Design Dreams

Oh hey look it’s snowing again! I’m beginning to think we live in Game of Thrones and “Winter is here.” I’m spending the days inside working on design research, including hanging out on Pinterest and checking out some flooring options. To say I’m putting the cart in front of the horse might be a gross understatement here…but what else can a girl do when it’s 9 days until spring and the snow keeps falling?

Family and Flooring
Lucky me, my Aunt Sandy Bain owns Greenwich Flooring Unlimited. Sandy is Gramp’s sister (he might even refer to her as his favorite sister). Last month Gramp and I stopped by to check out some flooring samples. I also asked her to dish the dirt on Gramp from back in the day. Let’s just say Gramp really liked his motorcycles and he liked to drive them fast!

Gramp circa 1978 and his Yamaha

I’ll have to admit my mind started to boggle a little when I realized all the different types and textures of flooring, not to mention thinking about sub floors and installation. We are planning on saving the floor in the original building but will need flooring for the addition, which will become a bedroom and bathroom. Here’s the current layout:

the area marked “later addition” will become the bedroom and bathroom after we move a few walls around

I learned that durability is really key and that luxury vinyl planks and tiles are where it’s at right now. These are waterproof and very sturdy. Sandy is so knowledgable and had some great suggestions. I honestly have no idea what we’ll go with but it was fun to look. Thanks so much Aunt Sandy for letting me crash your store!

Sandy and I and the vinyl floors! The rest of the pics are a smattering of different flooring including porcelain and ceramic.

Pinterest for All
I’m still a Pinterest novice but I have managed to create some “boards” that I’m using for inspiration. I will say, it’s a very eco-friendly and space saving way of making design boards. And an easy way to say “Here Gramp this is what I mean!” and then I just hold the computer in front of his face! Here’s my board for historical reference (hover and scroll):

You can also check out the Gramp’s Old School Pinterest here.

Exterior
Back in the fall we realized we’d probably have to rebuild a lot of the current addition. The wood is quite bad and the framing is a little off. Gramp also kept asking me what color I’d like on the exterior of the addition. I went ahead and ordered some samples of HardyPlank siding. It seems like a good product but I mostly wanted to see what the colors looked like. I like to tell people I ran an arts non-profit for the last 10 years, I have no idea about building things. Luckily I have Gramp! Anyways…I like the red. What you can’t see in this picture is that with the color of the slate roof the blue tile actually looked pretty nice as well. Feel free to chime in with your favorite color!

HardyPlank siding

A Sensitive Renovation
While we’re super excited about our design dreams we still want to make sure we are preserving the historical integrity of the building while updating it for modern use. That may limit some of the finishings and decor choices. For example, we probably won’t be painting any of the walls hot pink! I’ve checked in with the State Historic Preservation Office about the possibility of adding the school house to the State and National Register of Historic Places. So far it looks like we’re eligible! We just had a representative out from the state office and we’ve learned so much about the building materials and history of the school house. We’ll be sharing this on the blog next week!

Family Photos
After digging out the photo of Gramp on the motorcycle I couldn’t resist sharing some of these from when Gramp and Sandy were young. Gramp wasn’t sure who was who in some of these photos. Hopefully Aunt Sandy can chime in and help us out!

Tefft family, Sandy is in the middle??