Bring back the bat!
What a quiet summer this was. No buzzing. No flies. When the tools were still we heard only the peace of a snug house and the footsteps of a couple of righteous-feeling builders who thought they’d solved the fly problem.
In 2010 the log house was filled with flies who’d moved in the previous year, when the house wasn’t as well sealed up as it is now, and they were fruitful. We hung up fly strips everywhere, swatted flies, shooed flies out. The campaign cut the population but we still had them last winter and into the spring.
One day early in the summer I observed that all the fly strips were well-studded with fly legs. Legs, with no bodies, and no sign of anything messing with the sticky strips. How odd. In a couple of places there had been evidence of mice, but a mouse couldn’t climb up the log walls and onto a fly strip without getting permanently adhered.
Summer went along buzz-less, and so did early fall. Miller moths accumulated amongst the legs. Yuck. I didn’t take pictures.
One morning John took a closer look at a dark knot on a kitchen log, one that seemed larger than he remembered. “There’s a bat in here!” he hollered, waking the critter from its rest. A ruckus ensued, of flapping plywood scraps and brown wings, and in short order the squatter took up new digs in the great outdoors. Slam! Good riddance!
But guess what now … buzz!
Rejuvenation's Drake bat light. Customer service representative Andrea says it's "no bother", presumably meaning that it doesn't poop. But does it catch flies?
For what it’s worth, we’ve had the best luck with Catchmaster fly strips (ribbons).
Drywall and mantle
Framing the fireplace for cement board application
Here we are, getting ready to frame up the fireplace for the cement board and mantle.
Installed mantle with cement board
And here’s the mantle! Installed, with cement board interior (all ready for tile) and drywall ready for mudding. Here’s a nice detailed shot:
Larger top piece added (I'm not sure why but hey, lookin good)
Mudding has begun!
And finally, the baseboard has been pieced to match with scraps reclaimed from our other reno projects and the mudding has begun. Next post, the primed result.
Fireplace demolition
So after we got the lights and went all Hardcore with immediate installation, we waited a couple of months and then took on the daunting task of ripping out our fireplace. For some reason, I had thought this would be a relatively easy task. Even though we had discovered many “cover-ups” in the house, we had this odd faith-based assumption that the fireplace was neither a cover-up nor a badly done operation.
Ha! So lets take a moment to recall the original before – and what it looked like when we got started:
Our old fireplace (now painted white!)
I never understood the grill things – I had thought they were useful (why put them in otherwise?) and was told that they were recent, but when we had a company come in and look at our fireplace/chimney they laughed. Apparently it was a trend in the 70s, not entirely useful and obviously “recent” is in the eye of the beholder.
Did you notice the lights? I love the style of the Glide – though picking finished from the web was tough. I decided to go with a polished nickel cup finish, a bronze gilt body finish, and a 7″ ivory shade. They coordinate perfectly with the Blairmont, I’m really happy with the overall look. I picked this series because the stepping on the shades echoed perfectly all the wood molding in the house. I’ve never seen anything quite like this series here in Ottawa, so I like that they set my home out in a neighborhood where most of the interior details look the same.
Okay, sorry! Side-tracked by lighting. So we got started on the mantle – I should say my hub started ripping it apart and I followed him around with a shop vac.
Stone facing on a brick base
We discovered that the stone was all attached to brick. And cinder blocks. I’m not really sure what I expected, to be honest…
All the stones are off - just the brick remains
Construction material shoved into the cavity behind the brick
We quickly discovered that behind the brick was a large cavity full of construction debris (nails, saw blades, mouse nests, 1977 newspapers). I think at this point, we were starting to wonder if the project would get intimidating.
Off with the bricks and cinder blocks, it all weighed a ton
Demo completed
Of course, I dragged the new mantle in to make sure it would fit.
A shot of our old fireplace with the new mantle on stand-by
At this point, we clued into the idea of protecting our new light fixtures and realized the project was going to make an extremely large mess so we had cleared out a lot of the space. Finally – with a little guidance and a couple of days work, the fireplace started to evolve quickly.
Ordering the lights for our project
The very first thing that happened in our living room/dining areas was the addition of boxes for lighting – before ordering from Rejuvenation, I went into my “stock” and pulled out these to be place holders:
View of dining area from the kitchen
An antique, not quite period appropriate for the house but nice enough.
