WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2014 � pontiacdailyleader.comB4

REMODELING IN THE WORKS

Father-daughter duo brings history back to lifeBy Cynthia GrauStaff Reporter

Being able to tour a half-finished,large-scale renovation project seems to berare, because many contractors and build-ing owners would prefer to show a fin-ished piece to the public.The Daily Leader had the chance to ob-

serve a project, which includes two apart-ments, in a historic downtown Pontiacbuilding, to see just what it looks like totake an old building, wipe away layers andlayers of history and bring the spaceback to life.Gary Boldt of Boldt Home Improve-

ment has been working on the apartmentsabove the former Pontiac Sports buildingon Main Street since the beginning of No-vember. He says the project is abouthalfway finished at this point, and he andhis daughter, Cyndi, still have plenty ofwork ahead of them.Boldt said when the pair first started

work inside the building, there was a lotof “junk,” like things previous inhabitantshad left behind, as well as aluminumitems from the former trophy room in thefront of the building.“We pulled the dump truck up to the

back door and started throwing thingsout. We filled it up twice,” he said. “We re-cycled the aluminum items.”From there, the two of them got to work

scraping the seven layers of wallpaper thatcovered all the walls of both apartments.He said that process was finished beforeNussbaum Heating, Cooling and Elec-trical came in and started working withthe electrical, heating and plumbing in theapartments.“The heat is above the ceilings now. This

is easiest because we knew we were do-ing suspended ceilings, so it’s a goodway to hide the hardware,” Boldt said.“The air conditioning units will be on topof the roof.”Four months into the project, Boldt said

that their biggest challenge has probablybeen the part of scraping off all the lay-ers of wallpaper. He wasn’t even able totalk any of his other helpers, which are hisother four daughters and grandchildrenwho chip in with big projects from timeto time, into scraping walls with he andCyndi. He said he didn’t think it was their“cup of tea.”“It’s hard to say how long it took, be-

cause we are in and out, but we were atit a good solid month. It was just Cyndiand me,” Boldt remembered.During the early days of the project,

there was no electricity to the apart-ments, so they ran electrical cords to theupstairs and had a light in each room,which was another obstacle. A bigger ob-stacle? The brutally cold winter the areaexperienced and having to work withlittle heating in that part of the building.“There was no heat here either when we

started in October, so we had heatersblowing warm air around to help keep itwarm while we worked up here,” Boldtsaid. “The dreaded winter we had, it gota little chilly up here. Once you actuallywarm it up and get the fans working todistribute the heat, it was OK.”Currently, the pair, along with Nuss-

baums, is working on ceiling tiles, fromplacement to cutting the edges, to fittingheating vents. He said his daughter isworking on cleaning up the baseboardsbecause the majority of them are going tostay natural wood, and some have to bereplaced where they were missing.When working in old buildings, many

surprises seem to pop up. Boldt said hisbiggest surprise was found underneaththe linoleum.“You always seem to find newspapers.

They used to find newspapers underneathlinoleum. Before they laid that down, theyalways used to put newspapers down forinsulation, for some reason. So the onesI found date back to 1935 (Chicago Dai-

Gary and Cyndi Boldt, above, pair up to do home improvement work that runs thespectrum in the Livingston County area. The Bolts laid the gridwork for the newceilings, below, and Nussbaum Heating, Cooling and Electrical installed the elec-trical and ductwork. PHOTOS PROVIDED/CYNTHIA GRAU/DAILY LEADER

see ‘FAMILY’ page B5

after the completion of the stairway for work to beginupstairs. Today, it somewhat resembles Lydia’s Loft —a sought-after loft-style lodging in downtown Pontiac— in the sense that it celebrates the exposed brick wallsand has a modern vibe accompanied by a picturesqueview of the Old Historic Courthouse. That, however, iswhere the resemblance ends. A major difference betweenthe two is the entrance to the master bedroom. In theloft, bedrooms are accessible through the long hallway,but in the Lucas’ loft, the master bedroom can only beaccessed from the open kitchen and dining room area.“We considered turning the space into two apartments

or possibly a bed and breakfast,” Tiffany Lucas said.“Knowing what Lydia’s looked like was a help in com-ing up with our ultimate vision for the space. We are verypleased with our decision and how things have turnedout.”One thing the family kept in mind while designing the

