A bit of a lull

We are into a bit of a lull.  Our carpenter is enjoying his vacation (we hope) across the pond in England.  And our electrician is taking care of some family stuff right now.  So, we are on hold until the pot lights can be moved and wall and ceiling repair is completed and the arch goes in.  With that said, we are chipping away at small projects.  Of course, by "we" I mean Kurt.  I went to Saskatoon this weekend for a gymnastics seminar with Jeff Tucker.  He was home making the half storey stairwell look all purdy.  Check it out!

Here's it's woebegone "before" shot.  Those are some ugly ass stairs.  Also, how cute are my kitties!  They are just teeny there!

And here's what they looked like at the beginning of the reno.  Fug.  Fug.  Fug.

And here we are now.  Almost done!  We need to caulk, nail fill and paint the trim, install a handrail and get another coat of paint on the walls.  But what a difference already!  So pretty!

Here is a close up of the stair risers.  Pretty!  Pretty!  Pretty!

Other stuff we need to sort out includes different sconces that don't look like horns above the mirror in the powder room.  Sarah wanted to see a photo and here it is!

And here is our next little project.  We need additional seating in our living room.  Found this solid mahogany coffee table on Craigslist for $20.  It's going to have it's top upholstered and then will find itself becoming a lovely bench that will sit between our living and dining rooms.  I loves it!

I'm also questioning some of my lighting choices.  I love the lights themselves but I'm not liking one of them in the room. I think I'm going to move the chandelier from the dressing room down into the dining room and then find a new chandelier for that room.  The small chandelier that I've been holding for the half storey will replace the light we've got in our entry.  This will be all in good time, however.

No Friday House Porn

My one track mind has switched back to CrossFit as I'm back in my groove back with training.  I've barely checked my design blogs at all this week and have mostly been all about getting ready for our gym's team to compete at Nationals.  Instead of looking for rugs and light fixtures online, I've been sussing out tall socks and wrist wraps.

I'm sorry but how pretty is this?  That was my own private squat rack a few months ago at the gym.  Not a personal record but I remember it felt like a decent set at 185lbs.

The reno is going very well.  The divertor trim kit came in and so I got to enjoy my first shower today.  The rainshower head?  Phenomenal. Lately, I've been on the hunt for accessories.  Hopefully starting with a small antique table for beside the tub!  The paint covered old piano bench is not ideal.

The arch is coming along.  We saw one of the boxes that the pillar will sit on and it looked gorgeous.  Jeff is off to Europe on a much deserved vacation for the next few weeks so it will be installed when he gets back.  In the meantime, there's ceiling repair to be done (poor Matt) and repositioning of the pot lights.

I heart my contractor

Brought up my concerns with Norm about the placement of some of the electrical and... done!  Getting fixed!  Seriously, these guys are so easy to deal with and just awesome.  We are totally spoiled.

One more week...

We have about a week left to go.  So excited!

We now have mirrors up and sconces installed.  The left one needs to come in half an inch.  The busted up washstand basin even looks okay (not okay enough not to get replaced).

The sparkly chandelier is now dangling over my tub.

We hung up the mirror in the small bath.  Not included in the photo are the sconces, which are mounted too high, and just need to be switched out because they look like crazy horns on the mirror.

Some of Jeff's awesomely awesome handiwork.  I LOVE the doors.  Still to come is another coat of paint (they got some wood fill and sanding action this weekend), crystal knobs and some magnetic clasps to help them lay flush.  Don't mind the cockeyed chandelier.  It needs to move over about two inches and be put together properly. 

 Here's our bedroom with our swing arm lamps all installed.  Yay!  And in the box to the left?  A pillar!  The second one is hopefully coming this week.  Jeff's next project is the arch.  He said he'll put it all together this week and insert the other pillar when it arrives.  I can't wait to see what it will look like.  Jeff's work is beyond good.

A nice shot of Jeff's handiwork on the closet.

Aside from sanding the closets and hanging mirrors, Kurt also played around to see how my wallpapered stairwell beautification plan would work.  Quite well, I'd say.  We'll have to finish our way up the stairs and then there is the trim detail to go on.  Mom has also requested a handrail before she arrives mid-May.  I think this stairwell is going to look nine kinds of fabulous when we're done with it.  There was no need to rip it out and replace it with another.

