Harbour Lights Midwest Museum Remodeling

We are now in the midst of remodeling the kitchen from head to toe.


Former kitchen cabinets and old refrigerator now adorn on wall of the garage.. Once the kitchen is done I will post an image.. After the the kitchen, we will start on the Great Room where most of the 800 plus Harbour Lights are on exhibition. The cabinets stay the same but they will get a thorough cleaning, the ceiling and the walls are getting a new coat of paint..

New Corian Solid Surface counter-tops being installed on the new Oak cabinets. Some new appliances to be delivered and installed shortly. The walls and ceiling to be re-painted next week.


I found out that new black refrigerators reflect just like a mirror..


When Sue was talking to the salesman about all of the options on the new refrigerator, she said I guess this is the Cadillac of refrigerators, he said nope this is the Mercedes of refrigerators! The Bradys are doing their part to end the recession in Indy!

Very nice Paul and Sue but....where's the cold beer???

It's in the refrigerator in the garage, it was still cold inside when they moved it, the new one hadn't chilled down yet..

Today we start putting our old stuff into the cabinets, after cleaning them. I told Sue we should throw/give it all away and start over with all new. She did coincide that the junk drawer will now be in the garage.

I just had a thought, if the doors on the cabinets were glass instead of Oak look how much more room we would have had for lighthouses. It's just a good thing I am not addicted to Harbour Lights!

Kitchen is done, except for painting the walls and ceiling--and a little baseboard panel at the bottom of the dishwasher gets added..


The first room in the house completely done with the remodeling is the small bathroom off of the master bedroom. Today it got a new vanity with solid surface top including a sink with new faucet added to it. The wall light and mirror already were replaced with new, along with a new tile floor, new Toto toilet, new blinds on the window and new wall and ceiling paint job (new bathroom)..

And is that a Mark Sherman seen on the wall and mirror?

No, not a Mark Sherman but is an original water color by a person near Indy..

Paul, Nice job on the renovations !!!

Thats coming for someone who does this for a living.

A special request from Sue's sister, Jonnie, whose husband Joe is doing most of the renovation work, to show another image showing the cross stitch of Raspberry Island Lighthouse that she did for me. It is displayed proudly over the Toto. You might notice the lighthouses on the towels, these were added to the towels by Forum and Hoosier Lighthousing Club member, Quilting Kat!!

I'll be going to Chicago in two weeks. Can I stop by?

Sure as long as the Great Room isn't torn apart, the cabinets won't be cleaned by then but the ceiling has to be painted, some beams (fake) taken out and the fan replaced with a white one befor I can start on the cabinets.. Just drop me an email at wackopaul@att.net and I will email you my cell phone number to call when you are driving through Indy and give you directions..


The baseboard at the bottom of the dishwasher is now matching and done..

The Computer Room walls and ceiling got painted today, I will add a couple of images tomorrow when we get it put back together. Most of my AB collection resides in the Computer Room so I guess I should call it the AB Computer Room.

Very nice remodel!!! But what is a Toto toliet? Is that the manufacturer's name? I am not familiar with...

Yes and they are great, the plumbing supply store recommended them. They said that was what they had in their office and storeroom and I now see why.. Ours are 16-1/2" tall and elongated bowels.. Real nice for retired people!

This is Sue's side of the AB Computer Room PC side as Sue uses a PC. The first six Anchor Bay Ships both versions are up top on the left.

An all purpose Epson Photo RX680 printer is on the far left, I can print to it via wireless from my laptop in the Great Room and my iMac in the computer room and Sue's computer which is connected via USB.



This is my side which is the Mac side of the AB Computer Room. The next four AB Ships are in their cases up top on the right. The rest of the AB's are in a cabinet in the Great Room.

The printer on the right is my new Epson Stylus Pro 3800, on which I can now print up to 16 X 20 prints.

On the far left at the top is Thomas our boy Siamese cat. Thomas is named after Thomas Point lighthouse and is our welcome wagon cat as he welcomes everybody to our home. His sister, not shown, is named Hattie for Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

Toto's are great toilets. We added one with the remodeling of our main bathroom a few years back.