space was that each bedroom had to have a window dueto safety codes. With that in mind, it was decided noneof bedrooms could be attached to the solid brick wall side.Russell said different codes dictated a lot of the loft’s over-all layout. Another factor would be the design for theheating and cooling. The family wanted to make the loftas efficient as possible and that meant figuring out theoptimal place to run the utilities. The loft has gas-forcedheating and central air throughout.“It’s not like starting with a brand new floor plan, you

have to design around what you’ve got,” Russell said. “Youhave to remember nothing is square, nothing is level —nothing is simple.”After the general layout of the loft was set, Courtney’s

input was included when making decisions about the de-sign and look of the kitchen, floors and things like that.She said it felt good to know her opinion was valued.“The fact that I got to have some input really makes

the loft feel like home,” Courtney Lucas said.Since moving in, Courtney says work is moving toward

completion. Although there are a few odds and ends yetto be completed, those who have been given the op-portunity to tour the apartment are pleased with the de-sign.“People come up here and they love it,” Tiffany Lucas

said. “I’ve been working up here since about June andwhenever I finish up for the day, I step back and trulyfeel pleased with what we’ve accomplished.”

B8 pontiacdailyleader.com WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2014

LOFTfrom Page B7

One of the unique features throughout the loft is the exposed ductwork that lines the ceiling. The masterbedroom is also unique in that it features angled walls and sill offers more than enough space for a large bed.LUKE SMUCKER/DAILY LEADER

Change style withnew, excitingdecorating trendsLooking for ways to switch up your style? From the

right patterns and colors to impressive accents, the lat-est home design trends will keep your space lookingfresh and fabulous.“Now more than ever, homeowners are willing to ex-

periment with design,” said Taniya Nayak, interior de-signer and DIY television personality.Here are a few home decor trends Nayak predicts will

make a big impact this spring:A hot trend in 2014 is to bring flea-market furniture

back to life with painted patterns and details. “Refur-bishing old furniture pieces is a popular and easy lookto achieve,” said Nayak. “All you need is a little bit ofpaint and a lot of creativity.”New pre-cut, patterned painter’s tape makes this sim-

ple project much easier. Before painting, simply applythe tape in the desired pattern on a hand-me-down orthrift store find to create a custom piece for your home.You can create a home filled with vintage details, re-

gardless of the age of your house. Try using muted col-or palettes, like gray, taupe or certain shades of greenor rose, and industrial accents to transform its ap-pearance. “Incorporating pieces of distressed wood willalso add to the overall vintage effect,” adds Nayak.“Merging styles to make the entire family happy is

not always easy,” said Nayak. Instead of looking toorugged or too girly, a key trend is to blend both

masculine and feminine components into your homedesign. Try painting a design on a wood floor. This tech-nique allows the raw, masculine features of the woodto show through, while introducing a feminine over-lay of patterns or colors. Popular patterns include qua-trefoil, herringbone and modern floral designs.

For the latest news, sports and photos,visit the Daily Leader online.www.pontiacdailyleader.com

Establish areas where you want moredramatic features, like a pond, an accenttree or shrub, or statue. In a small yard, youdon't have a lot of space for these design el-ements, but you do have some, so take ad-vantage of it. At the same time, make sureit all ties into the larger garden design andto the home. When you have a small yard,it's harder to pull off areas with radicallydifferent design aesthetics, because theycan feel jarring.

Play down the small size with small, sim-ple furniture that will feel large thanks tothe surrounding space and light, airy

plants. Use creepers and climbers to youradvantage to make the garden into an out-door room filled with light and color, andenhance the illusion of space by addingmultiple levels to your garden. Use steppedterraces, pathways, and decking to draw theeye along the vertical axis of the yard, whichwill make it seem bigger, and install mir-rors in clever locations to add to the size.You don't want to make visitors think you

feel like your yard is inadequate, but youcan turn it into a space that feels much big-ger on the inside. There are lots of creativeways to use a small yard, and you might justfind yourself falling in love with your tinyspace. After all, unlike your friends withhuge gardens, your landscaping mainte-nance will be a cinch.

pontiacdailyleader.com WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2014 B7

LAWNSfrom Page B5

Areas including features such as ponds or statues are encouraged for those whomay not have the yardage for extensive landscaping. PHOTO PROVIDED

