Our house in Hermitage was built in 1978 which was the year we moved to Missouri from Iowa. We bought a remote 50 acres and grew in many ways for the next 7 years. Before the children started school, we moved into this house in Hermitage in 1986 where they both attended K-12 about a mile from home. Keith also worked about a mile from home in manufacturing and I had a home office working full-time for the state as an appraiser. The children grew up well and moved away about the year 2000. Many changes later, we are still here and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. We chose to live here and never regretted our choice over 40 years later. Things do change in so many years.
As we changed and adapted to whatever challenges came our way our house has served us well through it all. It has also gone through some structural changes. The lower level basement was remodeled early on with an additional bathroom and half the area to be used as my home office and for the children. About the time I retired in 2011, we remodeled the lower level again adding beautiful ceramic tile flooring. Then we continued our landscaping projects until I turned 62 in 2016 and went on Social Security which gave my husband about half in additional income which was earmarked for house repairs and remodeling until he retired recently in 2019. We have been very busy!
First things first, the other half of the lower level needed a woodworking shop as Keith had some big plans for our kitchen and additional furniture needed. Then the 40-year-old HVAC system finally died after many repairs and was replaced with a new heat pump. The old system served us very well all those years as backup since we heated mostly with wood. We had stopped using the wood stove a few years before as that system was too old to be safe. Keith refinished the upper kitchen cabinets, pantry, and made a couple end tables. I got a beautiful new cooking stove system and painted the kitchen walls. Keith put white subway tiles all along the three kitchen walls below the upper cabinets. Then he made new lower cabinets for the stove side of the kitchen; all with soft close pull outs. Then it was time for a break as we had several trips planned in 2017 and 2018. He continued to plan and make the remaining lower cabinets and a new island. Also, we had relatives visiting here for extended times so we found a good breaking point in construction. The rest was to get really messy!
Then a wind shear came up suddenly in late summer 2018 and took off a part of our roof which was only about 15 years old with 30-year shingles. I found a great roofer who worked with our insurance company and we got a new roof, guttering, and a shed roof that didn't cost us a dime! He also removed our old chimney on the outside and Keith got the attic portion out while there was a hole in our roof. Hope to remove the first floor and basement chimney portion before we remodel our bathroom in the next couple years. What an unexpected good deal and forward move in future remodeling plans!
In the last couple months of 2018, the remaining lower cabinets and new island were installed. There was a lot of tearing out the old and working around plumbing. The floors were then tore out in the kitchen which was challenging to continue using. New Pergo flooring was purchased for the kitchen, dining, living rooms and the hallway. Furniture was moved into extra bedrooms and two worn out chairs were thrown in the dump as we worked around and lived in it all. For three months Keith and I and Bobi Kitty shared one sofa. It was Christmas time when we were at our most chaotic and I jokingly said to Keith, "Where are we going to put the Christmas tree?" I really appreciated all the Christmas cards received as I had them on a wall hanger which was my only decoration this year! It was a mess especially since the floors all had to be re-leveled. I don't think a professional would have done as good a job as Keith did laying the new floors! I stayed ahead of him painting all the walls, three closets, and a laundry room. Then the baseboards were refinished and put back along with new floor grates added. A few touch-ups later, we called it done for now. Everything got moved back in and the extra bedrooms that had all the furniture and stuff are now back in use as office and exercise rooms.
It was a month before that we ordered a couple new high-leg recliner leather chairs that were made to order from La-Z-Boy. So yesterday we got the call that they were ready for pick-up and today I'm calling it done and ready to move on to other things. We are back on track and waiting for some outdoor activities and good weather such as fishing, mushroom hunting, kayaking, bicycling, hiking, and traveling again. Later this summer, I plan to convert my office back into a bedroom adding a new toddler bed for our grandbaby. The office will be combined into the exercise room. Mostly, the remodeling will be just new carpet and painting. Keith wants to do the siding outside and a new deck. We still are in the planning stages and we may consider some contract help.
Next year, plans are for the master bedroom and two bathroom remodels. Hopefully, we will include a sauna in the lower level where the chimney will be removed and the wood stove was located. Then... THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
Here's the updated kitchen, dining, living rooms and hallway. Time to enjoy!
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| Kitchen and dining areas are combined now that an island is added to the center. This work area is especially great with a wider space between stove and counter which also allows walking traffic as well as unloading and putting away groceries into cabinets and pantry. |
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| Combined kitchen and dining areas also include a message center as we will always keep our phone landline. The large single stainless steel sink has extended drainboards on either side. |
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| Kitchen galley makes it easy and close for unloading dishwasher to cabinets/drawers and setting dishes down on island for serving. |
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| View as you come into kitchen from carport. The island has pull-out drawers on this side that include throw-out trash on bottom and removable garbage bin for recycling at outside compost pile on top; easy to scrape veggie cuttings right off counter into drawer! All the other pull-out drawers are on the galley side so this walkway stays unobstructed. |
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| Dining area has great view to living room and also close enough to kitchen area to hold conversation and be out of the cook's way. |
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| View of dining area from front door. Patio door goes out to wood deck over full walkout lower level. Deck may be replaced by end of year along with new siding hopefully! |
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| Living room with 13-yr-old sofa in chianti-colored leather and my new high-leg recliner in beet-colored leather. Walls were painted in martini-olive color. May add some art when the right things are found. Still considering an area rug for the open area but for now we are enjoying the new flooring visual! |
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| Love my new chair! |
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| Keith's new chair is same style and ash-colored leather. He made these two end tables which is in the same style as the rest of the furniture I bought when I had a work-related townhouse in Jefferson City 2006-2007. |
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| View of living room from dining area. Even Bobi Kitty got a nice new perch and scratching post at the window! Hopefully, he will stay off the furniture more! |
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| Hallway that leads to guest bathroom, 3 bedrooms, 2 closets, lower-level stairway, and laundry room. |
