6 Month Update!!

AC Units. In the midst of bricking the kitchen floor, the heating and air units arrived. 

The Southern House will be cooled and heated with LG Mini-splits; a 54K BTU with four heads, and a 24K BTU with three heads.  We’ve been asked several, SEVERAL times why not central heat and air.  The answer is simple: the Southern House is simple, as we desire our own lifestyle in the Southern House to be.  To be the least invasive, and the most efficient, we chose mini-splits.  Each room is controlled with it’s on header, to be cooled (or heated) individually, or the door shut and the head turned off.  This eliminates the cost of heating and cooling an ENTIRE household, isolating the need to just one or more rooms at our discretion.  Another plus? No duct-work.  Pipes are run (through the walls in our case) and connected to the outside unit.  A small hole is cut to allow the pipes to enter the wall at the head, and then another hole is cut at the bottom to the outside for the pipes to exit and connect to the outside unit.  And no floor vents on the first floor!  All heads are positioned to heat and cool each room efficiently, having two separate fans to blow vertically and horizontally.  Let me not forget to mention the noise… Oh wait, there is none.  We are pleasantly surprised at the lack of noise that the headers made, as well as the outside unit; nearly noiseless.  I could go on and on, but I’m sure you get how much we love the mini-splits and how perfect a decision it was for our old simple home. 

Now for the specs.  The 54K BTU runs four heads: two 12K heads located in the dining room, the master bedroom, one 9K in the spare bedroom, and an 18K in the kitchen.  The 24K runs two 12K, one in the front bedroom (for the boys), one in the living room, and one 9K in the hallway. 

Mike faced an enormous number of challenges with the mini-splits, all of which were resolved with the help of friends, Google, YouTube, and Mikes genius problems solving mind.

And all the while, the boxes were very well used!!

2nd Story Shower.  Part of making the Southern House livable included completion of the upstairs bathroom.  Nearly everything was plumbed and ready, with a few modifications to make the shower work. 

Mike’s true nature as an artist continues to touch every aspect of this home.  And the bathroom is no exception.  With Mike’s vision, we curved 3/4 inch black iron pipe to make the shape of our unique shower basin.  3/4 inch pipe was welded to this custom curtain rod and then fastened to the wall and ceiling with black iron floor flanges.  Ordered from Hudson and Reed, the shower fixtures were a perfect vintage touch.  3/4 inch pipe runs down from the ceiling to deliver the hot and cold water separately, mixing and sent back up to the shower head in a copper pipe.

Baby Room.  Unique and endearing to our sweet home is a small room next to the Master Bedroom we lovingly refer to as the “Baby Room.”  With the limited amount of space and no closet, Mike designed and created the perfect built-in that can double as a closet for a sweet future child. 

Living Room.  Mike added in a built-in “entertainment center” (if you will) to our living room.  Repurposed vintage glass doors were made functional as cabinets to add a farmhouse touch and save money. 

Dining Room.  The damage from termites was devastating and nearly took all the beautiful tongue and groove boards that framed the bay window wall.  (Thankfully the termites are LONG GONE!!!)  And if you remember, we also replaced a very large amount of flooring in the same area.  (You can read about it here.)  A functional bench seat was designed, sheetrock replaced the rotten wood, and the overall look achieved elegance and a sense of familiarity.   

Wainscoting.  To continue to carpentry, and finishing out the trim work on the 1st story, all wainscoting was completed in the dining room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom.  Mike had every ounce of energy and development in the tiniest perfect detail.

Kitchen.  With appliances delivered and in place, cabinet shells were resurrected and a temp countertop was laid.  A bar was built opposite the stove, and included in the design was a rescued original door from Mike’s grandmother’s home, destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.  Kitchen bar lights were purchased, and Mike created much of the hardware with iron piping, tying into several pieces already designed in the Southern House.  Also added were the builtin cabinets that will encase the refrigerator and above the washer/dryer.   

In the midst of this restoration project, WE GOT HITCHED!!!  With the Southern House on the edge of completion, we took a well deserved break in September to run off and get married!  We stylishly left out in the trusty 1967 Volkswagen Bus for Hot Springs, Arkansas, before turning north to Eureka Springs, Arkansas our destination for marriage.  Mike and I were wed in the famous Thorncrown Chapel in the most perfect and intimate way.  We continued our adventure and honeymoon with a stay in a little cabin in Ponca, Arkansas near the National Buffalo River before heading back south and to the Southern House to continue building our home. 

The next project includes the attic.. I’ll post soon!

BeCase We Can

Approaching are the hot summer temps which gives way to perfect outside painting weather.  A few thunderstorms and rainy evenings held us off and allowed for the final casing to be completed several rooms, including windows, and doors.  Along with casing, a few pieces of crown was added to complete the look.

The hallway with crown.

The front room large door casing.

Bathroom door cased out.

Kitchen window cased out.

First story bathroom window cased out.

Crown being added to kitchen.

Sheetrock was purchased for the first story application that will later be wainscoting. 1×5 cased out both entries.  Several months back, a set of used wooden french doors were discovered and bought (from Craigslist)!  Another gem we stumbled on (local antique store, Calico Mall) was quickly grabbed up.  After some stain glass modification this beauty became a perfect transom for the above the French doors.  We are informed it was pulled from a New Orleans church, which only adds to its charm.

To access the plumbing of the second story bathroom, a cute and handy “trap door” was created by Mike from discarded but beautiful wooden planks, fashioned with black finished hinges and bolt.

An outside light was added, with the help of our family pup, Hannah.  A quick thank you to Mike’s sister Anne for her donation of both lanterns which will light up our back yard on those hot summer nights perfect for porch sitting.

After what felt like days of discussion, Mike and I decided on a home where Mike’s acquire antique phone nook will be permanently placed; the kitchen.

My job, while Mike was relentlessly replacing the tongue and groove boards in the dining room was to strip the old, peeling, nasty paint off the dining room mantle.  Once this task was complete, Mike built the casing up to the ceiling making this old fireplace framed in a grand mantle.

  

In the meantime, we’ve also visited a recently re-opened Rudy’s Hat full of junky stuff, some of which included a bachelor’s chest, vintage clocks, and antique dinnerware.  The clock’s fates will decided at a later date, but as for the chest… Mike’s mind was made for Pinteresting, and he presented the most perfect idea of incorporating the chest into a sink base for a vintage sink for the downstairs bathroom.  Only one challenge.. would it fit with our (HUGE) antique clawfoot tub?  No worries, Mike and his brother (John – thanks so much) lugged it from storage into the Southern House for a mockup.  (Insert huge sigh of relief) IT FIT!

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention Mike’s turtle rescue when he was cutting the back yard.  Not one, but two fellas were discovered, captured, played with, and then released back into the backyard.  Although, it was difficult not keep the fellas for pets.