No work for the WICKED this weekend

HALLOWEEN is rapidly approaching and we should be concentrating on yard work and decorations, but instead off to visit the Momma we went.

Walter Cline's Barn

Looking to the SW with POTATO BUTTE in the background.

This is no easy feat.  YOUNG is a 4 hour drive, the last hour of which is on the DIRT ROAD TO HELL.  Young is more than a little off the beaten path, but this is where I lived as a kid, and where my Mom's significant other is from, also known as PLEASANT VALLEY.  The road is narrow, steep, rocky washboards, no guard rails on haripin curves with breathtaking drops to either side.  Not for the faint of heart, or anyone with a new or clean car, that they want to keep that way.

"TODD", aka my Trooper, is a fine choice for this drive, though I should have listened to Owen's suggestion that I remove all the ceramic tile samples from the back seat, it would have been a quieter drive.

We arrived just after dark on Friday evening safe and sound but with a few loose hubcaps. 

Saturday morning we began one of the last projects at THE BARN, antiquing the last couple cabinets for an entertainment center.  First let me explain THE BARN.  THE BARN is Walter's old barn, which he and my Mom, Nancy, have been remodeling for the last couple of years.  Everything they have used has been recycled.  I donated salvaged materials from design jobs, and they have scavenged most of the other materials.  All in order to UPCYCLE!  Not much is new, a couple of faucets, and some ceramic tile. THE BARN has been used as a makeshift guesthouse for years, but they wanted to spruce it up a bit.  So they added about 450 SF, which is a bedroom, walk in closet and a bathroom.  I'm pretty sure I drew up the plan on a piece of notebook paper, but it was good enough for a permit.

When they recycle, THEY REALLY RECYCLE.  First there was the timber, which they milled for the wood to do the addition.  Ponderosa Pine from The Little Green Valley Ranch.  The trees were cut to make way for the new ranch house.   But nothing goes to waste on a ranch, so all the lumber came from those few trees.  Beautiful rough hewn 2 x 4's, 2 x 6's, 2 x 8's etc..  Someone they know had some of the same 40 year old roofing, so the new roof matches the old roof perfectly and using 40 year old material truly qualifies as recycling.  There is a beautiful old wood stove which my Mom and Norma lovingly restored.
All the kitchen cabinets were salvaged from Vicki's place in Phoenix, and have been painted the awesome color of JADITE.  The kitchen sink is from the HABITAT store in Payson, $25 for a KHOLER with a chip.
Well I guess you get the idea,...............reuse, recycle, upcycle!!  It really looks great and is so cozy.  Walter has contributed lots of handmade furniture, all upcycled from old wood and old metal parts from sadles, and stoves, and wagons, and who knows what.   Check out the feet on the bathroom vanity, and the big blanket chest in the bedroom, as well as the night tables.  All one of a kind Walter originals! 

 Enjoy the photos of the barn, and remember to RECYCLE.



Check out the window latches and pulleys
Windows from a demolished house.





Claw feet with glass balls, OLD!
The framework is a cart from IKEA,
which I only need the top for a job.
LOVE the rope trim on the window!



The sink cabinet is a recycled vanity cabinet,
great small drawers for storage.  The barn even
has a dishwasher (courtesy of Phil and Marsha).







  




A tiny but working range with vintage coffee pot.
MDF countertops with MARINE varnish.
The cabinets have vintage BLACK glass pulls
and knobs with some trout and apples too.



This is a new cabinet, but made from scraps.
Sandblasted door glass at a later date.
They use the coffee grinder.
The curtain has RIC RAC, wouldn't my Grandmother be proud.





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The lovely  wood cook stove.
Restored by NORMA and NANCY.
Scott and Debbie installed the tile,
EXCELLENT JOB!





Fabulous blanket chest made by WALTER.
PONDEROSA PINE board and batten wall panels.
Bedroom, bathroom and closet addition.



A minor distraction........Squirrel!

Previously, I mentioned how I occasionally get distracted with another project, or more than one.  Like a dog with a squirrel, I sprinted off again.  This time it was to the home of our friends Art and Jane. 

Jane has always dreamed of having a dishwasher, other than Art.  As these things sometimes go, adding a dishwasher turned into remodeling their 40 year old kitchen.  The kitchen has been a  work in progress for about 18 months now.  First it was the design, which involved two architects and an interior designer, all trying to give Jane the kitchen of her dreams and not the budget of her nightmares.   Then there were several trips to IKEA (200 miles round trip) for cabinet selection and purchasing.  A few months delay and the remodeling began. 

Jane's kitchen during demolition

 

Finally the time had arrived for the BACK SPLASH.  I started scouting materials a few months back, and Art and Jane made some exciting choices.  Materials were ordered and purchased.  Last Thursday all the materials were here and it was time to get tiling.  We borrowed equipment from our mutual friends Phil and Marsh, whose home will be featured here many times in the future.

