Giving our little cottage a bath then sanding and priming this historic gem was absolutely due for a long time!
Since we finally uncovered beautiful old preserved original wood siding on our little cottage, it was time to clean her up! We felt very privileged to bring back the glory of this tiny historic home built in 1934. The simple and modest details of this cottage carries remnants of the past that can be a lesson for all of us.
LESSONS FROM OUR LITTLE COTTAGE
When we first bought this little historic gem, we met with our local heritage preservation officer who informed us that the house was possibly a Minimal Traditional style build. These were homes made popular during the Great Depression Era.
In our current day, they would be a minimalists dream come true! Yet, as we progressed throughout the years and prosperity grew in our nation, homes just seemed to get bigger and bigger. Along with that came extra high mortgage loans that would take a little less than half a lifetime to pay off!
We call our home the little cottage now as it certainly carries that simple vibe, look, and feel. It has taken us back to simpler times when people only bought what they could actually afford and lived well.. more simple lives.
Bless the hearts of some of our neighbors who have much larger historic homes that are absolutely beautiful! Yet to be honest, we are personally glad that we do not have that huge of a responsibility to care for and maintain such a large piece of living space. We are travelers at heart and seek to be free! Free from lots of cleaning, high maintenance bills, loads of yard work, and expenses.
This little cottage, as small as it is, provides us all that we need to live comfortably.
GIVING OUR LITTLE COTTAGE A BATH
What a beauty with the original siding now exposed! She was ready for a much needed bath. Nate grabbed a simple garden hose and began to spray her down. He hosed water all over the old original wood siding that we had uncovered.
It was a warm day and he asked if I was hot and wanted him to spray me down to cool me off. Um yea, no thanks! He asked if I was sure as he didn’t mind. Now I know he wasn’t serious! I guess that was our way of having fun during our renovations, especially considering our living conditions at the time. Making the most of living in a fixer upper while fixing it up!
Awe, it was so sweet to see our little old cottage finally getting a bath. You could see all the dirt and grime washing away as well as loose paint chips. Felt great to be able to start with yet another clean slate. Like we did when we rebuilt the inside with new and fresh drywall. There is nothing like putting in the work and labor of love on your very own home. Exactly the way you want it done with quality and pride!
Nate was nervous about spraying around the windows just in case they were not sealed up as good yet and water leaked into the house. Then I noticed that the front door was open as he was spraying the water and a bit was going inside the house! He quickly turned off the hose and ran up the front porch to close the door to prevent anymore water from going inside. It was just a little and not too bad anyway.
I went in the office where he was spraying around the window to make sure there weren’t any leaks and no water was coming inside. It was all good~ no water leaks at all! Feels good to be moving forward with everything we have been through in our renovations.
SANDING OUR LITTLE COTTAGE
After hosing the siding with water, he used a brush to get off any other debris and paint chips that were on the house to get it ready for sanding and finally primer!
It’s hot in Texas and we are a south facing house, so the wet siding dried real quickly.
Nate started to sand without wearing safety glasses! Not cool. I yelled at him above the sanding noise to put glasses on! I was worried that he would get stuff in his eyes.
He continued to sand the front of the house near our large colonial style windows with an electric sander and later a hand sander to get in the grooves of the Dutch lap siding. He would then brush off the sanding dust and begin to prime.
Giving our little cottage a bath then sanding and priming made us feel like we were starting fresh with a clean slate! Just like what we have been doing to the inside of the cottage.
PRIMING OUR LITTLE COTTAGE
Nate primed under the eaves or soffits. I’ve always called them eaves, but Nate called them soffits. Back in the day, I had a little painting business as a college student and I think I learned to call them eaves back then. Perhaps they are one in the same or at least in the same area.
Once he got the primer on, he would be able to spray the paint later. Nate planned to prime the soffits first, then caulk, and finally spray the paint on. He found that it would be easier to caulk the gaps as they would be darker and stand out once the primer was on.
He planned to start caulking the soffits near the rafter tails after he finished priming before he sprayed the paint. I would have not even thought to caulk, but now that I think about it, it sounds like a good idea. It would seal the areas from water, bugs, and the wasps that are always trying to build their nests in that area. Nate is such a detailed worker!
As he primed the front siding he was also getting some of it in his hair. And then of course he dropped his brush on the ground and was breaking up my colorful fuchsia bush! The price to pay while working as quickly as possible. He was thinking he had paint everywhere and not just in his hair! He also wanted to be careful to not get any primer on the new window screens.
Giving our little cottage a bath then sanding and priming to get ready for the next renovations adventure was all too exciting! We continue to make more and more progress!
Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS
Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!
You can also watch a video about this here.
To see more adventures of our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.
🏚 DISCOVERING ORIGINAL GREEN GABLES AND OLD RAFTER TAILS ON COTTAGE 💚🌻
🏚 UNCOVERING BEAUTIFUL OLD ORIGINAL WOOD SIDING ON SMALL COTTAGE ❤️🪵
Besides being detailed, Nate must also be super patient and meticulous! Sanding, caulking and priming all those soffits and/or eaves and around the windows, must have been very tedious. I can’t wait to see the outside after it’s painted.
I love following along on this journey with y’all.
He is super detailed about a lot of things! I’ll blame it on his artistic creativity! We have faced many tedious tasks around here, but most of them have totally been worth it! Love that you are following along!🥰💖
So fun to watch the progress. Keep it up! Can’t wait to see what’s next. That’s neat you’re in Texas. I lived there for 7 years and my first 4 kids were born there so it has a special place in my heart.
Yay~ thanks so much! We are still pretty new to Texas and it’s so great here! Really awesome to hear about your connection here!🥰💕