“I think the wood is anart within itself,” Dee said.“From there, my husbandtook it a step further andmade our headboard andart frames out of reclaimedwood too. It makes every-thing flow from the bed-room into the bathroom.”As is the case with al-

most any project, the bath-room addition had its ownset of hurdles to overcome.First, there was no base-ment underneath, whichmeant digging out a crawl-

space and there was noway to get a backhoe intothe backyard because ofthe pool, so the workershad to dig the crawlspacewithout the use of heavymachinery.“That was as bit of a

challenge, but John didn’tblink,” Mike said. “He gotsome people together andthey finished it in a daywithout tearing up theyard. He was here May 1,but he was done in mid-August. The bathroomtook two months at most.”If adding a crawl space

wasn’t enough, Tibbs alsoused the wood siding and

the trim around the win-dows and doors as an ex-ample for the outside of theaddition. He even madeexposed rafter tails, whichMike said nobody doesanymore and put them allaround. “It looks like it’s always

been here,” Mike said. “Theoutside completely match-es the original house. Someof the trim had to be man-ually made, but that’s thecraftsman in him and weabsolutely love it. We can’tbelieve we lived here for solong without it. He tookour idea and nailed it — lit-erally.”

HOMEfrom Page B6

LUXURY REDESIGNED

A big city life in PontiacBy Luke SmuckerStaff Reporter

Courtney Lucas, theowner of Charmed Bou-tique in downtown Ponti-ac, has always had a heartfor life in the big city. Herbusiness, a woman’s bou-tique specializing in fash-ion-forward dresses, tops,handbags, scarves and jew-elry, models her passion. A little less than a year

after opening the business,she approached her par-ents, Tiffany and Kley Lu-cas who own the building,with the idea of turning theloft above the storefrontinto a luxurious livingspace. The transformationis still in progress, but forthe last two months Lucashas been living life on herterms in the heart of Pon-tiac.“I always planned to live

in Chicago,” Courtney Lu-cas said. “The fact that Ilive here stems from hav-ing the store, but I also likethe idea of living in themiddle of downtown and Ilove what we’ve created.”From a practical stand-

point, the family agreed itmade sense to make thebest use out of the loftabove the store.“Even before we started,

the upstairs had a loftyfeel to it,” Courtney said.“We felt like the space al-ready had potential withthe exposed brick. Whywaste it?”Tiffany Lucas says other

business owners aroundthe downtown have hadsimilar ideas to reconstructthe space above their es-tablishments. Howevermany of them cited waterdamage as the reason theyultimately had to forgo theendeavor.“Luckily we didn’t have

any of that,” Tiffany Lucassaid. “If we had to dealwith water damage andput on a new roof we prob-ably wouldn’t be makingthe improvements to ourspace either.”Most of the work began

on the loft last March, butbefore any of that couldcommence, a stairway hadto be completely con-structed. Prior to its con-struction Bob Russell,Courtney’s grandfather andthe Mayor of Pontiac, saidthe only way to access theloft was through a 15-inchby 24-inch hole.“You had to take a couple

of step ladders just to getinto the loft,” Russell re-calls. “You had to take onestep ladder up to a landingand use another ladder toget through the hole.”It would take Russell

around two months justto find a way to make stairswork in a place that previ-ously had no stairs. The setof stairs also had to meetguidelines and safety stan-dards.

“I figured out where thestairway was going to goand I built an enclosure sothat once we got startedworking on the loft, noneof the debris would falldownstairs and spill outinto the storefront,” Russellsaid. “I actually had to dothat before I could even be-gin to work on the stairs.”To hear Tiffany, Russell’s

daughter, describe the ini-tial loft space, the win-dows were boarded up andthe space was completelyopen and empty. Manysketches were drawn in aneffort to make the best useof the space.“Kley and I went back

and forth to discern whatwould look good, but wealways had a sense thatthe loft had something spe-cial going for it — like a di-amond in the rough.” Rus-sell said.

Everyone knew this proj-ect would take a lot ofwork. The loft encompass-es 1925 square feet and ittook around six months

Courtney Lucas, owner of Charmed Boutique, is inthe process of bringing a city life feel to the loftabove her storefront. LUKE SMUCKER/DAILY LEADER

see ‘LOFT’ page B8

B6 WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2014 pontiacdailyleader.com

best to improve properties this time of year, as well.“Common questions would be, “How do I get my lawn

ready?” With the rain and the mess and the wet, a lotof people have questions about basements, too,” saidHammer. “‘Can I clean out my basement? How do I pre-pare it for the next time we have water?’ We’ve been go-ing through sump pumps and shop vacs – things likethat.”She went on to say that the staff at Ace are some of

the most knowledgeable in the area regarding home im-provement projects. Georgia Howard has been with thecompany for two decades and Dave King has also putin his time, making the two well-known throughout thecommunity in terms of being go-to faces for help.Outside of home improvement projects, Ace also of-

fers a wide variety of what local residents may need tokeep their lawns in top shape this spring.“As far as gardening, laws and all of that, it’s impor-

tant to start from a good foundation,” she said. “If youhave a lot of good dirt and soil, you can work and geta lot of things accomplished quickly.”According to Hammer, the store sells several types of

fertilizer, including products from Scotts, JonathanGreen and Ace. Other crucial items for lawncare includehoses and grass seeds, as well.Hammer admitted that the store is smaller, but said

that oftentimes, customers come in to pick up the odds-and-ends of projects before hitting the larger depart-ment stores like Home Depot or Lowes.“We don’t sell all of the big products that the home

HARDWAREfrom Page B5

Tina Hammer, Ace Hardware store manager, pointsout a sump pump – one of the store’s most popularitems this time of year. LUKE SMUCKER/DAILY LEADER

stores sell,” she said. “We carry all of the smaller stuffneeded to finish the project. So, it’s not a bad idea tocome here and buy all the little things before headingoff to the bigger home stores.”For those moving into new homes or business loca-

tions, Ace also offers the service of making keys or re-keying locks for doors.Ace Hardware in Pontiac is located at 203 E. Liv-

ingston St. The store can be reached by calling 815-842-2966 for home improvement needs.

home instead of losing a bedroom.“We wanted our own unique bathroom attached to the

master bedroom,” Mike Ingles recalls. “Houses of this erajust didn’t do that. We also wanted to give this bathroomaccess to the pool so we could go in and out without track-ing water through the house.”Tibbs assured the couple their addition would look nat-

ural while also meeting their specific needs. After the cou-ple gave him a list of their ideas, he incorporated thoseideas into a couple of different plans for the couple tochoose from. These plans were looked over and tweakedagain by the couple and Tibbs came back once more witha plan incorporating those changes. “He really listens to his clients,” Dee Ingles remarked.

“The guy is multi-talented — he’s a designer, a craftsmanand a carpenter.”Dee Ingles loves natural tones. The tile and every col-

or in the house is a natural mix and she wanted the col-or scheme of the bathroom to fit. She also wanted to addlight fixtures because the addition meant eliminatingthree windows in the bedroom. Tibbs not only added thelight fixtures but also opened up the bathroom to nat-ural light with windows and a door with wood steps lead-ing to the in-ground pool in the backyard. For the couple, a favorite part of the addition is the pair

of medicine cabinets set in a larger opening. The lightspills over the top of a pair of medicine cabinets. “The light glows into the bedroom,” Dee beamed. “The

craftsman part of John came out in the vanity, the dou-ble sinks and the drawers that I wanted off the floor —kind of a Caribbean-style with rolled towels. He put spin-dles for the towels and went completely above and be-yond our expectations.”The back of the cabinets was covered with reclaimed

wood. Dee said they are both partial to different woodsand the backing adds an organic feel to the room.

HOMEfrom Page B5

The bathroom attached to the Ingles’ bedroom wasone of the major assets added in their recent renova-tion project. LUKE SMUCKER/DAILY LEADER

see ‘HOME’ page B7

By Luke SmuckerStaff Reporter

Mike and Dee Ingles,owners of the 1949 brickcraftsman-style ranch onHenry Street in Pontiacdecided last summer it wastime to add on to theirhome to make room for theneeds of their grandchil-dren. They wanted a mas-ter bathroom, which wouldbe unique to their tastes,but also match the rest ofthe house.The Ingles said most lo-

cal people know theirhome from the previousowner, Harold Schroder,was a physician from Pon-tiac. The couple says theSchroders built the houseand raised three boys in itbefore moving in during2004.It was designed by an ar-

chitect from Bloomingtonwith the last name of Hil-finger — part of a firmcalled Lundeen and Hil-finger. “From what we have

been told, Hilfinger andHarold were friends,” Deesaid. “The man was in his

20s and he loved the FrankLloyd Wright arts andcrafts look. It’s a very un-usual house.”The home is usual com-

