Miss Daisy

What I've learned while remoding Miss Daisy..

The hubs and I are embarking on a new adventure...remodeling our first flip property.  He retired back in September and I've been working on Miss Daisy off and on for the past couple of years, helping the family with "mom's" things, cleaning out and holding some tags sales for the.

The first time I walked into this sweet little house, I hoped someday it could be mine.  I "got" Miss Dazey, the owner of the home.  She'd been a long-time customer of mine at Burlap & Roses.  She and her daughter Joan would come to my shop in New Virginia, and we just grew to like each other.  So, when Joan contacted me about helping her out with "mom's home" I was delighted to do what I could.  Mrs. Dazey had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, was living with Joan and it was time to adequately clean out and ready the house for its next life.

I have loved being there, looking through her things, and in many ways, we are kindred spirits.  Mrs. Dazey, a long-time, beloved art teacher in Indianola AND a phenomenal artist, herself, saw potential in everything.  I could see what she may have been thinking when she collected various things.  She saved many of her students artwork; I bet she had every intention of finding them and giving their artwork back to them someday.  I recognized some of the names, and have returned some of the pieces to those I knew and there whereabouts.

I had told Joan that if ever the family wanted to sell, that I'd like a chance to purchase the property and bring it to it's finest glory...something that Mrs. Dazey and I would both approve of. Ideally, it would make a lovely retirement home for Steve and I, but, we won't be moving from the farm any time soon.  So, when the time came to sell, we got first chance and are now the very proud and honored owners of Miss Daisy!

Here are the first postings I've done and posted on Facebook.

Let's get organized.

Beth Voltmer

January 2, 2017

It is said that your kitchen should be organized into Zones. Five to be exact. The zones : Cooking, Cleaning, Prep, Storage and Food.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be providing tips on how to get organized throughout your home. We hope you'll find them helpful...whether you're getting organized, remodeling or going to build a new home.

Cooking: In this space, not only do you want your cooking utensils, pots and pans, but included spices, oils, vinegar, pot holders, trivets and the like.

Cleaning: All things related to cleaning should be placed together. Most generally close to or in the sink cabinet area. Cleaners, sponges, scrapers, paper towels, cloths, soaps, etc. This is the best and most likely place for garbage bags, bins and recycling, if you have room. Now days, cabinet makers are including recycling centers in cabinets.

Preparation area: Everything you need to prep food goes here. Mixing bowls, cutting boards, knives, mixing spoons, small equipment like blenders/mixers, etc. Within this area, you may want to install a Mixing cabinet, which houses a pop-up shelf that houses your Kitchenaide style mixer, food choppers, and the like.

The other cabinet you may want to install or retrofit would be a place to house all your baking sheets...go upright!

Storage: Think on those things you use everyday: plates, glasses, silverware, food containers and small appliances. It's important to keep your everyday dishes, glassware, silverware and such in close proximity to the sink and dishwasher. In this same area, you'll want to have all your towels and washcloths, too!

January 2, 2017

Beth Voltmer,
What I've learned while remodeling Miss Daisy.

We're in the tear-out stage of the property we're remodeling to sell. It's always interesting to see what has dropped between walls and floors. The construction shows it was some sort of "kit" home, but not a Wausau type. We are learning there are several homes like it in the area. Trying to find out who built and developed the area...it's daunting.

So, the two areas that are getting completely renovated are the kitchen and bath areas. I'm enjoying the design process, keeping in mind the five zones, I wrote about earlier.

I've got the cabinet choices picked out, and have picked my samples out of possible choices for for paint; both interior and exterior. I've grabbed them here, at McCoys. I like to take the chips and put them up in the light they'll be used in.

Here's a photo of the exterior of the house as it sits now.

January 3, 2017

Beth Voltmer

What I've Learned While Remodeling Miss Daisy

One of the first things we did, prior to anything else, was to contact the City of Indianola, to inquire as to codes, rules and regs on remodeling a house. What we could do on our own and what has to be done by a licensed professional.

Some of our concerns were about the size of door openings. We found out that at least one exterior door has to be 36" wide. Minimum for a doorway going into a bath, 24". Seems a bit small, doesn't it?

We've found that McCoy's offers such a convenient in-out setup, we like getting all of our supplies and many of the materials we've needed so far here. A real time saver, when you don't have to walk all over kingdom come to find something.

The paint chips are fun...but oh so different looking in different light. It's going to be harder to figure out than I first thought it'd be.  One of the nicest things about getting paint here, is they keep everything on record, defining and labeling which rooms of the house the paint goes to. Such a great service!

The photos show the tear out to the entryway into the house. We are taking this entry out and moving it to the breezeway area of the house. By doing this, we'll create a dining area adjacent to the kitchen.