Oh no - the end of May

Cleaned up the main floor today so the floor guy can just start in on Tuesday. I have to take photos of it as it is completely empty.

Steve tried to finish up the electrical in the kitchen now that we have the final draft of the design figured out.

We went to Jerry's (local Home Depot) and thought we would just "pick up" some can lighting for the basement as we'll start this project next week. Luckily, super knowledgeable Kim was there to help us out. Thirty minutes later, I am just beginning to understand most of what Kim keeps explaining to us. Who knew? Guess I have not paid enough attention to the intricacies of these things. We finally ended up buying a box of 8 and I also bought a few "samples" of the colors we have picked out. I'll try and get them up on the wall tomorrow.

Trees

Worked on the trees today with our friend Mike the arborist. Steve finished putting up the stairs this morning and they are great. A full to-code 6'6" of head room. Nicely done. Now he is back over there working on the electrical. Tomorrow we'll spend the day cleaning up and getting everything off the floors. The floor guy is coming next week.

Cancer

Totally off the subject - but on my mind. To all you courageous people out there that are giving this disease a good fight - we love you and think of you every day.

Part Deux

We had two guys at the house today installing the new windows. They aren't completely in, but mostly in - which is good because it will NOT stop raining. We already have had twice the avg rainfall for May. Luckily we did have a few hours rain free - so the guys weren't soaked. I like them (the windows and not the installers) - one is smaller than the original to accomodate the counter and one is larger (over the sink) and I think they make it quite nice. We used Integrity windows by Marvin which are a recycled material that can still be painted. They are double hung like the originals - but, unfortuantely, don't look old. The other sad thing is that the old windows were cracked and broken when they were taken out.

Steve spent the whole day taking the stairs down. He got them down and the landing cut back. They are sitting on the floor and hopefully will get put back up tomorrow. (Right now he is getting a back massage from the kids so he can go back over and work some more.)

I worked on paint colors today and think I have them all. Because of the "openness" of the house I think we will have the same color in the living, dining and kitchen. Hope it is not too boring but a 40s house is hard to find inspiration for while keeping a feel of the 40s without being too "kitchy" (unless you go contemporary). Who knows, color is sooo hard.

Windows & Stairs

This weekend was a non-working weekend. Steve was at the hospital (a lot) and my dad and Terry were in town. We had ballet performances and brunch and birthday parties instead. Steve and I started prepping today to put in the new kitchen windows and to move the stairs back about 10 inches. The stairs have to be moved because they were built for very short people and I even have to bend my head sideways to get down. It shouldn't be as involved as it sounds but we did have to demo this hodge-podge closet-ey thing that was built up against the stairs. Not at all sorry to see it go, but the people we bought the house from thought it was very charming, so I feel a bit guilty. I will show the updates tomorrow. Also, the rain will not stop and it is killing me!

Plaster & Elec. Photos

Here are some photos to show how nice the plaster and electrical are looking. These are all the skim-coated walls and the kitchen electrical.

Wednesday

I finished the wallpaper walls! All the walls are now ready to be plastered. So many small steps that seem so minor yet hold up each progessive step. Steve is over there doing more wiring. If you can just imagine him over there with a textbook and printouts from the internet on wiring.