Wow, we are SO almost there

In the last couple days, we've gotten this

hot and cold, and the sprayer (which feels pretty good in 90-degree weather)

and this

L's anniversary gift - dragon and phoenix YiXing tea set. Dragon and phoenix are the Chinese symbols for man and woman. Seems appropriate for 24 years together, eh? Looks quite nice on the new sideboard.

I took some old canisters that were hidden by all the clutter in kitchen and set them up to see how they would look.

These came in today, right on schedule.

displayed in half-bath where they are supposed to go but where we couldn't decide on paint color to go with them, and

here, next to the paint color in the hallway just adjacent to half-bath. Hmmmm.

And these:

there are two of these and they are RECLINERS. Mosa doesn't care about that, but she is quite conscientous about checking them out. Over and over.

and even this, in the "loft" area.

it's been placed but not stained or varnished yet.

but the biggest thing, I think has been this

We have a kitchen now. The old DW is downstairs, and L can put the new one in in a couple days, I think he needs a break, don't you?

You leave for a coupla days.....

Haven't posted for a while. A) I was out of town; B) When I got back, L had done so much I pretty felt slackjawed beyond belief. He and E were moving the large armoire up the outdoor construction "Stairs of Death" when I got home, so I instantly was put to work. L had rigged a winch to pull it up the stairs, but it was still quite a chore. So much has been done in the last week, I'll have to make this brief to get it all in. He and E moved the mattress and boxspring up to new Master Bedroom. He also installed the small, flat screen TV on a wall-mount and hooked up cable.


He fired one plumber, hired another who actually DID the job. We now have a lovely, functioning bathroom, except for the shower curtain ring which is a lower priority. He even found a few chairs for bedroom and bath. $10 each at Goodwill.



He installed the medicine cabinet above the vanity.



He and L also painted the Guest Room.



which will now become our temporary Living Room. More on that in next post.

One reason for doing so much of this is, that we cannot get a stairway in to replace the ^%^&(*&*(^^% ladder until the old bedroom and Living Room are cleared.

Off to start dinner, haven't really cooked here in a couple weeks. And we haven't even started on the kitchen yet....

Chocolat'

Running late but two quick things to post.

Deviled eggs are history. However, we MUST serve them at the (eventual) Open House.

And, our newest work of art:

More later.

Welcome to the Devilled Egg Museum

This is looking up INTO the museum entryway. See the nice tour guide waiting for you.

Gently climb the ladder:

Watch your head....

ah, there, you've made it in. Probably best for you to try to get up, as this is the St. Patrick's Day view:

Sorry, I just feel like we've been doing this for years instead of about 7 months.

L actually got the bedframe assembled, and brought up his nightstand, so we begin to get a feel for what it will actually look like.

He insists we need curtains so as not to give the neighborhood a show. As for me, I think they should thank us (grin).

The sheets, towels and medicine chest have arrived. The color on this is similarly dark as the vanity, but might be a little redder. I don't care any more.

Plumber has STILL not shown up and not called. Guess who's getting bumped from the bid process for Phase 2.

Mellow Yellow?

First, let's get a nonpinky pix of the bathtub:

Yes, it feels just that high when you're in it, too. When testing it out, I felt like a kitten who fell into it and couldn't claw my way out (thank God there's no pix of THAT). There is a 4-inch space underneath tub floor, so it's not as deep as it looks, but it was truly a challenge to get my arms UP on the edge. Definitely a soaker tub.

Now, I took maybe 10 pix of the painting we did today; natural light, natural with the overhead, flash, no flash. So far, I can't seem to really capture the color. It is NOT this yellow, but when I try to color correct, it only looks worse. The 2nd pix is probably the truest for color.

I'm always surprised when we take the lid off the paint. In the can, it seemed a lot lighter than I expected, nearly yellow instead of a warm goldish tan. As I worked on it, it began to go sour on me - started looking like "Harvest Gold". Told L all we need now is an avocado green bedspread, and we'd be back in the 70's, way before we even met. I got the walls done (general dimensions are 12 long x 18 wide by 8 tall) in a couple hours and just crashed. L finished cutting in at the ceiling (we have vaulted ceilings that top out at 12 feet - I'm 5'4" - he's 6 feet tall.) After getting away from it, and looking at it from a distance, with the ceiling for comparison, it's growing on me, it's looking more tan than gold. I know we can either play this color up or down with bedding, accessories, etc. At any rate, I don't dislike it enough to DO IT OVER. It's not the money ($50), but the time and the agony of my feet, etc.

Guest bedroom is almost the same size, about 10x18, less the closet and cut-ins on either side of bay window. The color for that is a pale green. We'll probably do that sometime during the week, or at the latest next weekend. He wants us to move in ASAP, so work can begin on existing house interior.

Mom and I are leaving on our annual knitting retreat on Wed Feb 11 and back on Mon Feb 16. L says they could be cutting in for interior staircase by then. They need to cut into existing house foundation to do the stairs, so I'm a little concerned. Walls will be braced while they do this work, but doesn't it sound ominous?

Is there a patron saint for "please don't let the house fall on my husband like the house did on the witch in the Wizard of Oz?" Please, Good Witch Glenda, don't let the house fall down.

The Furniture Part Has Started...

Last Thursday after work and then Saturday, we went shopping for a bedframe. After looking at over a dozen of them, I fell in love with this one, right inside the door at Stanton Furniture.

Floor Model, As Is, no visible defects, a little over $500, down from original price of $800. I think it will fit nicely into a Mission / Craftsman type environment. There were armoires, night stands, etc. but we already have all that, in a very similar stain color to this. Bed was delivered yesterday but we have not assembled it yet.

Joey has been quite perturbed with us. As soon as he figured out how to get up the ladder, we prevented him from doing so. Just discovered new places, and now he can't get up there. However, we were mightily forgiven by the acquisition of this new leather office chair.

Virtually, every time L goes into the office, Joey is keeping the seat warm for him. Which only makes sense since the addition AND the chair are specifically FOR Joey. We built him a new playground. At least that's the story he's telling all his friends as they come to talk at him at the new windows.

This area, a small alcove at east end, will become L's "manufacturing" area, where he can build circuit boards and adapters as needed for his business.

Finally, L decided that instead of covering up the glu-lam (main support timber), he would just stain it. When the framer and his son came over earlier in the week, the son thought L had wrapped the beam in plywood. It looks REALLY good especially with that quarter-round at the edges.

Desks and other furniture have been brought in but they are not "settled" yet. I think I will take the new photo T gave me of Dad and post it on the wall, over his old oak desk which I will soon be moving into.

The Great Floor Debate..

no filibuster here - lookee:

Small tragedy occurred when laying this floor as you reach the transition to bathroom.

.

Now I don't think it's worth taking out the whole tile for this. Besides, at least half of it will disappear under door frame. But while we're in the neighborhood, check this out.

Is that or is that not a pretty near perfect color transition from wood to tile. I mean, some of it is just accident of how the planks were laid, but OMG, I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

The guest bedroom was next:

I thought this was an interesting shot to see how damn high that vaulted ceiling is. Looks great, but I'm telling you I am never painting that thing again.

One man's ceiling.....

we started the hardwood floors today. I think they look kind of blondish with a gray cast. They don't look as warm in real-life as they seem to look here. Of course, we can fix a lot of that with stain. L thinks they are pretty close to the color we want already.

I think this is a nice touch around the heat register:

We discovered while walking the naked floorboards in stocking feet, there is a very slight dip in the floor. L thinks that when the joists were set in place, this one was set a little lower than the others. It does show up on the level, but I don't think there's much we can do about it now. I don't know how much sanding it would take to level them out. We certainly can't rip up otherwise fine ceiling and floor to fix something that is probably less than 0.25 inch. So, we drop a pencil, it might roll a bit.

One thing we are having a slight disagreement on, is the direction of flooring as you move out of bedroom into alcove outside the bathroom, and the closet to the right. He thinks that the flooring should change direction as you enter alcove, to give the illusion of length, as in a hallway. The area in question is about 6 x 8 feet. There is simply a square opening from bedroom into alcove, and actual doors into closet and bedroom which of course has tile flooring.

I think that to keep the boards the same direction gives the Master Suite a sense of continuity, that one area flows into another. It seems choppy to me to change direction for such a small area, especially since there is no door at this spot. What do you think?

Now, back to the bathroom for a little bit. We definitely need a second coat in the bathroom. L thinks it might be too dark, but I think it's OK. It reminds me of the trip to eye doctor for new glasses. "Is the chart better WITH it (pause, click) or WITHOUT it?" It dries darker than I expected but I kind of like it. I think any change would be pretty subtle. It just seems dark because so much else in the room is WHITE WHITE WHITE. The paint is only halfway down wall because there will be white wainscoting at this point.

Now, I was really on the fence. I thought it might be a tad dark but the bathtub is still wrapped up in cardboard and it's white white. It does meld well with the floor tile, I think. The shower curtain, as yet undecided/unpurchased, can add some brightness to room and can dress the room either up or down. If we get a shower curtain with tan in it, I think it will all pull together.

But, then I saw this:

Period. Done. Over. I cannot believe the PERFECT match with the dominant color in the vanity countertop. I was not a fan of this countertop but decided to pick my battles ("I get the kitchen. I get the kitchen. I get the kitchen.") I surrender. It's perfect. Sigh. Where's my cigarette?