Hi, y’all! Hope all is well with everyone.

We are back from our whirlwind trip to Ohio which was followed closely by a fun-filled (hot) day at the Charleston Farmers Market. With all the details that need attention after such a busy week, I am anxious to fill you in on all that’s new on Sutherland Avenue.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought the last few days as to how to go forward with this blog. So far, other than the delay from the Charleston Board of Architectural Review (BAR), everything has gone smoothly. So the question I’ve been asking myself is this, “Am I going to be open with you about the bumps we encounter along the way? Or am I going to paint a rosy picture like it’s all a piece of cake?” For those of you who know me personally, you won’t be surprised that I decided to just go ahead and Tell It Like It Is. So here we go.

This week we had a bump.

You’ve heard of the proverbial elephant in the room, right? Well, we have one in our kitchen. Of course it is not a large mammal, it’s a chimney. A beautiful, but awkwardly placed architectural feature you can see in the photo above..

Not only did we want to save it, the BAR did not want us to tear it down. It sets near the area we planned to put our breakfast table. What makes it even more awkward are the kitchen stairs which are just a few feet away. We measured and measured and decided once the back wall was torn away, opening up the 7 foot addition, we would have room for the table.

Last week the back wall was removed and the 7 foot addition was framed in along with the installation of the flooring. Knowing that this much-anticipated  part of the renovation had been completed, David & I drove straight through with minimal stops Thursday in order to get home and see the results before dark.

We pulled up in front of the house around 8:15. It was amazing! You could stand in the front yard and see straight though the house to the backyard.The back wall was gone and the floor of the addition was in as expected! Then it happened.

We walked into the kitchen and there it was, the elephant. The removal of the wall did not help. The additional floor space did not help. There was no way we could place any size table there without compromising the traffic flow to the screen porch.What were we thinking?   I was totally discouraged. The kind of discouraged that causes me to fall silent. This rarely happens. (The silent part.) 🙂 And, when it does, David feels sorry for me. This rarely happens also. 🙂 But when he feels sorry for me you know I must be really sad. Not crying sad, but sad. We’re spending all this money on the house and we don’t even have a good place for a kitchen table? I was certainly discouraged to say the least.

I just hung on to the fact that we were meeting with Marc the next day. I knew that meeting could be a game changer and it was.

When we arrived at the house I could see that Marc realized as did we, that the plan for the table placement was not ideal. But what would we do? We toyed around with going back to the BAR to ask about removing the chimney again. We knew that we wanted to bring in Shane from Coastal Cabinet Company to get his input as to how to make changes in the kitchen cabinet layout.

Marc’s continued assurance that historic Charleston homes are never perfect with all their tweaks and oddities. He also pointed out that our home has many opportunities and options to make some adjustments. That, along with the affirmation that the chimney, and also the kitchen stairs, were not only going to bring character, but also much value to our home helped to rebuild my confidence.

The decision was made to stick with the chimney leaving no need to involve the Charleston BAR any further. It was all going to work out. I once again felt happy and excited about our new home. Thanks, Marc!

I am certain this will not be the last challenge. I also realize that those challenges are what will make this journey rewarding. How boring would a smooth ride be anyway, right?

So there you have it. As you and I both know, this will not be a bed of roses. There will be bumps, issues and unexpected changes that will come along the way. But I promise to share them all. I couldn’t do this any other way.

I have some additional photos for your viewing pleasure below.

Thanks for tuning in. And don’t forget to sign up for email notification of future posts if you haven’t already. I’ll be back soon with the latest happenings at 10 Sutherland Avenue. Until then, y’all take care!

On a side note, as I mentioned we just got back from a trip to Ohio to visit 6 of our grandchildren. As those of you who have had the “pleasure” of talking with me in person  know, I have quite the southern accent filled with “y’all” and “bless your hearts.” I was a little caught  off guard when our Yankee granddaughter, Frances had a question for me. “Gree, why do you talk like a cowboy?” I’m thinking to myself, “Cowboy? Whatever does she mean?” So I answer with a question, “Why do you think I talk like a cowboy?” Her answer: ” Because cowboys say “Y’all” and Liiiiike just like you!”  I’ve been called a lot of things but Buzz Lightyear is a new one!

Grandchildren say the darndest things, don’t they? 🙂

SOON TO BE KITCHEN WINDOW

HURRICANE STRAPS

OLD WOODIS LACED WITH NEW  

REAR VIEW

FUTURE SCREEN PORCH