View from the living room
Fireplace, painted white with classy outdoor light fixtures.
At this point, we had found an art deco mantle and had taped off its dimensions. We used these to indicate where the new lights should be wired. As soon as we had the lights in place, I got all excited about our living room/dining room reno and ordered my lights from Rejuvenation. The first one arrived and it looked like this….
A sad day for package delivery in Canada - the box looked like it had had some Tough Love.
I had feared ordering something across borders – I called up customer service (who were, of course, very kind and helpful) and a little while later, a new pile appeared.
The lighting arrives for our living room/dining room area
I’ll admit, I was a little afraid to check it out! But I soon ripped into the boxes and discovered…
One piece! It was like Christmas come early in our house.
I have to tell you – for me, home decor and renovating ALWAYS leads back to lighting so when I opened up my new Blairmount light fixture (in polished nickel with the 16″ ivory shade) I was ecstatic to see the high quality and style in person. Of course, before finishing any of the other projects for our space, I had to get it up.
A nice start - the light installed.
Still outstanding? Everything. Just imagine this space with refinished floors, new drapes, reupholstered chairs, no cat tower… My next post will be all about our fireplace demo!
Our living and dining room renovation
With our sunroom halted, we have started to move forward on activities in our combined living and dining room. Here’s a shot of the before:
Our fieldstone fireplace (added in the 70s) and blue wall-to-wall carpeting
While it was still listed, the previous owners had all of the carpet ripped out to expose the original birch floors underneath. They had been covered since the 1960s.
Another shot, facing west (towards the dining area):
West facing window with door to kitchen area.
On our list of things to do:
- Add light fixtures to define the space and add character
- Rip out the fireplace and add something more deco appropriate (and in-scale with the house)
- Refinish floors and add a tile hearth
- Patch and paint walls/trim/etc.
Building The Bar at Dig A Pony
Dig A Pony opens it’s doors to the public today for the first time. There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears gone into bringing it into fruition. One of the features we’re most proud of is the huge wooden bar top that curves round in a horeshoe right in the middle of the floor. We think it might be one of the largest in the city. And completing has been a 2 month labour of love for our craftsmen Nick Musso, Jason Rens and Pete Williams.
First came the frame, made from 100 year old reclaimed Doug Fir beams…
Building The Frame
Then began the long process of laying the Walnut wooden top, and smoothing it into a perfect curve…
Laying The Top
Then, inspired by the stained glass window we’d installed, we cut diamond shapes into the wood and filled them with this textured gold leather.
The Textured Leather
The Diamonds In The Rough
The final stage involved staining the front heavily, and cutting metal strips to secure the top and bottom…
Nick Musso - A Big Fan of Flashdance.
After the long process of laying and smoothing the wood into a perfect curve, then came the task of sealing and staining it to protect it from all the drinks that will inevitably be spilled on it…
All in all the bar has turned out so much better than we could have ever hoped for. And hopefully, come tonight, it’ll be able to withstand the pressure of 100 pairs of elbows clamouring for a drink.
Ready For Business...
Dig A Pony opens on July 28th 2011. It’s situated at 736 SE Grand Portland. Stop by and say hello!
Dig A Pony’s Antique Piano
We’ve were generously given a piano by one of our owners Aaron Hall’s Mom. It’s a beautifully made instrument bearing a stamp of the Krakauer Bros. New York.
The Dig A Pony Piano
Up until recently we thought it was 90 years old, but when we a nice old man came in to tune it, he informed us it was actually 123 years old, dating back to 1888. This makes it officially an antique!
Tuning The Antique
We’re going to reserve the playing of it for special occasions and special hands, and we’re also considering a sign that reads “If you dare to put your drink on me, I dare say your drink will cease to be” or something of that nature.
No Beverages Near The Ivory
Dig A Pony opens on the 28th July. Check out digaponypdx.tumblr.com or their Facebook page for more information.
Stained Glass Window
Continuing our collaborative approach to the aesthetic of Dig A Pony, one of our owners Aaron Hall’s Dad, Chris, has designed an ornate stained glass window for inside the bar. It’s based on a conceptual design he made many years ago. Here’s Aaron posing (glumly) with the the original concept…
Stained Glass Design- Photo by Randall Garcia
Chris spent a few months working on it in his basement and last week it was finally ready to bring in to the bar…
Don't Drop It!
