The living room ceiling, stripped in an earlier renovation (photo by Katherine Slingluff)

My house is evolving―the drywall is being installed, the porch is almost done and the exterior trim should be completed soon.

My kitchen ceiling is gorgeous. It was initially sinking and bowing from water damage and I guess lack of support beams. We took it out…and discovered mold inside on the wood and thick paint with caked up grease. YUCK!

I wasn't planning to miss those wood beams at all after taking them down. I was initially evisioning the "possibility" of its beauty on my ceiling after I sanded it down, but have no regrets about removing it. (I'm keeping it for use on something else―either cleaning it for my studio, someone else's house, or create scultpure with it :)  )

After the tongue and groove ceiling was removed, the ceiling beams were reinforced and balanced, and ripe and ready for some fresh new tongue-and-groove wood. As I am so involved in my house and watching what's going into it as they build it, I happened to see them (the workers―with direction and approval from my contractor!!!) bringing the boards in to install that YUCKY, greasy, lead-painted ceiling back in my house…yes! the nasty one that was taken down and still uncleaned and without any mold remediation. I was in shock!

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photo by Katherine Slingluff

I love my house. I love what it was as a cozy, intimate, shotgun―built by people's bare hands without power tools during the 1890's. And I love what it has transformed into―I'll call it my grand palace. 

The process of rebuilding my house has been a tremendous educational experience on so many different levels. I am a hands-on, get-into-it woman•―I love working with materials and learning about how things are made. But I have to say that this is the first time in my life that I can recall feeling totally clueless and ignorant, to the extent that I have to trust someone else on something I'm invested in.

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photo by Katherine Slingluff

A lot of TOH fans have been hoping that the show would do some work down in New Orleans to help with the post-Katrina rebuilding. Well, that time has come. As the Newton project draws to a close, the work on the next project, which TOH TV has already begun to document for shows that begin airing in January, revs up. This 1892 Italianate-style shotgun house is in the flood-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward, in a neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi called Holy Cross.

Welcome to our homeowner Rashida Ferdinand, a 32-year-old ceramicist who's taking pre-med courses so she can apply for medical school next year. Stay tuned as she documents the craziness of trying to renovate in a former disaster area while also studying, teaching, and creating her art. It should prove to be an exciting ride!