Dogwood Cottage Progress This Week!
We’ve had more progress at the cottage this week as we completed pretty much all of the demo and filled a second dumpster! Now we have a blank state to work with and we are entering the exciting stages!
Several of you follow me on Instagram and you know we went on a French door search to find doors for between the kitchen and mudroom/laundry room. We, along with the rest of the world, have been inspired by Chip and Jo in how they use vintage doors in so many of the homes they do! This was one of our inspiration pics…
We began searching all over town and online and finally found what we feel is going to be perfect! But we had to get a little creative. And we had to take a little road trip a couple hours down the road to Chattanooga!
And what we got was not actually French doors, but one solid wood door which we will cut into two! The man who sold it to us said this had come from a man who had built a castle in the area and needed 200 doors. Apparently this was a leftover. A fun story, anyway!
So we have our plan and hopefully it will all go well! Stay tuned for that!
Meanwhile, back at the cottage, Dave and Beau stayed busy with some dirty work, removing old plumbing. It was not pretty , but it was another big accomplishment to check off our list!
This was an incoming water pipe!
A big focus this week has been choosing some finishes for the kitchen and getting cabinets ordered! Our biggest challenge is to take the specific artisan design tastes Abby and I have, getting those two tastes to converge, and then find choices that fit that look– on a budget! It’s so not easy. But we’re getting there! Here’s a little peek at the direction we are going!
And one last thing I have to mention is also so exciting… Everything is starting to bloom over there! The 12 or so dogwood trees that give this cottage its name are all just about to really start showing off and I’m monitoring it every step of the way! Just look!
I gave a little tour of the courtyard once again on Instagram yesterday, and I had so many knowledgeable gardeners chiming in to give me great info! It’s confirmed that we do have several peony pushes in the yard, irises, hydrangeas, and more! We are super excited to see everything in full bloom very soon! What do you think of this week’s progress??
Dave
March 31, 2021 @ 9:57 am
Each day we work toward a new transformation!
One day we’ll sit back with smiles.
There will certainly be quite a satisfaction,
But mostly it will be about the miles —
The miles of minutes, hours and days spent in labor together,
Are in reality memories that will last forever.
***
I wouldn’t do this If I wasn’t doing this with you.
Watching your creative expression come to life on this project is the hot fudge on the sundae.
Julie
March 31, 2021 @ 1:34 pm
The best poem ever. Loving this adventure we’re all in together!
Dave
March 31, 2021 @ 9:59 am
^ That is supposed to be a poem, but it didn’t break the lines 😛
Jennibell
April 3, 2021 @ 9:33 am
I’m following this adventure with you! Our neighbors down the street (in Knoxville also) made French doors in their new-old house out of windows that came from a French château. They are really neat! I can’t wait to see how yours turn out.
Julie
April 9, 2021 @ 10:53 am
This is awesome! I love seeing these amazing pieces being reused in creative ways. Can’t wait to see how ours turns out!
Tommy
April 3, 2021 @ 10:05 am
I am the neighbor down the street that the other lady mentioned. We too made more that a few trips to Chattanooga but to pick out stone for our counter tops. After all just “any” design wouldn’t do! Every time the stone company got a shipment in we darted off to check out the pieces to get just the one we wanted. I think it was three trips before we found just the piece we wanted. Barbara found the “Frech” (actually from France) doors in the Old City here in Knoxville. After 6 weeks of labor we had 3 sets of doors ready to install. We wanted to try “doing green” but soon discovered that paint stripper that didn’t remove skin also would not touch paint! We would be glad to share our successes and failures with you. We bought books and read stories and watched This Old House for years. Also Rpy Underhill was an inspiration to me. Trips to factories in Virginia and North Carolina AND calls to Oal Ridge National Lab for information preceded out remodel.
Julie
April 9, 2021 @ 10:55 am
That is great! What fun stories you will always have to tell about the pieces in your house! It’s such a fun process in getting all the elements put together! So many great remodels going on in Knoxville right now 🙂