Farewell to Lee

This one's going to be long but promises to be jam packed with lots of pictures- so it's all good!  As I mentioned last week, we said good-bye to our Lee Street rehome.  It was by far the most successful project to date as far as almost hitting our target completion date and the closest I have ever come to sticking to our budget.  This was mostly due to the wonderful crew of men we had working on this project- more on that in a bit.  

But first, I thought you might enjoy a few before and after side-by-side comparisons of the house:

I had been wanting to try mid-century modern design for a while so when we first looked at this 1960s ranch something about the skinny brick and faux fireplace of the exterior made me think this just might be the house to give it a go.

The original kitchen was certainly mid-century but minus the modern.  I'm thinking this kitchen was more of a June Cleaver 50's in it's prime and I wanted its new life to reflect more of a rat pack swanky kind of mid-century.

Let me just say, the men that worked on this house (including my number 1 man) thought I was crazy when I started bringing brass into instead of out of the house.  My plumber, straight up laughed at me and said he hadn't installed a brass fixture since the 90s. But as many of you know, brass is making a big come back, and is HUGE in mid-mod design so I held my guns and now this Lee St cutie is proudly leading the cause to bring brass back in our neck of the woods.  

One brass fixture that you didn't get to see was the master bath/shower faucet.  Oh, I was excited about this one.  I had the hardest time tracking down a modern brass shower head.  I searched all over the www and finally found one in China that I just loved.  I especially loved how the pipe from the tub spout to the shower head was on the outside of the tile instead of hidden in the wall. Once again my plumber expressed doubt in my fixture decision and cautioned against me using my Chinese purchase over his recommended brand of choice- Delta (what is the deal with Plumbers and Delta products, anyway??); but I wouldn't listen and convinced him to forge ahead.  

Well, score one for the plumber- one week before our target done date I get a call from the plumber telling me that there was a slight problem with my fixture.  When mounted the shower head only reached about 5' tall.

I wasn't ready to reduce the marketability of this house to those 4'5" and under so I knew we couldn't leave it like it was. Unfortunately, China did not offer any extender solutions aaand because it wasn't a Delta Fixture it could not simply be switched out. Sooooo, 1 week before my target done date we had to rip out the tile on the fixture side of the shower and bust thru the sheetrock on the other side of the wall to stub in for a new fixture.  This time I was an obedient little designer-wannabe and went to the official plumber approved plumbing store and picked out a DELTA fixture.  Unfortunately, the closest thing they had to brass was a champagne gold-it is not nearly as cute, and it hurt my feelings so I didn't get a picture of it.  So sorry new homeowner- I tried!!!

Even without the star fixture, I was still very pleased with how the bathroom turned out.  My cabinet guy knocked that mid-century vanity out of the park with those taper legs and sleek design.  

And here is the guest bath.

Last on our before and after tour is the master bedroom and closet.  This after picture features the second set of those sliding doors that I built all by myself, kinda.  

And that concludes the photo portion of this post. If you will hang with me just a second longer I would love to tell you about some of the men that were responsible for making this project come together.

We had several new subs working on this project and I couldn't have been more pleased.  Our head framers and go-to carpenters for this project were the Jarrods of J & J Construction.  They were responsible for creating our new opening into the house, giving us our 4th bedroom, building our deck and wood wrapping the chimney on the front of the house.  I would highly recommend the Jarrods for any home improvement project- from a small punch list to a complete house remodel these guys can do it all.  

Double J Electric handled the complete rewiring of this house.  Let me tell you, I loved this team. They were always there when they said they would be and honored their quote which is HUGE in my book and were so considerate of the other workers in the house.  They also were very patient with me when I was indecisive about a few light fixtures. 

And then there was the new cabinet crew- Grant's Cabinets and Millworks.  Not only did I love love love the cabinetry they provided they also came to my rescue when I got myself in several pickles during this project (remember the disaster ikea vanity).  These guys are like FB rockstars with over 4500 likes (swoon) and jobs all over the state but they delivered my cabinets right on time and always had time to answer my questions during the design process.  It was also fun to talk shop with these guys because they were in the process of flipping a house at the same time.  In fact, I had lots of people ask me if rehome was working on their house- which we took as a huge compliment.  

If your in the market for a spacious completely renovated old town Conway home you should check out their house!  (I think if you click on the photo it will take you to the zillow listing- if it works it will be the most impressive thing I have accomplished all week)

Robert Shearer and his team joined us again to take care of our plumbing needs.  What I like about Roberts team is they under promise and over perform.  If he tells me he will be there Tuesday I better be ready for him to show up a day early.  He is also great about giving a firm quote and sticking to it. 

Mauldin Heat and Air installed a brand new HVAC system and are just the nicest group of men to work with.  They too are very timely in getting to the job site and hitting their deadlines as to not hold up any other team.  

And then of course our tried and true dream team members: Travis- the landscaper and overall handyman, Marcos the flooring expert, and my favorite painter in the world Nicholas and team. Once again they worked their magic to make the whole project come together.  I hope each of them know how much we value their hard work, attention to detail, and friendship.  

Bottom line, rehome is nothing but a bunch of ideas without these men coming along to help our vision come to life.   

Next week, I promise to give you an update on our current project.  Thanks for checking in!