Saturday morning Jane and I got started.  Jane was a novice, but eager to learn.  I have some experience with installing tile, I've seen it done a million times.  Just kidding, I've done some installing before, most recently with Marsha and Phil in their two new bathrooms. Owen joined us at lunch time, he never misses an opportunity to hang with me and Jane.  I think it's like a trip to a comedy club for him, he always gets us laughing. As usual he was home trimming the Mesquite tree from HELL all morning, it was Saturday after all. 

Only one trip to the Home Depot was required, a NEW WORLD RECORD! But, the three of us were a well oiled machine, and we had about half the tile up in a few hours. By sundown we were all tired, dirty, and need of a few Margaritas, but excellent progress had been made.  Art joined us after work, and we hit MOLINA'S for some Margaritas and Mexican food. Jane and I decided we would wait until the next morning to see if we could move enough to finish on Sunday.

Both Jane and I indulged in some aspirin Saturday night, but we were ready to go late Sunday  morning.  Art joined in on Sunday and it was pretty snug with all four of us in the kitchen, but we managed.  Owen showed Art how not to cut off any fingers while using the tile saw.  The four of us really hustled and we had thin-set pretty much everywhere.  Jane was just about to reach expert status, except she didn't get to cut any tiles.  We took an break for some awesome BBQ from BRUSHFIRE around 5.  Janet, another friend, stopped by to observe the work, her back splash is next.  After everyone had consumed some PIG meat and a few beers, we set the last few pieces.

Jane and I will grout this Friday, but here is the progress so far!

Jane's Kitchen back splash before grout (below)

The back splash is a combination of three materials:

 Pearl grey ceramic "SUBWAY" tile 3" x 6" from AZ TILE

 blue and green glass accent tiles 1" x 1" used in pairs from AZ TILE
we used 1sf of each of; blue gloss, green gloss, blue matte, and green matte

tumbled stone 1" x 2" bands of 6 pieces from A WORLD OF TILE

The design is horizontal bands of subway tile alternating with bands of stone and glass squares in pairs are added every 6 tiles with the stone

The entire back splash on the "Breakfront"(not shown) is done only in the stone and glass

Everyone is pleased with the results!  

Owen and I both like the style and materials so much, we may even decide to finally get a back splash in our kitchen.  After all it's only been 11 years.

Let's get this BLOG started!

And so we begin. 

My name is Kathleen McKelvey Rentfro, and I am married to Owen C. Rentfro.
We met in ARCHITECTURE School at the University of Arizona in 1977.  Owen finished architecture school , and I changed to interior design. So that's us, an architect and an interior designer, married for a bit more than 33 years.

That's the way he introduced himself to me 34 years ago, "HI, my name is Owen C. Rentfro, would you like to go to dinner?" We joke that he said "can you cook?" instead of go to dinner, but he was too polite for that. He didn't ask if I could cook until the second date. Of course I can, and, that is how our life together began. Things got off to a bit of a rocky start, I was expecting him THAT evening, FRIDAY, and he didn't show up until SATURDAY night.  But things have gone much smoother since then, and we've been happily married for 33 years, and are planning on at least another 33. We plan for those to be happy too! We worked hard to go to school and be a young married couple, but we managed, and even then we did plenty of PROJECTS wherever we lived. Our life together has pretty much been one big do-it-youself project after another.

This BLOG is going to follow us in our quest to finish all the projects in and around our current home. I'll also include projects form friends and clients.
We have a nice little MID-CENTURY MODERN red brick house. It started out at about 1600 SF and so far,..............we have added about 200 SF.  I have plans to add another 200 SF at least. I'm a big "planner", and we do most of the things I plan, but we often get side tracked on one project or 10 others.

Now that the weather is starting to cool off, and by cool off I mean days under 100 degrees, our plans are to get our yard shaped up. So far we have pretty much let whatever would grow, grow.  Owen spends lots of time pruning the WORLDS SPIKIEST MESQUITE TREE, and we water anything that pops up,but it is time to develop a real landscape plan and get to work. 

this is the area around our vintage 1950's round pool

with the MESQUITE tree in the background

There are three areas we plan to work on:

A. The area around and under the Mesquite tree.

B. The area east of the porch.

C. The front patio and driveway. 

Sounds like we have a big area to work with, but it isn't, not when you hear the list of things we want to include in our landscape plan.  None of these areas are particularly large, about 900 SF east of the porch, about the same under the MESQUITE tree, and about 1500 SF for the front patio and driveway, most of which is driveway.

THE LIST
a fire pit
a fountain
a giant SCRABBLE board
two seating areas
a barbeque area
wood storage for the inside fireplace
a patio wall creating a courtyard for the entry
brick paving

a small lawn

our raised bed garden

vines for the BIG trellis
and PLANTS, lots and lots of PLANTS, all flowering of course!

That's about all I have time to introduce you to right now, but there will be PLENTY more later!

NEXT TIME, photos of the "before" areas.

Kathleen