pared to homes of its timebecause it was insulatedand all of the windows are

thermal-pane windows.According to the Ingles’research, Pella introducedthe thermal pane windowsin 1949.To add on to the house,

the couple decided to seekout the expertise of John

Tibbs, owner of Tibbs Con-struction Co. They dis-cussed multiple plans, oneof which was to take a bed-room and turn it into abathroom. The couple de-cided to add on to the

pontiacdailyleader.com WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2014 B5

ly Tribune and Pantagraph). I love to see all the adver-tisements in those papers, because you can see the priceof things back then,” he said as he pointed out a sale fora 77-cent dress. He said the owners, who are a couple living in Ponti-

ac, don’t seem to be in a big rush to have this project fin-ished, so he doesn’t really have a deadline at this point.“It will happen when it happens. I’m expecting another

solid month of work up here. Now, whether that takestwo months to get that month’s worth of work done, sobe it,” Boldt said.Next up in the apartments, which each have one bed-

room, a living space, a bathroom and kitchen, will be tosand and do some repairs and restoration to the hard-wood floors.“As you walk through here, you can see and visualize

what can happen to it,” he said of his first tour. “It’s al-ways nice to walk away from a project and see the endresult.”

FAMILYfrom Page B4

These pocket doors were unusable until the Boldtscame in and started work on the apartment to theeast. PHOTO PROVIDED

STORE SHIFTS TO SPRING MODE

ACE Hardware readiesfor the spring seasonBy Jacob MisenerManaging Editor

With warmer temperatures comes the desire to cleanone’s home. The traditional spring cleaning, which in-cludes major time and effort isn’t alway’s people’s favoritething to do, but sprucing up their homes in other waysseems to grow in popularity as the mercury rises.According to Tina Hammer, who has worked at the Ace

Hardware store in Pontiac for four years, paint alwaysseems to be popular this time of year.“They are changing hardware on their doors, on their

cabinets – everybody wants a refresh,” she said. “Espe-cially with this harsh winter that we’ve had, people havespring fever.”Even people who aren’t typically the self-home im-

provers are looking for both materials and advice on howsee ‘HARDWARE’ page B6

ADDITION TO LOCAL HOME

Time for more rooms for grandkids

Mike and Dee Ingles recently added onto their home in order to meet the de-mands of a growing family – namely grandchildren. LUKE SMUCKER/DAILY LEADER

By Katie MarksGatehouse Media Service

Got a yard the size of a postagestamp? I used to live in a housewhere the deck space was biggerthan the garden, which was barelybig enough for a cat to turn aroundin (granted, I have a big cat). Thatdidn't stop me from creating anamazing garden that got tons ofcompliments -- and looked way bet-ter than the neighbor's spacious gar-den. The trick to making the most ofa small space indoors or outdoors isgetting creative with your designand placement, and not being afraidto live your dreams, even if you haveto modify them a bit.One of the biggest mistakes with

a small garden is to plunge into itwithout planning, resulting in a

hodge-podge of looks, plants and fur-niture. The result can be cluttered,cramped and chaotic: Think of be-ing in grandma's living room with 60years of furniture styles on display,surrounded by towering piles of oldmagazines, newspapers and a col-lection of ornamental Scottie dogs.You don't want that look for your gar-den!So start by planning. If necessary,

take out old landscaping, eventhough it might be a scary thought.You want clean, clear ground tostart with. Taking out old plantsalso provides a chance to work lotsof fertilizer into the soil and laydown weed barriers so your gardenwill be healthier and easier to main-tain. Measure out the dimensions ofyour yard and create a detaileddrawing with fixed features like yourhouse, deck, and limits on your lot

like walls, driveway and so forth. Thiswill give you a clear idea of thespace you have to work with.Christopher Cohan at “This Old

House” recommends creating an or-namental border, especially along thestreet side, as this will create a clear-ly defined space and add some pri-vacy. Keep your border clear andsimple, with plants in similar colorsand heights. Too much variationcan make your border feel chaotic,and not in a good way. Establishpathways to key parts of the houseand yard, and make sure the mate-rials are appropriate to the setting,whether you're hiring a concretecontractor to install a basic con-crete walk for a mid-century modernhome or laying stepping stones for awhimsical English cottage.

Make the most of your penny-sized lawnGARDEN AND LAWN TIPS

see ‘HOME’ page B6

see ‘LAWNS’ page B7