sore thumb.  I pondered for weeks, months, trying to figure out what to do.  Then my friend Leslie was there and said, "It's about the size of a hutch.  Why don't you make it look like a hutch?"  GREAT idea!!  Thanks Leslie!  I tacked the doors up to get a feel for how it might look.

  This is the finished product!  I designed it and my husband assembled most of it...all the hard parts...like usual.  Thanks Wayne!  The top 3 doors came out of a previous home we remodeled and I had been holding on to them for about 15 years.  The bottom 2 doors I had for about 5 years, and the doors on the side panel I just got about a year ago from a fellow history lover.  I wasn't going to buy them because I already had a stack of cabinet doors in the garage, for what I did not know.  Then I just couldn't pass them by and bought them.  Now I know why they were so important to have in my  possession.  Thanks Mychel...they were meant to be in this house!  I had always wanted a home with built in cabinetry, and although this is not REALLY a hutch, it sure looks like it. 

 It just goes to show that you need to go with your instincts and it's okay to hang on to things for 15 years.  Just because something is old and laying around doesn't mean it can't be something beautiful once again.  As long as you have intent to reuse...pick away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pickin is good!

Kelly

The New and Improved Back Entrance!

The back entrance to our home was actually enclosed when it was added on in the late 40's and it had a LOT of glass block.  Therefore there was no window above the kitchen sink and the back hallway was narrow and dark.

As you entered there was a door immediately in front of you that opened to a half bath.  However you could not have the back door open, and open the bathroom door at the same time.  It was vey cramped.  Next to the bathroom was a double door pantry and a corner closet.  At the end of the hall was a pantry cabinet with a round column that hid the sewer pipe. (That pantry cabinet is now in the master closet, minus the doors). 

A look at the mud room from the dining room.  The pantry was to the right of the ladder on the back side of the hole.  Straight ahead past the ladder is the wall of the half bath.  The pile of debris on the floor is actually a wall we tore out in the dining room.

The piece of sheetrock to the left of the arched opening covers the old door that took you through the closet to the blue room, hot tub room and pink room.  During demo we discovered WHY someone would NOT make halls and doorways...concrete walls!  The original house was concrete and so we had to use a jackhammer to make new doorways like the one you can see in the arch.

Down come the walls and ceiling.  The new exterior door is open to let the dust out.  

Do we keep the bathroom or take it out and open up the space?  We just can't decide.

Okay...yep it's coming out.  The master bath is only 10 steps away, that's good enough for us. 

This is Zeke.  He was looking for a new place to live Monday through Thursday while he worked at Jerome Cheese.  His family was in Boise and he couldn't afford the extra rent.  We told him he could live with us if he helped with demolition.  I'm not sure he REALLY knew what he was getting himself into but he stayed a few months and was a HUGE help!  We started referring to him as "son" and would give him curfews etc.  He has since moved on from Jerome Cheese but he does keep in touch so it must not have been too bad!

The new entrance .

 The room now is wide open and an antique cabinet serves as the pantry. To the left of the door is a set of cabinets and coat rack that I designed and Wayne installed. But the best part of the room is  the floor.  It is made of  Big Leaf Maple which we had made from the dead trees we cut down out front by the road.   

I think it was a good decision to remove the half bath after all.  However Anyone want to buy a new vanity, granite slab and over the toilet cabinet for cheap? 

Kelly

5 Years and We Are FINALLY Finished!

Saturday we held our Open House to share the results of our 5 year journey restoring our home. It was interesting to listen to the stories of some of our guests as they told their connection to the building. Some knew the Marshall family for years, had worked for them or just admired the house every day as they drove by. One lady had even lived here for 2 years in the 40's as she took care of the children as the nanny. What a pleasure to visit with her.

Here is a little of what I know about the house and the previous owners.

The Land and Title company told me the house was built in 1914, but after researching and reading the local newspaper from 1910-1926 I made some interesting discoveries.

July 2, 1914 Northside News stated, "A.W. Atwood announces a neighborhood picnic at his farm, a mile and a half north of Jerome on the Fourth. Large tents will be set up which will provide plenty of shade, and anyone desiring to do so is invited to come out and bring their lunch and spend the day. Amusements and sports will be provided and a general good social time had." November 12, 1914 A.W. Atwood thanked the people of the community that saved his property from fire. His haystack spontaneously combusted and burned for days and there was a lengthy article about the firefighting process.  There was no mention of a house in either of these articles so I kept reading.

April 21, 1916 Ester Atwood celebrated her sixteenth birthday last Sunday by inviting a few of her friends in to spend the afternoon.

May 18, 1916 told of "A. W. Atwood has let the contract to B.U. Bickford for the erection of a modern residence on his farm a mile and a half north of town. The house will be built on the forty adjoining the main road purchased by Mr. Atwood a year ago. He has already had a deep well drilled on the site of the buildings. The house will be of concrete construction, of nine rooms, two stories and a half, with full basement and modern throuout."

June 29, 1916 "Mr. Atwood expects to start work on his house soon. When completed this will be one of the finest houses on the tract."

1916 was reported to be a harsh winter with no coal available.

February 21, 1918  The ladies Civic club gave their annual Lincoln Day dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Atwood on Wednesday, February 13th.  The husbands were asked to the feast, and Mr. Atwood kindly invited the bachelors to attend.  A great big home, furnace heated, a chicken pie dinner, with salads, war bread, vegetables and fruit, followed by ice cream and cake-well, that was as close to paradise as these bachelors expect to get.  Dinner was served to 50 people.

June 13, 1918 Clayton Atwood, son to A. W and Sarah registers for the war.

January 9,1919 Plumbing is being installed this week at the Atwood home. They are soon to enjoy a luxury few of the farmers on the tract have.

February 13, 1919 Fred Morrison formerly of Iowa and nephew to the Atwood's died of pneumonia in the home.

June 6, 1919 The A.W. Atwood family have been enjoying a visit from Mrs. Atwood's brother J. D. Morrison, of Iowa.

June 19, 1919 Mr. and Mrs. Atwood will leave the last of this week for a few weeks visit to Iowa.  They will attend the Atwood reunion in Waterloo.

July 23,1919 County Commissioner and Mrs. A.W. Atwood return from Iowa with crop reports.

September 28, 1922 A.W. Atwood is erecting large sheep sheds of lava rock, on his ranch.

March 8, 1923 Daughter Ester was married in the house.

November 10, 1926 Wife Sarah Atwood died in the house.

The A.W. Atwood started the Christian Science Church in town, built a business on main street and held several special events in the home as well as community dinners, plays and parties.  He had sheep which were "dipped" the day after Christmas in 1918 as well as a herd of Jersey milk cows that were photographed and shown in the 1923 paper.

Arthur sold the farm to Charlie and Marjorie Marshall in 1934. There were 5 Marshall children and I have been told they employed a nanny, cook and housekeeper for several years, as Mrs. Marshall was not well as she passed in 1976. Charlie lived here until he died here, in 2005 at the age of 96.

Charlie's obituary states, Although he was often dubbed an Idaho Potato King, he always indicated that title belonged to his father and he has only followed in his footsteps. He helped his family build their farming operation to about 5,000 acres and also pioneered the first deep well irrigation system on the Jerome Butte. In the 50's he started in a partnership with J.R. Simplot in potato dehydration. He was active in the Catholic Church and helped build it and the parish hall. In the 80's he recieved a presidential appointment from President Reagan to the Board of International Food and Agriculture Development. He was a charter member of the hospital, Rotary, and several other organizations and was Jerome's Citizen of the Year in 1981.

Though we never had the pleasure of knowing Charlie we have heard several people tell of their experiences with him. He was a very honest and driven person who accomplished much in making Jerome a successful farming community.

We were fortunate enough to meet a member of the Marshall family and visit with them in 2004 when we told them of our interest in the home. We were told Charlie planned to live to be 100 so we would have to wait a few years. Charlie did not quite make his goal and we were able to purchase the home in 2006. Though we do not have a photograph of the original house, the photos we have show that Charlie made several additions in the 40's and early 50's. When Marjorie passed away he did not allow anyone make any changes to the building.  When we bought it we decided to take it back to it's original 1916 state as much as possible.

