Floor Sanding, Day 2 - by Holly

Quite a bit of progress, although there's still more sanding needed. I love the rich tones/character of the original floors:

Will's Room

Upstairs Landing

Upstairs Landing

Elana's Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom (original floor next to addition)

Master Bedroom

Floor Sanding and Skeleton Key - by Holly

When I went by the house at lunch today I was able to snap some pics of the sanding. There is more sanding to be done to the areas I have photographed but it gives a glimpse of the real floor. EXCITING! And it really matches what we put in downstairs!

Also, the salvaged door we're using still had its lock mechanism so Todd found a local locksmith to make a new SKELETON KEY for it--how cool is that?! All the pieces work great (just missing a rosette for the interior knob) and function just like we had hoped--complete with a double deadbolt (you have to use a key on both sides). This is so awesome:

One Week Left! - by Holly

I'm very happy because these last days before moving in don't seem to be taking forever--which I would have expected after 9 months of waiting (and 17 months after deciding to move from/sell our last house). I've been working on a furniture plan for the new house and it's really hard since I don't yet know how we'll really use the space. Having small children makes it extra important to have things arranged in a way that's functional! Anyways, inspections are passed, the last one is taking place today (for our certificate of occupancy). The process of refinishing the floors starts today (upstairs) and will continue through the weekend. We'll have Monday and Tuesday to clean and finish up any last requests from the building inspector.

Lots of priming yesterday:

And the wainscotting/old trim:

 

And we decided to go ahead and put in the future closet in the family room (that will hold all media components plus other stuff):

A Little Cleaner - by Holly

The house is almost ready to have the floors sanded! As more cleaning/picking up is being done, it's easier to feel how spacious this house really is!!

We have hardware on the cabinets now:

 

 

  

And the stairs are done:

Stair Banister - by Holly

This is actually from yesterday, but, it's pretty cool!

 

 

there are 3 more balusters going here

  

And here are the pendant lights in the kitchen!

Two More Weeks? - by Holly

At this point we are on track for another two weeks of work before we move in! There will be a number of things I will finish, such as painting walls and prepping/painting trim and beadboard ceilings, and a small handful of things that will take place after move-in such as screening the back porch and finishing the interior arched doorway. Over the next couple weeks, the stairway will be completed, we'll get the final CO, finish the floors (upstairs and down), and add doorknobs/rim locks. I've started packing our apartment and have lost any will power I once had over a year ago to pack in an organized fashion. O:) Ideally we'll move Feb 29 although that date doesn't really allow for any contingencies. Colin and Elana are going to California March 3-11 so I'm pushing to move in before they head out.


We have one meter now instead of two, yay!

Kitchen:

One really long handrail...

Check out that newel post!

Lights, Baths, and Stairs - by Holly

(the shades still have the wrapping/tags)

Our stairs are getting some pretty special treatment. Since the staircase is in the front of the house where we're trying to preserve a super historic feel, we decided to ditch the half wall and convert to open treads which also meant new treads (the same reclaimed heart pine as our flooring), and I REALLY wanted tread brackets. Tread brackets are what I call jewelry for the stairs. I didn't even know they existed (consciously) until I started pouring over images of historic stairs. So what are they? Those pieces on the side/profile of the stairs. They are wood right now but will be painted white (treads will be stained) and will add a subtle layer of detail. I like the fancy brackets too but I don't like the price. O:)

 Here's an example of a staircase with very elaborate tread brackets: