Progress

This french door pattern is going in the office double doors, the away room double doors opening into the living room, and this door, which is the away room opening up into the hallway. I designed this pattern, which is a mixture of two different stock designs. The wood is unstained right now, and the thermostat will be reattached after staining. :)

The living room, which is currently more like a wood shop. The spots in the picture are dust particles in the air.

The eating area. The ceiling will be covered with the same wood as the floor.

Tile Is In

The upstairs bathroom floor.

The upstairs bathroom shower. The mosaic carries the headband line around the shower. Grout not in yet.

The basement entryway floor.

Progress

Playroom window. I love the gold color of the paint with the woodwork.

View of the hallway. (Temporary light fixture hanging down will get replaced. :)

View of Emily's windowseat. You can see the two stain colors mixed - the natural maple and the stained poplar.

View looking out of boys' room door. This room is bluish-gray, but not at all the same color as Emily's room (a bright blue-green) even though in the pictures they don't look different.

Marching Band

Since I haven't included any pictures of Emily's marching band, I thought I'd better take one and post it. This year the theme is 4 Seasons. The band is forming a leaf for the fall season. Emily is in there somewhere. :)

Progress in the Bathroom

This is the view of the new upstairs bathroom from the living room. The new cabinets were installed yesterday, and the headband trim today. The reddish paper is covering a black granite countertop. The left side, which you can't see, contains the stand-up shower and more cabinets. Even though it doesn't look like it in the picture, the cabinets are a lighter stain than the kitchen cabinets. The layout of this bathroom turned out really well. The toilet will go behind the far wall on the left side of the vanity.

Staining Redeemed

The new staining crew started working in the basement this week. We are thrilled with the results of their work. They have a more complex process than the previous crew: they wipe on the stain, seal the wood, spray on the stain (color can be adjusted at this point, which is what we had to do), and then lacquer. The wood is richer and darker. Most of the problem areas have gone away or aren't noticeable unless you know where to look. Changing crews was absolutely the right decision. Our builder did a good job of finding a crew that is capable of dealing with the fussy poplar wood, and that dealt with the tricky situation of coming in after another crew had started. The crew finishes staining in the basement tomorrow and then they start painting.

Window Seat

The headband runs across the upper portion of the window seat. The big white drywall patch on the left will get repainted. :) The wood will be stained the same color as the kitchen cabinets. We will cover the 5-inch thick cushion we've had here previously with fabric to match the paint. This will be the prized, most-sought after spot in the house after it's finished.

The slanted back is for leaning against when lounging or reading in the window seat. The opening above the backrest has adjustable shelves, which are stacked up in the bottom of the opening until they are stained.

The view of the other side.

Warning! Not for Those Who Have Dust/Mess Phobia

Still Life: Drills

Benches in Living Room Corner

These will have flip-top lids and be lined with fabric inside.

Bathroom with Drywall

Lockers in the Entryway

Behold the unstained locker area in the entryway. The wood will be stained the same color as the kitchen cabinets. When I walked in the house after this area was finished, I realized that we have reached a monumental moment in our house remodel. The first headband board (the board between the lower and upper parts of the wall that that separates the two different colors) had been installed. We have gotten so many questions about why we didn't "finish" painting all the way up the walls. Even this week, the guy who is working on drywall in the bathroom assumed that the person painting was just too short to reach! You can see in this picture that the headband board runs across the top of the door and then around the lockers. The headband will be everywhere in the main floor except around the kitchen.

Homecoming

Emily is gorgeous in her purple gown.

The gang of friends that went together this year.

Emily and her close friend, Amber. These two stole the show with their updos, vivid-color gowns, and beauty!

Isaac Plays Goalie

Isaac enjoyed playing the goalie position for some of his first soccer game. He made a couple of blocks to prevent the other team from scoring. His team ended up tying the game.

More Pics

The future fireplace. It is being installed on Friday.

View from our old bedroom (now the TV room, which we are called the away room) into the living room.

View from the living room into the away room.

The upstairs bathroom. It's just studs and wires and a shower pan right now.

Pictures Around the House

Entryway looking down toward the kitchen.

The cabinets are installed around the stairway. The railing, which will be made from slate tiles with a wood band around the edge, will sit on top. The railing will be a little more than 12 inches wide.

This is why our builder wanted us to move out. This view is from the kitchen looking into the living room.

House Pics

Finally all the kitchen cabinets are hung. Well....there are still 4 to install around the stairway, but they don't count as the original cabinets that we got over a year ago.

The four cabinets mentioned above will be installed around the stairs and those temporary shelves will be gone! In this picture you can also see the bathroom that was gutted where the bare studs are.

Future fireplace!

This is the most startling and exciting change today. The hole from the living room to the away room (our former bedroom) was cut. What a change! I can't wait until the double french door with glass are installed. The doors for the upstairs are 2 weeks away.

Stain Update:
We got a bid today from a staining crew that is much more reasonable that the last number that we got. We will be looking at some of the crew's work and having them stain some sample boards for us. Hopefully they will work out. We're getting closer to a solution on that.