Here are some before and after photos of the exterior.  Stay tuned for interior room by room.  Enjoy....Kelly

2005 The original house had a screened in porch and a ramp had been built for Charlie. 

 2011 After removing the battered screens, we removed the ramp and rebuilt the porch wall.

2005 In 1947 the round part was added to the kitchen, and a west side addition with a flat roof was built.

2011 We had a sloped roof added to make the home look more period.

2005 Many windows and glass block openings were added in the 40's and 50's.

2011 We removed the back entrance enclosure and 10 windows, as well as sloping the roof.

Glass Doorknobs Add Sparkle to Kitchen



  

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After

 

 





Before





After



Earlier this year I designed my kitchen cabinets and found someone to build and install them, but yet someone that would allow me to finish them.  I wanted the kitchen to be more in harmony with the rest of the house and tried to take it back to it's 1916 roots.  That meant painting and distressing the cabinets to give the feel of stepping back in time.  

Today I made some major finishing touches to this kitchen!!  Because I didn't want to buy 8 blinds, just to make all windows match, I opted to splurge on cordless honeycomb blinds for the windows on the west side of the room.  So then I needed to hide the 2 blinds so it didn't look off balance.  I decided to hang  some fabric in a swag above each window to help camo the fact that there are only 2 blinds.  I first thought I would just use drapery corbels and pull the fabric through...not so easy to find on a budget...plus how would I hang them without ruining the trim?  Then I got the idea to use glass doorknobs!  I felt not only would they work, but they would be a great way to accent the crystal chandelier! (See the Pickin' In Salt Lake blog for the story on the chandelier!)

I bought several miss matched knobs on ebay then cleaned them up with steel wool.  (There was even a PURPLE one in the lot I bought! See how I used IT below.)  I  had several wooden dowels that had been the curtain rods for the windows when we moved in.  I used those to extend the knob out to give a place for the fabric to rest.  Then I cut extra 1x4 trim into a small square and drilled a hole in the middle.  After staining the square to match the trim I glued it all together.  (I probably should have stained the dowels too, but you really cant see them.)  I used my nailgun to tack it in place, 2 nails for each block.  Something that should not leave much damage if they ever need to come down.

I'd have to say the hardest part of the project was the swag.  I ended up just ironing the end seems over with some sticky fusing stuff...can you tell I don't sew!  I think it will hold up okay, time will tell.

Next let's take a look at the island.  It was a find from the Salvation Army.  There were actually 2 of these things and they turned out to be speakers.  I am guessing they came from a church but I don't know for sure.  They were marked $35 each and the tag said they even worked.  They had just put them out on the floor and I knew I had to have them!  They were EXTREMELY heavy because they are made of oak, and the 2 barely fit in my small SUV but I made it work.  I removed the speaker and guts with a sawsall then built a little shelf inside it.  The padded fabric insert came out easily and I just ironed a cuff on some sheer fabric and put it over a tension rod hung on the inside.   My good friend Ranae gave me a piece of granite and ...there you have it...my new kitchen island!

I made the kitchen table from 2 separate tables.  The top is antique but the base was plain and clearly new so I swapped out the base with a clawfoot pedastal that I got for $35 at an auction.  The finishes did not match and I don't like to use stain so I just rubbed brown latex paint into the wood and gave it a weathered, uneven look, then put on 3 coats of polyurethane to make the top durable.  I am now on the lookout for 2 more oak chairs to make the set complete.

So... this is my new kitchen and I reallly have to say I LOVE IT!!  

Oh...I almost forgot....the floor was made from 2 dead maple trees we cut down out front when we moved in!  It's not traditional maple, like a gym floor, an old timer in Utah said it was probably Big Leaf Maple...whatever that means.  Anyway, Wayne surprised me by saving the lumber and having the idea to make it into flooring!  Good call Honey...Love ya.

 

 

Purple glass knob on a dowel

 Here are some more ways I have used glass door knobs!

Glass knob sconces

Glass knobs for a coat rack

Keep Pickin'

Kelly



Double Decker Bookcase

As my home restoration is coming to the end very soon, I have been itching to make something new!  I have had a vision of a bookcase that I wanted to build in our library.  Last summer I bought a very basic oak bookcase at a yard sale.  It was about the right height and had plenty of shelf space.  It had the back duct taped on and the price was $35!  That worked for me.  It was very solid and I knew it had the basic bones I was looking for.  So all I needed was a base to put under it.  I initially thought of a 1930-40's buffet, the kind with long legs and doors on each side.  The plan was to cut off the legs and put the bookcase on top then dress it up with antique trim.