It looks like you're doing a great job, Paul & Sue!

Bob

Paul, Looks like a great job with the remodeling!

I love your computer room. Looks a lot like mine. I'll have to post a pic.

elogated bowels???

Mombo, I missed that one on the first 'pass'. Now I can't stop laughing!

That's why they are 16-1/2" high, Mombo.

OK, OK, Bowls not Bowels!!!

We are beginning the first stage of the final room to be remodeled in our home.


The two store bought display cabinets needed to be emptied and moved to be able to have the walls repainted behind them. Actually both of them are going to be remodeled a bit as when we put them back together (cleaned), they will have new thicker glass shelves, the same thickness as all of my brother-in-law made cabinets have in them.


You need somewhere to store the lighthouses while the painting is going on, so the table I use to shoot the HL products on comes in handy. Especially since we have 4 Siamese cats in the house and the door to my photo room is always kept closed..

I shouldn't worry about the lighthouses since there are two Bill Dolls keeping watch over them!

Paul - the Smithsonian called. When you are done with it, they want that sky/clouds background card.

0 ;>) St. John of the Internet

Congrats on your 6,200th post.

Super great remodel.

Hadn't seen this thread before, so started from the top. Picked up on bowels immediately (was a typesetter/proofreader in another life) and am still laughing out loud. You've certainly brightened my day!!

Sandy

The Great Room is getting a face-lift maybe I should call it a ceiling-lift.

Murrell and his wife Shannon are doing a lot of the heavy lifting with our remodeling along with our brother-in-law Joe.


Murrell is removing the fake beams in the ceiling to help open up the look of the room.


Around the top of the fireplace will need some camouflage work done.


We are keeping the main center beam but it will get some white paint as will the rest of the ceiling..


The walls will also get a couple of coats of a lighter tan paint to also brighten up the room...

I will add some images after the paint dries on Monday, when we get back home, we are spending the weekend with the Grand-Daughters..

Quite a change!


The fan is still to be replaced with a white fan..


Used some of the beams that were removed to conceal the top of the fireplace bricks that weren't done originally all of the way to the ceiling..


The accent lights are still yet to be replaced with double white accent lights..

Moving back outside for the next phase of the remodeling. Brother-in-law Joe is going to build us a deck to upgrade and conceal our old broken cement patio!


I shot this last evening around 9:00PM, I love daylight savings time!


Joe gets started early, at least early for retired me, around 8:00AM today. That's Joe on the far left, it has begun..

Paul - brother-in-law Joe is a 'keeper'! That deck is going to give you a whole new 'outdoor room' on which to enjoy your DSL time.

And now that you've put all this work and $$ into the house on Balmoral, it's a keeper, too. How long have you and Sue lived there now?

John, we have been here 30 years, now. When we get done with Joe, Shannon and Murrell's help, we will have a new home for the most part..


Joe with his helper Jose working on the foundation for the deck.


Joe has been a Godsend to all of Sue and my familys. He just recently replaced my son Chad's deck which was installed incorrectly (materials) in his home that they bought about 4 years ago. It is great now! It had become unsafe since it was way up in the air!


Chad's new deck!

With the foundation boards basically done, tomorrow morning Joe will start installing the actual deck boards, then comes the hand-made benches and the railings.

When is all this work going to be completed? I'm trying to plan my month at your house before the snow flies! I'll sleep on the deck. LOL

Paul, looks like there doing a great job.

What type of decking are you going with?

Well, John, Joe hopes to finish the deck this week, but we have the threat of rain coming for the next couple of days. Fortunately he can still finish it while we are heading to the Bill Event if he doesn't finish this week. I will wait until Fall to buy a new gas grill to replace the old worn out one, hoping for a sale!

Overall we still have some light fixtures to replace and the fan of course to still replace. After we return from the Bill Event I will finish cleaning all of the lighthouse cabinets and we will have the Great Room/Dining Room rug cleaned before we decide on whether we are going to do anything with the floors in those rooms.