On the floor are the start of our fillets to go between the spindles on the floor.  That'll be a big, finicky job!  The chandelier is up as well.  It needs to come down a wee bit, I think.  Maybe centered in the middle of the top pane of the window?  It's these kind of details that I suck at.  I'm going to have to go look at my collection of photos to see what peeps do for random chandelier height.

Friday House Porn

It was a good week for house porn. 

(Yellowtrace via Apartment Therapy)

(Dress Design Decor via Plush Palate)

(Greige)

(La Maison Boheme)

(Lonny via Secrets of Domestic Bliss)

(Lonny Mag via Yellowtrace)

(Greige)

(Plush Palate)

(and MORE from Greige... LOVE this blog)

(Lonny via Elements of Style... yes, amazeballs)

This really has nothing to do with House Porn but I stumbled across a post on Katherine Westerhout's photography of abandoned buildings while going through some of the recent posts on Yellowtrace.  How absolutely gorgeous!

Saturday House Update

So, I'm guessing we have maybe another week left, maybe two, and then they'll be on to the basement for the remedial plumbing and electrical and we'll be doing final paint touch up!  Sweet!  Norm had Jeff working offsite for a lot of this week on the closet doors.  This was interspersed with floor stain and urethane application.  The floor is done.

In other news, our shower in the basement sprung a leak.  Not only did Norm fix it.  He also laundered our towels we used to dry off the floor just because he knew we didn't have access to our washer and dryer.  Stubbs Construction is fantastic.

 Here are some shots of the hardwood floor.

(The landing and study)

(The landing and study again)

(The bedroom)

(Another view of the bedroom)

(The bedroom and dressing room)

(The bedroom and dressing room again... they did a fantastic job replicating the original millwork.)

(The dressing room)

And that's where we sit right now.  It feels a bit surreal at this point that we're so close to completion. 

Friday House Porn

Brown chicken brown cow.  It's cold, grey and windy today, which could explain my sudden desire for a bit of colour.  Either that or I'm still a little stoned from the contact high we got off the floor stain yesterday.

(Elements of Style)

 (Secrets of Domestic Bliss via Dear Designer's Blog)

(La Maison Boheme)

(Elements of Style)

But at the end of the day, I like going back to neutrals.  They just make good spaces feel even better.

(Escapade via Plush Palate)

(Jose Picayo for Martha Stewart Living via Escapade)

(BHG via Secrets of Domestic Bliss)

Close but no cigar...

Damn I'm picky.  It's very close but after sitting with it for 20 hours, I'm still not sure about it.  And I'm also not sure if it's me being a little too crazy pants or if the floor is just a little too red and not quite dark enough.  We're playing with stain mixes and I'm coming home at lunch to pick a new one.  I've asked them to play with ratios of BM's dark walnut and pale pecan.  And if none of them are exactly what I'm looking for, I'll vote for me just being crazy and give the green light to clear coat the existing stain colour.  Stubb's is being super cool about my indecision.

Painted White

While I vacuumed up construction dust and made the rest of our house habitable again, Kurt caulked, nail filled and painted the bathroom.  The window seat and shelves are so pretty.  They are pretty much complete save for some decorative millwork on the front of the window seat that will mirror our wainscoting and closet doors.

It's not the right time of day to get a good shot of the entire piece without the picture going dark.  I can't wait to see it styled!  See?

 Over the tub, we're hanging a black and crystal chandelier and I'm going to use the ledge to display art. 

 In other news, our basement bathroom shower has sprung a big ole leak so we're now relegated to using the tub to get ready in the morning.  Horrible, yes?  I also can't wait until the diverter is installed and everything is sealed in the main shower.  Right now, it just whispers promises of awesomeness to me. 

Well, we won't be able to enjoy it for long as it sounds like tomorrow they're going to be staining the floors.  They didn't get to it last week as originally planned and Jeff is taking a bit of an extended Easter weekend.  After looking at his millwork, he's more than earned it!  Remember what we gave him to work with?

That's where the tub is now.  Here's another view of the room, where the the window seat and shelves are now located.

And here's the space from the bathroom that we co-opted to make room for the shower.

When Forsyth posted pictures of his bathroom on Facebook asking if anyone had ever seen an uglier bathroom I just laughed.  You have no idea, buddy!   I can't believe we lived like this for five years...  On the positive side, we will totally have the most astounding before and after photos.