After searching for a year and not finding any deals I spent a weekend cleaning out the garage. Now I know why I couldn't find a deal anywhere...it was already in my possession! About 7 years ago I paid $6 for the bottom half of a hutch. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind but I thought it would work.

Oak case in back, minus the back piece.  Burgundy base in front.

  

I put new beadboard panel on the back of each piece and added antique door trim and plinth blocks from George's Salvage in Salt Lake City.  I wanted to use another large block in the middle but it was too tall for the ceiling.  The backs are painted with the blue paint we used on the front door and antique white as a top coat.  I sanded edges and distressed the trim, so the base has burgundy showing through,  and the trim has the 1950's green peeking out.  It's not quite what my vision was, but it works.

The libary itself is not yet finished, and not all my books are unpacked, but I LOVE IT!!   

        

     Keep pickin'

Kelly

Flowers for FREE!! May 1st

Okay, I must confess when I was little I HATED flowers.  My mom had over 150 plants all around the house and even had a set of shelves just for them.    My job as a kid was to dust the house every Saturday, then I would take my quarter and go to town and buy a can of Strawberry Crush soda, or an apple Jolly Rancher stick and a box of jawbreakers.  This chore is no doubt one of the reasons I HATE to dust today.  In the 70's we had gold, olive and brown flowered PANELING on the walls and the CEILING of the dining room!  My mom bought me flowered coats with fur around the hood even though I grew up playing with (and beating up) boys...how humiliating! 

As the years went by I started to show signs of actually liking flowers and I bought a pair of jeans with a large floral print that I wore in high school.  They weren't "in style", but then again I was a non-conformist and that was okay.  So I guess that was when I accepted that flowers were okay.

So that brings us to present day and with a pleasant sunny forecast, I spent the day digging up a HUGE flower bed that my friend Barbara needed removed.  Grass was taking over and she has other plans for the space.  So...I got a couple hundred dollars worth of plants for FREE!!!  So many in fact that they filled up the back of my SUV.  There were 3 plants of my very favorite...lavendar, many shasta daisies which I also got from another friend...thanks Daphne, dianthisis, columbine, hen and chicks, tulips, hyacinths, some yellow things that I need to research as well as some ground cover and fall color leafy things!!! Now the trick is to get them to grow in MY yard.  No small feat! 

After the digging and planting was done, I pulled out all my containers to get ready planting in those.  Boy... is that an addiction I have to gain control over.  I love to put the containers all around the patio and garage because there is so much concrete everywhere, but they are very hard to keep moist in the hot, dry Idaho summers.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of growth, or lack there of.

Keep pickin'
Kelly

UPdAte   July 24...MORe PhOTos!!!!!!

"WONDERFUL!" One word can mean so much

Many of you may know that for the past several months I have been helping out a friend that was unable to drive due to the effects of several  brain tumors.  Once a week I would pick up Maraileen at 8:45am and drive her to work in Richfield where she would cook a lunch time meal for the Lezamiz family.  The family had come to know and love her when she showed great compassion for their father as he was dying.  You see, she was his hospice nurse, but the tumors had put an end to her career so the family found a way to keep her close.  By having her cook lunch while they worked there at the dairy tending the cows, they could get more done and she could visit with their mother who was getting on in years.  It was a great plan.  They grew to be great friends.

 So how was I so fortunate to get involved?  I had decided to take a leave of absence from teaching and do service work in the community.  Some friends were in town and we went to visit Peter, who is the chaplain for the Fire Department, and  his wife Maraileen.  A few months previous Maraileen had gone through a fifth brain surgery which had affected her eyesight and she was unable to drive. It was obvious she was really missing work. I told her I would be glad to drive her out once a week since I would no longer be working.  I didn't really know her and she said she would think about it.  About two weeks later she called and introduced herself and said "Remember when you said you would drive me to work once a week?"  I said, "Absolutely!"  She gave a big sigh and said, "Oh I love how you said Absolutely I was expecting you to say Oh did I say that or something."  And she gave her little giggle.  We arranged a day and time and headed to Richfield as planned.

She was a very expressive and friendly person, chatting the whole time.  I found out a lot about her.  She had an identical twin sister that she loved and spoke of so often.  She shared about her health, growing up, marrying, having children, divorcing her first husband and meeting Peter.  Each week she would tell me all about what went on since we last were together and she spoke about how much it meant to her to be able to go to the farm, which she loved, and help someone rather than others always helping her.  It felt so good to be able to help her feel she had a purpose.

I have to say I enjoyed every minute that I spent with Maraileen and the Lezamiz family.  It was always a time for love and laughter, and Maraileen was usually the first to laugh.  She laughed with such gusto that her body would jiggle and she would lose her breath.  Her laugh made me laugh.  She had a way of talking with her hands, using facial and vocal expressions as she told her stories.  


As the months went on it was clear that Maraileen was having a hard time, with her memory, and her abilities, and she was forgeting to take her meds. She went through some hard times when her beloved dog had to be put down, but was so pleasantly surprised when Peter suggested they get another dog.  Lissi was a great gift to her.  Though she was a puppy, she knew what Maraileen could and could not handle.   Every morning while Maraileen would read from the Bible, Lissi would sit and wait patiently for her time.  She gave Maraileen a reason to get up each day and kept her company while Peter was at work. 

The time came when I had to do the grocery shopping and make sure we had everything we needed to head to the farm.  I even started helping out in the kitchen, chopping the vegetables and doing what I could to help but not ruin anything.  She would joke that I was going to become a good cook some day, and I did make sure that I copied some of her recipes for some day down the road.

Maraileen talked many times about not ever having another surgery.  It was hard for everyone to hear, but she was adamant about not going through that again and said she was ready to go whenever the Lord saw fit.  She had such a matter of fact way of talking about it, an acceptance, which is understandable coming from someone who had been through so much and been in such pain.  But yet it came so fast.

For two weeks I stopped in and Maraileen was not ready or able to go to work.  She was having a hard time walking and sweet Peter had gotten her a walker which boosted her confidence and she felt sure the next week we could go.  I told her I would bring all ingredients to the table and she could sit and show me what to do.  That day did not come.

A week later I got a call from Lynda Lezamiz saying that things had gotten worse.  Sunday Maraileen could not get out of bed, a visit to the hospital showed growth of another tumor and water on the brain. Peter had needed to put Maraileen in hospice care.  The facility was really more like a HOME and there were only 2 patients in the house. As I pulled up to the house in the country surrounded by trees, there was a deer standing in the spot where I needed to park, and I knew this was the best place for her.  Lynda and I were able to get her out of bed and outside to enjoy the sun, breeze and wildlife. It was a nice visit and we talked about it being a very peaceful place, the country home she always wanted.

I went back the next day and she looked good, she had been given a shower and was nice and clean.  Something that she had not been able to do for herself the past couple weeks.  We watched a little TV and visited a bit.  She told me that she finally did feel like she had been a good nurse.  That maybe she had made a difference in some lives.  Now she could remember that people requested her as a nurse and felt like they were loved.  So I left her feeling confident that she was at peace with her life.

 I did not see her again until Monday and I was not expecting what was happening.  She had not really eaten much, had slept most of the day, and was really unable to speak.  Her sister called but she could not put sentences together, maybe just a word here and there.  She looked uncomfortable and in pain but I could not make out what she was saying.  I told her to wiggle her fingers if she was in pain, and she did.  The nurse gave her something for the pain. I spent most of the day just talking to her because I knew she could hear me even if she was not responding.  Not long after that I said, "Maraileen it's Monday.  Today is cooking and cleaning day at my house and I made your enchiladas for Wayne at lunch time and he liked them."  Clear as a bell she said, "WONDERFUL!"  It was the last thing she said to me, and probably one of the last things she said.  She passed away at 8pm Wednesday June 15th.  She was only 52 years old.

In pain no more, whole again...and most importantly.... with her loving Heavenly Father:) 

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know you and share in your life.  You were a great inspiration to me, in so much pain but NEVER complaining....ALWAYS laughing....Rest In Peace!  I love you Maraileen and will never forget you.