The Butterfly House

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Goodbye 1950's Tile
2007-03-25 23:58:00
The 1950's kitchen is meeting the 2007 kitchen. It was a hard decision but the black and white tile that was down in the kitchen had to go. Mike the tile guy created a mud floor to put down our new tile. Here is a short video of some of the tile Mike put down. All we can say is excellent work so far...video tour of kitchen
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Studio Room Video
2007-03-25 18:07:00
The Studio room is finished. To get the full effect of how dramatic the transformation looks we decided to put a video tour of the the new entrance leading up to the studio room. Check out those new French Doors... oooolaaaalaaa............. Enjoy......... Please note it may take a few moments to download the video fileClick Here for Video Tour
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Just Because. . . .
2007-03-22 21:24:00
Just because it was a beautiful day out today I spent some time out in my yard surveying my domain. . .what a view!  I took these pictures of the various views from the backyard. . . .my majestic pine. . . .you gotta see the size of the pine cones that come off of this baby. . . they are huge. . .great for all my christmas crafts. . .if you need some, let me know. . . . .I can't wait to sit out there all day. . . just being with God and His creations.  You can't imagine how many different birds there are living in my trees.  I finally have cardinals!!!  A whole family is living in the trees right by the back door. . .sheer bliss!
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Mike the Tile Guy
2007-03-22 21:17:00
Now that we finally have permit approval, the work in the house is going to be fast & furious!!  Mike , the tile guy, has started his own business.  See what working at the "Butterfly House" does to people. . . it inspires them to soar!!  The business name is Cutting Edge Tile & Marble LLC.  You can reach Mike at 732-522-0057.  I will be posting pictures of his work here over the next couple of weeks.  So far, he has tiled the bathroom on the 1st floor and tomorrow he is starting work in the kitchen.  He has to put down mesh and a new mud floor to level out the floor.  Now that's the right way to do the job!!Here are some pictures of the bathroom. . . . .This is the shower, minus the shower door.  Notice the placement of the marble soap dishes. . . so elegant!  He laid the floor in a brick layout. . . .it's beautiful.  If I remember, I will post a picture.  Email me if I don't!!

