We made another trip to Camp Davis this past Sunday to check in on the contractor’s progress and it looks like they are nearly finished their side of the renovations. Drywall is up, floors are down. We are in the middle, hopefully soon and often.
Here is a shot of the soon-to-be kitchen with the new bump-out to the left, and to the right our fresh-out-of-the-box gas range with double-oven waiting for a hookup.
One day a large kitchen island will replace that sofa. One day…
Because we don’t have lighting wired and because it was a bit overcast Sunday, taking shots that accurately portray the color of the flooring was a somewhat difficult. While it’s a little fuzzy, this shot is probably the best rendering of the color tone and hues in the wood floors.
We had the contractors install unfinished, unstained New England White Pine flooring. We ordered it online, had it delivered straight to the store in Frederick, MD, then had the contractors bring it out to Camp Davis.
Completely installed - that’s the only way to see your hardwood flooring in person for the first time.
We knew from phone conversations with the contractor that it was very “rustic” looking and “really knotty.” Otherwise, we had no true idea of what to expect. Thankfully, we couldn’t be happier with the outcome. We are so happy with it, in fact, that we are choosing not to stain it at all, instead going for the totally natural look and only sealing and finishing it with a completely pigment-free and low-sheen finisher.
The current plan is to use a combination of the Swedish-made Bonaseal and either Bona Traffic or Bona Naturale to finish and protect the wood while maintaining its current look as accurately as possible.
Loren and Natalie are in the living room in the above picture. We replaced the old French doors with sliding doors.
Here are Loren and Ruthie in the living room beneath the new horizontal picture window that replaced an unnecessary exterior door (and an unstoppable cold air draft). The door was flanked by two vertical windows, which we re-purposed here and in the next picture.
Below is a picture taken while standing in front of the fireplace. The tall window to the left replaced what used to be a door (exterior door in the living room number three, that is). We added the other horizontal picture window straight ahead, above what will be our dining room table with a built-in bench.
There are a few loose ends to be taken into account, but from the looks of things it might be time for us to take the tinkering at Camp Davis back into our own hands. First order of business will be sanding and finishing the floors, then priming and painting the ceilings and walls.
While there is still a lot of work to do, this marks a turning point in the renovation project. From here on out the work is in our hands. The contractors rebuilt the exterior, rewired a serious mess of electrical work, and then prepared a great blank slate interior for us to finish and decorate.
Previous update on Camp Davis renovation progress can be found here. The story behind the root cause of this huge transformation is here.
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