Loon, we are just going with regular treated wood, since... and here's the kicker to our whole remodeling project, we may only be in the house for a few more years. We decided that we needed to remodel it, if we are staying here for a while or even if we are ever going to sell it and move near my son and his family. Either way it needed it after thirty years.

If and or when we sell, we won't get everything back we have put into it but it should be very sellable.

Another 8:00AM start for Joe and Jose, Joe starts attaching the deck boards.. Luckily it is just a few sprinkles every once in a while, which Joe says won't hurt anything, in fact it will help in keeping them cool.


As Jose continues to unload the rest of the deck boards..


After a couple hours, it is really coming along. I am standing on my new deck taking this picture! Speaking of pictures, it is still very overcast and occasionally sprinkling a little. This image was shot at 1/40 of a second at F3.2.


The hammer isn't being used to attach the boards. They are using them to drive a wedge to force the board over as tight as possible while using the drill/screwdriver to screw the deck boards in place.

How big is the deck going to be? Looks like a monster!

It is 16ft deep by 24ft wide, John. It will have bench seats all the way around except for an opening in the middle on the backyard side with steps and an opening by where the heat pump is that will be filled by the grill. Joe will start the building of the benches at his place and then finish them here when he installs them.

He said he will let the deck boards dry out completely and let the sun bleach them out for a week or two before he seals them. BTW Joe has gone to pick up a few more boards to finish the deck out.



He bought the one store out of boards last night on the Northside of Indy where he lives and he is going to their store on the Westside near me to get exactly the number he needs to finish up the deck. Meanwhile Jose is finishing screwing in the boards that they had attached so far on the ends and the middle of each.


The board laying on top is for Jose to use to know where the foundation board is located below to screw the deck board into it. As you can tell it is still sprinkling a little!

Looking Good Paul!
Always nice to know a master Carpenter.
My wife's brother fills the bill for us, and although I must wait for him to fit us in, his workmanship always outweighs the wait. He just did some replacement 20' custom cedar columns in front of house that are the envy of the neighborhood.

Should seat about 38 on the benches alone! Love the grain in the wood, too. Don't forget to update your home insurance coverage with all the new improvements!

Hi Paul,

Great deck! Do you think Joe and Jose would like to spend a few weeks in Florida this winter? I could use s new deck too!

Cathy

And everyone on these forums knows one !!!

"Don't forget to update your home insurance coverage with all the new improvements!"

But try not to let the assessor find out!

Looks great Paul. I recently had some work done in the house too. Had to empty the curios and cabinets, clean them and replace the lights. Not a fun job. I relocated most of the cabinets, a couple to different rooms. Most of the lights are not where they were. Most of the cabinets look ok but the the time I got to filling the last couple I wasn't too pleased with the result, but just wanted to get the whole works done. The only casulty I had was one broken ventilator ball.

The deck is now ready for the next stage, which will be the bench seats almost all the way around..

Looks Great, Paul. Kudo's to Joe and Jose.

While still driving home from our trip to the Bill Event, I have received a nice surprise email from Jonnie, my sister-in-law (Joe's wife and Sue's sister). Joe has been busy while we were gone..


Joe got all of the benches built while we are on the road.


Looks like we can start measuring for cushions, plus buy a couple of tables..


BTW the single biggest item that was needed to make all of our remodeling work is the out-building that Joe designed and built to store the mower and tools plus over 800 flattened Harbour Lights boxes stored in big boxes wrapped and sealed in plastic. The building matches the trim on the house.


The opening on the right in front of the Heat Pump is where the Gas grill will go.. Taking grill suggestions BTW since I need to buy a new one.


The back of the benches will be covered with a lattice pattern of wood. Plus we are going to install some lighting at the steps and on each end.

The mailbox is going to replace the old one out at the street, I don't think they will deliver to the back door...

Jonnie informs me that Joe took the pictures as well as building the benches, she just emailed them to us..

What a guy - and sister-in-law!

Nice work! I can't wait to see the Harbour Lights displayed!

Wow !!! Nice deck benches !!!

When's the grand opening?

Looks great! It's amazing how much you've transformed your house with selective tweaks.