Back Hallway
2007-03-22 20:13:00
The entire back half of the house, the entire addition that was built in 1986 by my contractor's grandfather, has been redone.  We put down the same hardwood floor that was put in Michael's room and Vinny painted using the same colors that Michael picked for his room.  The only difference is that for the trim and the doors we went with Benjamin Moore Historic Color (HC) #33, Montgomery White.. . .it's absolutly beautiful!!here is the floor that's near the basement door, which is behind the wall to the left.  The molding isn't on, but that's coming soon.here's the long view.  we put in a french door that's going to have the same kind of transom as the rest of the doors in the house.here are the new doors for the closet in the hallway.  thanks to Steve's eye for detail, they have the same amount of panels as the 1870 doors in the rest of the house, so that the renovation is seamless!!
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. . .and the transformation begins!!
2007-03-22 19:55:00
Well, there certainly is alot to write about!  Michael's room has been painted, by Vinny Caruso, the master painter and the hardwood floors have been put in.  Let me tell you, getting a floor guy to come out or even to give an estimate was like pulling teeth.  You'd think that people would want to take our money!  We had one big flooring company, who is located on Rt. 9 in Freehold, come in to give an estimate and then never contacted me again. . . talk about being rude!  The kicker is that we used them last year to put in our new floors in the basement and carpet on the stairs. . . go figure!!   NO ONE had a good floor guy that they could recommend, so we had to find one the old fashioned way. . . .out of the yellow pages!!  Not only did he show up when he said he would, but his references were platinum!!  If you're looking for a good floor guy use David's Hardwood Floors Co.  His number is 732-660-0896.  Wait til...
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Plastering Daniel's Room
2007-03-10 22:21:00
Remember what Daniel 's room looked like??  Well here are some photos of the boys replastering the walls.  You can already notice a considerable difference in the look of the walls. . . .they're clean!!  We will be posting some of the newer pictures with primer on the walls shortly.  We are about 90% done with the plastering and we'll be ready to paint in two weeks.  Anyone want to help?????Look how nice my boys work together!  Notice how stained the back wall is.  Wait till you see the finished product.Before they could plaster, Bobby and Daniel had to wash the walls down to get rid of all of the old glue.  They used a product called "Wallwick".  It worked like a charm, but I think all they really needed was some really hot water and some good old elbow grease!
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Away Too Long
2007-03-10 21:58:00
Just wanted to let you all know that the past several weeks that we haven't blogged have been stressful, to say the least.  First, I started "flaring" with my Lupus, and then, Bobby got sick, then I flared again, then we got hit with 2 snow storms, Daniel got sick, then I flared again, we lost the digitial camera with all the pictures, and then I really flared again, but we are finally back on track.. . . God willing!While we are on the topic of my Lupus and flaring, I think that this is the perfect time to share with you the most interesting tidbit about the house.  For those of you who don't know what Lupus is (their motto is: Lupus. . .Someone you know has it) I suggest that you go to www.lupusfoundation.com and do a general look around.  For those of you who don't have the time, I'll give you the 2 cent version of what it is.  Lupus, which means wolf in Latin, is an autoimmune disease that makes my body attack itself.  My whi...
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Claw Foot Tub Arrives. . .REALLY!
2007-03-10 21:46:00
Finally, after several weeks and 3 days of waiting, all day in a house with no heat on a day when the temperature outside was 20 (but that's a blog for another day) for a tub that never showed up. . . .the "big boy"  finally arrived!  Actually, it's more of a "little man" than a "big boy". We ordered the tub from www.vintagetubs.com .  They were the most helpful people you could ever encounter.  They answered all of my questions about clawfoot tubs, and believe me, I had alot!!  They helped me choose the right accessories that would go with the look that I was hoping to attain.  If you're in the market for a tub, call them and ask for Matt, tell him Miracle sent you! :o)The shipping company was awful.  They had the tub enroute to my house several times, but for some reason or another, ok. . .one of the snowstorms was a legitimate excuse, they could never get to the house.  The kicker was that they never called me to tell me that t...
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Claw Foot Tub Finally Arriving!!
2007-02-14 18:59:00
After much hooha and fanfare, the tub is finally arriving.  We've been waiting for this big boy to arrive for several weeks now, and after many delays and snowstorms he's finally arriving tomorrow (Thursday).  Hopefully, the guys will be able to get him into the house without any mishaps--there's ice everywhere.I will have pictures posted of this momentous event.  Stay tuned. . . and Happy Valentine's Day!
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Manic-Monday
2007-02-11 18:14:00
Tomorrow, 2/12, the pace at the house is going to be CRAZY!!  Mike, the tile guy will be there to tile the 1st floor bathroom, which has already been painted.  Sorry, but there are no lights in there for me to take pictures.  I'll have to get on John to rig something up in there so that I can take those pictures for you. . .I know how all of you are so eager to see every single bit of progress that we make.  But really, if you like what you see, please post a comment for our encouragement.Also, the biggest news for the day is that the claw foot tub is being delivered!!  I can't wait for it to get here.  Since we opted for acrylic instead of cast iron, which weighs in over 400 lbs., it shouldn't be much of a struggle getting it up the stairs--at least I'm hoping it will be an easy procedure.  Those pictures are going to be priceless. . . .I'm charging my camera as I write!!  The taping (sheetrock) in the bedroom is also going to be finishe...
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Master Bedroom Update
2007-02-08 22:13:00
What a difference a day makes!!  Today I came in to find that we have walls. . . .real walls!!  Not only are the walls up and being spackled & taped, but the outlets for our lighting is there.  By Monday, we should be ready to begin painting the walls.  On another note, I've taken this one picture twice because of the amount of "orbs" that appear in the picture.  I checked the area before I took the picture a second time to make sure that there was no dust flying around, what you see is what I took. . . . . .you be the judge. . . . . .here's the 2nd picture, which other than being a little darker, has the same "orbs" floating aroundhere's a picture of what's going to be Bobby's closet.  Say "hi" to Pat, whose busy at work!Below is the entrance into our bathroom.  That opening just to the right is going to be a small closet where we can put our towels and sundries (nice word, ugh?)  See how hard Justin is working?  There's no res...
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Kitchen/Laundry Room Doorway
2007-02-08 22:09:00
When the addition was added in 1986, by Steve Pullen's grandfather, Lester Pullen, there was a door that separated the kitchen from that new area.  We've gotten rid of the door so that you can walk freely between the laundry room and the kitchen without bothering with opening or closing a door.  Below are pictures of Steve putting the finishing touches of "mud" around the door which he needed to frame out and the finished door frame.  Sheer perfection!
More About: Kitchen , Laundry , Room , Door , Chen

1st floor bathroom
2007-02-08 21:59:00
Finally, a room with a view!!  This one is almost done. . . we're painting tomorrow (I say that as if I'm going to be picking up a paint brust to paint. . . isn't that funny??) and the tile is going in on Monday.  We should be able to shower in 2 weeks. . .YIPPEEThis is the view from the shower.  The pedestal sink will be right where the ladder is.  The built in closet was made by Steve's (the contractor) grandfather!  We found out that his grandfather built the entire addition to the house in 1986.  How amazing is that??The gray board is where the shower is going to be placed.  Very important. . . .when sheetrocking an area that is going to be in contact with water make sure your contractor uses green board. . . it's waterproof!!  The toilet is right under that bucket of spackle and behind that half wall.  How sweet is that??
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1950's Chandeliers
2007-02-08 21:54:00
As promised. . . .here are the additional 2 chandeliers that were, generously, left in the house when we bought it.  As you can see, there is alot of crystal that has to be cleaned.  Any suggestions??  The first one is in the dining room, which explains why it is so fancy, and the 2nd one is in the parlor (living room for you non-old house speaking folks).
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Look At This Work!!
2007-02-05 22:46:00
When you think of artistic beauty what comes to mind?  A beautiful work of art or a sculpture?  Well you haven't seen anything until you see the electrical work done by John Kenny!!  I'm telling you, when I saw this bathroom outlet, I thought I was looking at a piece of art!  Now that may sound over the top to some, but when you've been looking at debris and rubble for a month, you come to appreciate the simpler things in life.  But, don't let me try to persuade you. . . . take a look for yourself. . . . .isn't that just beautiful?  Look at how clean and neat those wires are.  It's a shame that we are going to have to cover them up with sheetrock.  Maybe we can put a clear glass window pane there for everyone to see them when they use the powder room!! :o)
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