Applewood

Updating is updating.

by the Artist

Whether it is a house or an RV.

How was your Memorial Weekend 2016? Did you go to the beach? A lake? A picnic table? We stayed home at Applewood Headquarters. It was a good weekend to work on the camper we acquired last fall. It's not brand new and between a damaged floor, and some pesky details I felt it needed some updating.

I saved up over the winter. We had enough on Saturday to head to our local area Menards Home Improvement store. We spent at least half of what I had saved- man that went fast. Here's a list of what is being updated:

1. Replace flooring. It was vinyl and had split out from each heat vent located in the floor. The Carpenter picked a vinyl wood floating floor system. It has some color variation in it and looks nice with the existing cabinetry and trim. We hope it holds up to extreme temps of winter and summer storage. I always say camping in a hard sided camper is like camping in an "Easy Bake Oven". (for those of you who remember those!) 

2. Replace bathroom door. The bath is tiny. This camper is triple the size of our old one.. but the bath didn't gain any footage. I asked the Carpenter if he could put a "slider" in to expand this tiny space out but he just looked at me like I had lost my marbles. Maybe a full view glass door to make the space appear larger? Kidding. I'm settling for a new wood no view door. The existing one is a very plain flat door in the same material as the walls.. RV ugly fake wood. The Carpenter ordered a 24" wide raised paneled door. (yes those are available!) It will now match the cabinets and add some architectural detail to that area.

3. Replace kitchen faucet. Replace faucet with pull out sprayer. Will be easier to keep the sink clean and do dishes without using a ton of water. Always mindful of that "gray" water tank!

4. Replace bath sink faucet. Existing one is plastic! (even my old camper had a metal faucet!). It's just beyond ugly.

5. Replace mini blinds. In bedroom and kitchen window with pleated shades to match the rest of the camper windows. (why they weren't all the same style shade I will never know) I found a great sale on-line for 45% off. Can't match exactly so am going with a darker shade. Design rule: if you can't match exactly.. don't come close. Go at least two shades darker... or lighter.

6. Add towel rods. I know men design RV's. Minimal closet space (for clothes or vacuum cleaners) (In our case no "broom type" closet) and no place to hang wet towels! We added one on the back of the bath door and one will go on the bedroom wall. Out of sight. The best I can do if hanging between trees isn't an option!

7. Switch cabinet door orientation. We have a "5th Wheel" style camper. In this particular model you can not stand up in the bedroom area. (this calls for a certain level of flexibility) To access the tiny side closets and the overhead bed storage compartments, you have to sit on the bed. Currently they swing in towards your face! (no comment). The Carpenter will switch the hinges so they swing outwards away from my face. nice.

8. Replace lighting fixture over table. This might not happen for awhile. Current lighting is a small overhead light. I envision a small pendant that hangs down over the table. Like a mini chandelier. Mini RV chandeliers or pendents don't exactly exist. We would need to convert a standard house pendant to a 12 volt deal. That's going to take some significant persuading.

It took the Carpenter all day on Memorial Day to put in the floor. It was a lot of measuring and fuss. The camper toilet had to come out. The space was cramped. Super cramped. He thinks he cracked a rib in the process. :O It does look nice!

Now for the fun part. Shopping to provision this camper. Our goal is to have a fully stocked kitchen (except for food), bedding ready, towels in. All we will have to do is grab some food and some clothes and we're off for a relaxing weekend!

I will also enjoy purchasing a ottoman for storage (and also to make the sofa more comfortable), outside rug (a must to keep sand at bay), decorative pillows, table lamp, la la la la la. My RV's are the play houses I always wanted but never had as a child.

And now "tiny" houses are the rage! We have our very own 25' tiny house on wheels! The world is our apple to bite and enjoy! 

PS And to be honest.. resale is always in the back of my mind. We sold our very old, very small "5th Wheel" RV in about 24 hours. I had updated simply (no floor replacement) and I staged it for Craig's list. We had a bid war. I wrote a post about that experience. https://andrea-olson-x9a6.squarespace.com/config#/pages/555e5b3ae4b097314db44ed9|/carpenterandtheartist-blog/2015/8/26/goodbye-little-camper I look forward to doing that again. (But don't tell the Carpenter that... he can hardly breathe as it is right now!)

 

 

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A white start.