As for grills, I'd recommend a Weber. They're maybe a little bit more expensive, but last forever. Our previous one survived 18 summers and winters outside, and we only replaced it because we felt like upgrading when a replaceable part broke. To another Weber, of course.

I think this is the one we have: http://www.weber.com/grills/?glid=2&mid=41

Some time in August I hope, and the first guests over for a cook out will be Jonnie and Joe!

The second guests, I hope will be my former News Director and his wife. I worked for him for over 30 years and he has yet to see my collection in person. He retired 5 years ahead of me and he was also my late brother's News Director for 5 years before I started working at WISH TV8, so I have known him for over 43 years..

We are now working on cleaning lighthouse cabinets along with various finishing touches here and there..

I would recomend a grill by a company called Char-Griller(not CharBroil) located in Georgia. I have gone thru Charbroils, Webers, Grill Masters, etc. over the past25 years in Florida at an average of one every 2-3 years. They rust, burners deteriorate, igniters go bad, grills burn through, etc. Before retiring in Florida I would buy cheap grills so when we moved, rather then clean and move them, I would throw them away. Since being permanent, I have wasted my money on expensive grills that didn't last as long as the cheaper ones that I used to buy.

Char-Griller has many models to choose from (www.chargriller.com) and Lowes is one of the retailers that sell them. Lowes carries 3 standard models(charcoal only, gas only and a charcoal/gas combination)in Ocala. They are very heavy grade black powder metal with all the bells and whistles that a person can want. They aren't beautiful with shining chrome and stainless steel but they cook the best I've ever had and the price is VERY RIGHT. The gas grill that I bought was $189.00 and has a 1 year warranty on all parts and 5 years on the 3 burners. It also has a side panel with a punch out for adding their optional fire box/small table top charcoal grill for smoking or for cooking with wood or charcoal. This table top grill can be used independantly for a small cookout or permanately mounted and used as a fire box for smoking/charcoal grilling. There is also an optional rotissorie and cover. I plan on getting the wood side box in a couple of weeks for smoking some turkeys, pork loins, etc. You just load either charcoal or wood in the fire box and place what your going to smoke on the regular gas gril. The combination gas/charcoal grill would not do the smoking because they are separate stand alone grills mounted side by side but not connected.

Thanks Rich, exactly the help I was seeking. That's why the Forums are so great you can get help in many ways, not just Harbour Lights..

Our new seahorse we got at the Sand Dollar Bill Event has a home on the new deck..

No recommendation on the grill type, but if you have natural gas in the house, you might consider running a line to the grill location with separte shut off and adapter for the grill connection. You'll never have to refill or replace the gas bottle again.

I can picture a badmitton net set up along that light colored board and a crowd of spectators seated on the benches!

When we purchased the house they were only building with electricity at the time, therefore no gas. It's a good idea though, thanks.

What I picture, John is the deck filled with toys, two little girls and grandma and grandpa sitting on the benches enjoying every minute..

Joe and Jonnie are off camping for a few days then Joe will be back to work on the backs of the benches and some finishing touches, while Sue looks at cushion possibilities. We are deciding on table possibilities, also. I am working on which grill to go with, I have way to much information right now.

Nice upgrades on the house. Its better to have done it and enjoy the house even if you plan to sell in the future. It will be so much easier to sell later.
How is the printer you have. Is it as good as having pictures sent out to develop. I am having issues with Costco. My pictures never come out as good as they look from the camera and computer.
Fran

This is for Joe to see what the lighting lools like after dark.. He and Jose finished the deck today, including adding accent lighting, now we need to add some extra touches, like the grill!

Really nice Paul! I see you are even enjoying using your Mac on the deck. Now it's ready for you first party. Have fun!

Looks great Paul !!!

Thanks, Ruthie and Loon, I was testing out my wireless signal to make sure it reached the far corner of the deck, the transmitter is in the far corner of the other end of the house, it works great.

Sue pushed the cable release to shoot the image as the camera was on the tripod (slow shutter speed). The accent lights are only 10 watts each but they are enough to see to get around and not bright enough to draw many bugs.