We’re really happy with it, as it represents an understated yet ornate feature for the space. The daylight bounces through it in interesting ways giving colour and life to the wood around it. We’ve also been inspired to use the hexagonal shape to inform other elements of the bar, which we reveal soon. Next time you’re passing on Grant though, have a look in and see what you think.
Dig A Pony's Stained Glass (Blue tape to be removed)
Dig A Pony opens in 2 weeks. It’s situated at 736 Se Grand Av, Portland. Follow us on Twitter @digaponypdx.
New Bar, Old Treasures
In the 1920s and 1930s this space, soon to be our new bar Dig A Pony, was a pharmacy. The previous tenant proved to be a bit of a hoarder, so when we arrived the huge basement was full of what first appeared to be junk. It was literally 90 years worth of accumulated detritus.
But, as we dug through it we started to come across lots of amazing little finds and reminders of what this place used to be.
We’d like to incorporate as much of the heritage of this location into the design of the bar. A lot of the hard work so far has involved stripping away the layers to reveal the true character of this amazing building. Beneath the ceiling were these incredible 90 year old Douglas Fir beams, and taking up layers of carpet led us to discover this amazing original tiled floor beneath.
Developing this space has been a journey back in time, and we hope it will result in a reassuring blend of old and new for our customer when we open.
Dig A Pony is a new bar at 736 SE Grand, Portland. Follow our progress on our blog at digaponypdx@tumblr.com.
For the dining room, a 1930s real-antique light fixture from Rejuvenation
Depression era light fixture
As much fun as it is to search out light fixtures from Rejuvenation’s new fixtures, there’s nothing like their restored antiques section for a real “look what I found!” experience. You get the thrill of the chase (somebody might beat you to it) plus the satisfaction of giving a a whole new life to something old and well-made.
Right now I’m grinning ear-to-ear over this pendant light that Rejuvenation describes as follows:
Clean and streamlined, this effortlessly modern pendant design was widely popular and used in commercial settings both new (for cutting edge style) and old (as an update for obsolete lighting fixtures in vintage buildings). Semi-indirect lighting like this was the up-to-date technology of the Depression era, and remained in use into the 1950s.
An antique steel finish lends this fixture a soft yet intense appearance that is equally at home in period or contemporary settings.
Here’s a very similar fixture in a photograph from Flickr:
- Office of The Carolinian, the weekly student newspaper, which was located on ground floor of Alumnae House. Seen here with eight students at work, sometime between 1937 and 1947. Hand tinted. This building opened in 1937 and is considered an excellent example of neo-Georgian architecture. It was designed by Penrose V. Stout of Richmond, Virginia, and modeled after Homewood in Baltimore, Maryland. The building was called the Alumnae House from 1937 to November 1972, when the name was changed to the Alumni House
I’ve also seen a picture of a more ornate version, with the metal shade embossed with flutes, swags and floral motifs.
When I bought most of the house’s light fixtures, well over a year ago, I wanted a vintage dining room fixture that cast light up to the ceiling and down to the table but not out into people’s faces. At that time, anything that met the requirements looked too new, too mid-century modern. I bought Rejuvenation’s Marquam Hill chandelier because its lighting appeared to be scattered enough not to glare, and I still think it’s incredibly pretty, but it always seemed a bit too early and too fancy. I suppose I will sell it now.
Andrea Roselle at Rejuvenation searched out answers to all the questions I had about this fixture. It is 33 inches long overall. That’s a little shorter than I’d prefer but we may be able to make modifications to the ceiling box mount to drop it a little more. Look closely— the fixture has a “hang straight” where the generously-sized ceiling canopy and the pendant rod meet, allowing installation on the moderately-sloped ceiling.
Rejuvenation currently has several antique fixtures that perform the same function as this one, including two more exactly like this one. Some are refinished in contemporary colors. Under “Restored Antiques” check the listings for new arrivals, industrial fixtures, and antique pendants. Call Rejuvenation at 888-401-1900 and ask for Andrea. If you like this fixture, call before anyone else can and tell her you are interested in item number AL2685. If you snag one or both, let me know!
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