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by the Artist

We started a project yesterday that was a year in the making. We dreamed about this project, anticipated this project and worked hard for this project. We were ready to go. Plans finalized, budget settled, inspections made, engineers made happy, dumpster and windows ordered. The stars were perfectly lined up. As close to perfect as possible.

Mother Nature had other plans. Blizzard. Yep.. it snowed and snowed and snowed the day before the official start. Our first storm of the season. The Carpenter was tense. Not only was he starting a significant project.. but it was snowing sled dogs. He kept staring out the window as the wind and snow blustered by at a severe slant.

Not only did he have to make a decision about when and if to start... but now had the added task to get the job site cleared before the crew could start. He always clears the snow off his sites.. that is very important to him. But... first he had to get on the tractor and clear out Applewood headquarters. So late into the evening he pushed and scooped white and worried. 

But like the mailman.. not much stops the Applewood crew or the Carpenter. At 9 AM the project started! Shovels and snowblower in hand the crew removed the snow and started demo. 

Follow the story of this home as it begins it's "Second Act" on this blog and our Facebook page. 

Dinner on us!

by the Artist

Last night we hosted our first Applewood Christmas dinner! It is something I've wanted to do.. have our crew over to our home. Spend time together in a quiet environment without the pressure of work- the sound of saws and compressors. It is also the first time we've had a large enough crew to have a party. Along with the guys came girlfriends and a fiancee.

I spent the day preparing. Stops at two grocery stores then home to start the meal. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. The Carpenter came home in time to start up the grill. He on special occasions buys good steak at a local meat market. And he's perfected his grilling technique. I am usually the grill master around here but not for these special steaks!

It was a good night to get to know our newest crew member and his girlfriend. They are originally from Hayward Wisconsin -which if you're a regular reader of our blog- is the destination for our camping vacations. We heard some interesting things about our favorite camp spot. And also found out some interesting things I'd rather not know. I'd prefer to keep my rose colored tourist glasses on!

In the end it was a good time. It's been a busy busy time for us this holiday season. We definitely shared our home more then past years.

It's gonna be a quiet New Year's Eve... I'm liking that.

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Bing and our first white!

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by the Artist

The Carpenter spent Thanksgiving under the weather. That's how he's rolled these past few years. Go Go Go. Stop! Well today the weather is over us! We had our first snowfall overnight and it has stopped work for today. (here we go!) We thought we could beat the white and get the Bridge St job site picked up this AM before things got buried. We lost the race. Now that means that if temps don't warm up before completion of the project.. we will have to go back and do clean-up as soon as the snow melts. 

We brought on a new crew member last week! We are excited to have Jason on board. We've waited a very long time to find him. We hope he enjoys working with our crew and Applewood. The Carpenter is excited to be able to put down his tools and concentrate more on project management. Maybe now he can Go Go Go. Relax!  

It is supposed to start snowing again today. Usually when they forecast that.. it doesn't happen. I'm hoping for that as we need to shovel out Applewood headquarters.

With our first snow it seemed just the right time to decorate the website home page for Christmas today. I added music for the first time! Of course it would be Bing singing "I'll be home for Christmas".

 

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Photo doldrums.

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by the Artist

We're in the photo doldrums here at Applewood. Currently we are on a small bath (we don't usually show small bath remodels. Their spaces are just too small to get good photos), and an extensive exterior remodel (some very unphotogenic work going on there right now- rot found under the old siding in places). We are waiting for one last cabinet to finish up the Deerhills Avenue kitchen remodel, so I can shoot final photos of that project. We finished the Arbor Drive deck a couple of weeks ago. I need to get over there. We have completed a beautiful custom entry built-in bench that needs a camera visit. 

I've been too busy to head out to the jobs lately… which means the Carpenter is responsible for photos. Hmmm. With anticipation I inserted a camera memory card into my computer today. It held exactly six photos– two of them are out of focus and the rest showed lovely house rot. So here I am writing a blog post instead. I know no one really cares that I don't have some great photos to display right now. But I do. 

I need to pick up my little camera. pronto.

 

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Just pick up that brush!

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by the Artist

I started. I didn't want to write about this till I knew it would stick. I'm painting that mountain of furniture in the cabinet shop. I picked a sale date and I'm now painting every chance I get. But.. I do not think the date is realistic for how much work there is to do. I feel rather desparate.