The light from the computer screen was the light source on me. We will add a few of those bug torches and there will be plenty of light..


We are going grill shopping this afternoon. The construction part is done (except for sealing) now comes the accessory time.


Two different tables are in the works, one long fold up table and one Joe built table (picnic type) for one of the corners..


The switch turns the AC on and off for the accent lights and the new outlet that they added..


The new outlet whose purpose will be revealed in the future..


The two 10 watt spots do a good job of splashing light on the stairs...


Seat cushions are on the way.. And the Joe built table will go in this corner..


We also changed out the porch light to a couple of floods that can be activated by a motion sensor, on full time, off full time or on a sunset to sunrise sensor.

It's coming together like a plan!!

That lattice on the back of the benches is a really nice touch.

Sooooo Paul, what kind of grill did you finally decide on?

Still haven't bought one, yet. I think I am going with a Weber though as I had one that lasted for several years until it finally bought the farm..

Stand by for that and a surprise that will take a little while to get and install, for now it is back to cleaning cabinets and lighthouses, 2 cabinets down and 6 to go..

4 Cabinets done and 4 to go.. Today's cabinet that got cleaned is...


"The Oak Harbour"
Some of the long time Forum members might remember the cabinet naming contest that I held naming "The Oak Harbour" cabinet that Joe built and that Pierhead won the contest..


It takes several tables to unload "The Oak Harbour"..


The lighthouses all get a bit of fresh air and a careful makeup brush dusting themselves..


Of course the HL102 original Hatteras is sequestered away behind closed doors, out of harms way.


Sue and I are getting more efficient with each cabinet that we clean.. Over 160 lighthouses from HL101 to HL213 with multiple variations of some, call "The Oak Harbour" cabinet home....


All are back home..

Love the cabinets and the great collection of HLs. Your deck is outstanding. Great work by all and congratulations!

Question: I see you have some of your HLs on stands. Is there a reason for that? And where did you get the stands?

I shot this image of part of a shelf of Open Edition Lights to show the benefit of using risers.

I use risers in 2 different sizes 4w x 4h and 4w x 2h. I use them for the lights in the back rows to get a little height to see them better. This cabinet the lights are only two deep and it is like adding a half shelf height. In the cabinets with lights three deep, it helps see the back row and sometimes I have used the 4w x 4h back row and 4w x 2h on the middle row and on the shelf for the front row.

That's the good news, now the bad news.. The HL dealer that I got all of my risers through (wholesale), is no longer in business. They are not cheap but the visual help is outstanding..

Great photos of how the risers work. I have the same issue with my display cabinet in that the HLs on the back row are harder to see.

Paul or anyone else have ideas where to get the risers since Paul's dealer is out of business????

Awesome cabinet Paul !!!

Any chance Joe would make one for me?

I think I just gave him the biggest compliment. I'm a carpenter and can make my own!

I also have Risers but I made them. I went to a glass place and got stips of glass cut to size and found short candle sticks in glass. I put the class on the candle sticks and have an instant shelh. I have had my Hummels double stack for years with no problem.

This is our 2nd meal and the next day's lunch cooking on the new grill. The first meal cooked on the grill was beef fillets which we had after Joe helped me pick up and setup the new grill. The first guests for a meal on the new deck were of course Joe and his wife Jonnie (Sue's sister). It very was very special all the way around.


Sue is cleaning up the giant "peanuts" that came along with opening and putting together our new 5 ft Cape Hatteras Lighthouse for the deck..


This will be the Summer home for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse..


This will be the indoor home for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.. Joe is going to help me design and build a couple of stands for the lighthouse to sit on in both places..

Chloe's doing what I recommend that everybody do and that's give a lighthouse a hug.. Guess who's spending the next 5 days with Grandma and Grandpa.. BTW I told her that I wanted to shoot her picture with the lighthouse to show how tall the lighthouse is and she just walked over and gave it a big hug!! Chloe's 4 1/2 years old now..

What a great picture! Grandkids are the best!

