karawynn

We’ve been back in our house for a week, but I’m slow on the photographic record — so slow that I missed the window between finished floor and furniture delivery. So the floor photos also star our new dining table, chairs, and sideboard.

We did opt to extend the oak floors, and I’m ecstatic that it worked out, although as with everything in this house, we ran into unforeseen problems that increased the cost. The final result is beautiful, though, especially since refinishing the old oak changed it from a dark walnut to a rich gold, further lightening the space.

Along the way we also ripped out the stairwell ‘fence’; Jak and I were in complete accord about the hideousness of that particular feature, which was cobbled together out of mismatched pieces of ... er, I don’t even know the word for it, but the part of the door-facing that the latch and hinges are attached to. I want to replace it with some wide-spaced posts that don't block the light from the sliding door.

In addition to a stair railing, we still need the walls smoothed and painted, plus a bunch of trim work. I’m still trying to decide on colors; I want something lighter than the pumpkin-mustard and chocolate-brown we inherited, but still vibrant and not washed-out. We also have a list of furniture to acquire, as finances allow: two or three tables, a chair, a lamp, a coat rack, and two bookshelves.

But despite the mismatched walls, we do now have the basics for inviting people over: space and dinner seating. No toddlers, though, until we get a new banister ...

More photos and notes are available on Flickr.

To briefly recap where I've been since last post:

First there was the solo trip to Nashville, which was entertaining and informative on several levels. I didn't think about this in advance, but this was the first time I'd been out on my own in seven years. Turns out the trip was much easier than I expected, and reintegrating with my normal life was harder.

Then there were a hectic few days at home and work, followed by another week in a motel, much less comfortably, while further house renovations commenced. (I'll have photos in a day or two.)

Turns out Sammy? Doesn't travel well. Dog was brilliant, not a bit of trouble. Cat was desperate to get OUT OUT OUT of this strange small room, and let us hear about it at top volume. Almost non-stop the first night, and then at regular intervals for the six days thereafter. Sleep? Not so much.

Never. Again. Next time, cat gets a cage in a kennel.

Also, about three weeks ago I decided to start a new project, so most of my non-sleeping, non-working hours lately have gone into that. I brought it online tonight, beating my arbitrary self-imposed deadline by a week. That's what obsession will do for you.

Now I have to go do laundry.

About this time last year, after replacing ten windows and a sliding door, we began eyeing Major Project Number Two, which was taking down the wall between the kitchen and the living room, thereby opening up enough space that we could seat more than three people for dinner at a time. (This house is a bit odd in its space allocation ... you’d think that anything with five bedrooms would have room for at least that many people to sit and eat, but no.)

So I found a structural engineer, had him out to the house; he looked it over and pronounced it not load-bearing, and shortly afterward Jak and I commenced wall destruction.

Got most of the drywall peeled off (unearthing a mess of old plumbing in the process — I am baffled as to its original use) before we discovered that the beam at the top did not extend the length of the wall, despite outward appearances. Engineer then wondered why the roof hadn’t fallen in already, and told us we need to install a massive beam across the width of the room.

Off to find a contractor, who came out and gave us a bid for over six thousand dollars, making the project an order of magnitude more expensive than we’d expected.

Ouch.

Well, having very recently laid down nearly $10K for the windows, we did not have another six to put towards this. Plus it was summer, and finding contractors who even had time to answer their phones was tough, much less ones who’d come out and bid. So here we sat, with the half-destroyed wall ...

I had surgery in August, leaving me mobility-impaired for several months ... then Christmas and kids’ January birthdays ... what with one thing and another it was early March before I finally started researching contractors again.

Last week, more than eleven months after we began this saga, the wall was finally fully removed. (We managed to shave about a fourth off the initial $6K bid, though we lost the best deal while waiting for a third quote. Once the weather turns nice, the good contractors get snapped up in a hurry.)

And now we have space! Jak and I have been known to stand in the ex-wall spot and dance, we’re so happy to have it gone. The paint job needs to be completely redone, and the floor — I want to match the oak floor into the kitchen if we can afford it, or maybe bamboo if not — but these are aesthetic details, not functional ones. In May we’re going to get a dining table that seats six to eight, and assorted other furniture, and then we can actually begin to invite people into our home.

Here’s a tip for anyone redecorating: www.findyourfurniture.com has a pretty good free Flash-based room planner. More photos and a screenshot of my floorplan reside on Flickr.