For those of you who do not know… two years ago or so I decided to start a tiny division of Applewood which I named "A Painted Apple". My plan… sell selected pieces of furniture through this website to boost traffic (just being honest here), and scratch a creative itch.

I had no idea what I was getting into. No. Idea. Notta. Nope. I don't know myself very well. I don't like to paint (walls and old furniture mostly). Really. I don't like old furniture. I grew up in a house full of antiques. They smelled. They were ugly (to my youngness) and they were everywhere. I slept in a four poster bird's eye maple rope bed which sagged terribly. I had a "school masters" desk, I had (and this was the worst… a "chamber pot" that featured soaring bluebirds sitting right by my bed and it smelled faintly of ammonia.) It was hideous to me. I have no idea why I didn't remove it from my room. We had "indoor plumbing". I wanted all matching white brand new bedroom furniture. I did not care that my dresser featured hand painted beautiful flowers on the front of the drawers. 

It has taken me two years to decide to move forward. And I have to admit.. the Carpenter's threats to put the furniture out on the curb spurred me on, along with the unexpected demise of my car (I need the funds). And.. I don't quit anything that I start. You can ask the Carpenter about that.

My main issue with painting the furniture was I did not have a vision for it. I could not see it finished. I didn't want to copy anyone else. I was paralyzed with possibility. Three things helped me over this huge creative block. I ran across a blog called The Weathered Door. http://www.theweathereddoor.com/before-and-after I just loved the colors. They resonated with me. I thought.. I can do this. And second. This past weekend after trial and error with subpar wax.. I drove to "Mama's Happy" http://www.mamashappy.com and bought good wax and "studied" the chalk painted (a painting technique very popular right now) furniture that was for sale. I was making it harder then it needed to be. And three… support.  Some good friends and family are picking up a brush to help in the trenches. I can do this.  

Yesterday I had made real progress for the first time. I got paint on five pieces. First coat. I filled my brush with a color called "Gambol Gold" which I had researched. It has been one of Sherwin Williams most popular golds. I can see why. It made me sing. Inside. Not out loud. 

I want to finish this post and get out to the shop to paint! This is a miracle. Is it enough of a miracle to make the sale date? Not sure. Right now it's a secret sale. In my heart. If I pull this off you will be the first to know. Pinky swear.

 

Happy.

by the Artist

I sat eating my lunch on the back deck today here at Applewood. It's beautiful out. Almost unbearably beautiful. I was taking a break from working on design concepts for an exterior renovation project we are bidding on. 

Music was wafting out of the cabinet shop where our Lead carpenter is building a custom bath vanity for one of our current bath remodels. Farther out I caught bits of conversation and laughter amidst the steady thump of wood being stacked. A group of our nieces and nephews came over today to help the Carpenter stack wood he had split for this coming winter. Yes I said that word!

It was a nice to be surrounded by activity. It's usually just me and the Snack Manager. Alone. I spend hours sitting in my "dormer" office working away in solitude. I'm okay with solitude. It was just fun today having more energy around here. 

And well.. it inspired this post. Life is good.

Shoot day.

by the Artist

The Saturday before our new website went live.. we headed to a friends farm to shoot photos for our new website. We had quite the entourage with us including two photogs- Becca and Athena, our lead carpenter Adam, his fiancé Katie, 6 dogs, 2 horses, Laura my friend who owns "Heaven on Earth" farm, a few chickens and Henry the cat. 

The weather was perfect- sunny, light breeze, cool temps. We couldn't have asked for more then that! It truly felt like heaven on earth for me.. this New Jersey suburban farm girl! If I wasn't in charge of the whole darn shoot I would have been very happy. But.. the responsibility of bringing so many people together on a Saturday morning, and getting website worthy photos weighed heavily on me. And being an Art Director who normally is standing behind the photographer dancing a jig to relax the subject.. I had no idea how I was going to "style" the Carpenter and me without "seeing" us.

Well I had nothing to worry about. The shoot areas we chose were perfect, we got a ton of photos which produced some wonderful pics! Yes… in hindsight there were a few things I would have changed… I wish I had bought that dress I saw before the shoot, and I wish I had been more relaxed. But I truly have no regrets. It was a great day. We are blessed!

Below are some photos that I thought you would enjoy from our day.