Love all the pictures Paul, but the last one is definitely the best! It's hard to believe Chloe is 4 1/2 already, it seems like just a short time ago when you were posting her baby pictures.
She and her sister are beautiful, you must be very proud! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
HCS

Tonight we are having a special dinner on the new deck. I will be grilling Filet Mignon, Corn on the Cob, Baked Potatoes and we will have a bottle of Red Wine that I have been saving for about 6 years, now..

It is Sue and my 42nd anniversary today.. The McGregor Vineyard & Winery where we got the wine (2000 Black Russian Red) is just down the road a piece from JJ's home.

Congratulations on 42 years of togetherness. I hope you will enjoy your meal as much as you have your last 42 years.

Congratulations Sue & Paul on 42 years together !!!

Hope the next 42 are just as great !!!

The Filets were great, the corn was yummy, the wine superb and the company the BEST!

Congratulations Paul & Sue. Made for each other. Bless you both!

Congratulations you two!
Nostrovia! on your 42nd Anniversary!

Congrats to 2 of my favorite wackos. I remember the day you got that wine JJ

Congratulations to the both of you,46 years for Ms Sharon &I .May you all do 42 more!!!!
Rip

Guess whose Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law showed up on Labor Day morning with a new brand custom made to fit in the corner of the new deck - table, before our afternoon Brady Bunch Gathering..

Sue not only enjoying the new deck but also the new table.

Paul and Sue,

A belated Happy Anniversary to you both. 42 years is awesome.

What you do when retired and you get 6 inches of snow.. I decided to show off some of the remodeling in the snow...


We replaced the front door and had all of the trim on the house redone..


Of course, we either fly a lighthouse flag or a Colts flag..


The deck looks really different cloaked in snow..


A white fluffy tablecloth..

Beautiful work -- by you and God.

Nice setup, Paul! Looks good!

Bob

I know we didn't get what the Maryland area did, but we got 4 to 9 inches of the white stuff yesterday and last night with a bunch of wind..

The deck's 2nd blanket of snow, 1st of 2010..








Mount Weber on the right..

We dodged the bullet here in southeastern Massachusetts. We got none! It's really nice to have no snow on the ground and dry roads.

Bob

I was very surprised getting up Saturday morning. I was expecting at least 3 inches. We didn't even get a snowflake. WOW! I'm heading to Rochester area to see Julia Tuesday so I was worried about JFK get snowed in. Glad I didn't do the local from McArthur which would have gone through Baltimore or Philly. This is one of the time that the direct flight will pay off even after the extra 2 hour drive to NYC

The Harbour Lights Midwest Museum is going to have a special out of state visitor tomorrow.. There will be a long over due free tour of the Museum.. The visitor has a special Golden Ticket..

I will shoot at least one picture of the visitor and post it here...

Paul, you should get the award for being the most passionate Harbour Lights Collector in the universe. You would certainly get our vote. I'm looking forward to the picture of the very special guest.

Bob

I wonder who it could be?

I know someone who's heading east to Indy today stopping at attractions along the way.

Did the person have the Golden ticket in hand?

I didn't see the Golden Ticket. Just the photos that were posted of the nearby attraction.

Must be part of the Royal Family?
My guess would be Bill or Harry.

Nope Bill has been here often and it's not Harry..

After meeting online 14 years ago and meeting in person 13 years ago at the 1st Reunion, John Chidester has made to the Harbour Lights Midwest Museum..

John and I found out early on that we were separated at birth!!



Definitely part of the Royal family!!

OMG Is that John he doesn't even look like himself anymore! John. You look so much healthier now.

I had a hunch it was John!

Nice pic !!!

Looking good, Mr. C !

Bob

What's the HL# on the 'Golden Ticket' Paul!

John, we need a full review of the Museum?
But only, what's missing! :rolleyes:
not very much!

It's a Open Edition Golden Ticket, Bob!

That's pretty COOL Paul.
Only you would think of printing his own admit tickets.
Very Appropriate,

Hey Bob, I found one waiting for you with your name on it..

AWESOME!

thanks Paul & Sue

Here's a coincidence.
The first 2 #s and the last 2 are part of my birthday.
And the first 4 #s and last 5#s add up to 17. My number!