Building a railing

Building a railing on your own isn't easy. There is a ton of planning and arguing involved. What kind of newel post, how do you fasten it to the floor, nail or screw in the spindles? So many things. We've decided on cheap 1x1 cedar spindles that are now painted. The 4x4 post was about $8, but we'll cover it in 1/2 trim on all four sides...this will cover the brackets securing it to the floor that you can see in the photo below.

The other post has to be much shorter and cut on a 45 degree angle to make allowance for the window. So the railing will go down at a 45 about 18 inches from the wall.

The tops and bottoms of the rail will also be trimmed out, so that you can't see all the cracks, etc. And the spindles are screwed in from the bottom and top...the top is obviously covered in one piece of trim...so you can't see the screws.

And of course, there's less than a 4 inch gap between each spindle...just to make sure no little heads get stuck. Although sometimes being stuck in one spot is a nice thought ;)

Next up, closet doors!

Moving in upstairs!

Well it's not totally done upstairs, but done enough for us to live in! We actually moved in a couple nights before Christmas....what a gift. ABOVE: Look toward the stairs from the bedroom. On the left is the linen closet, which still needs shelves and sliding doors. To the right is the unfinished bathroom. BELOW: Looking at the closets from the bedroom.


ABOVE: Standing between the closets looking out into the bedroom (facing west.)
BELOW: Looking at the closet (Adam's) from where the bed will be.


ABOVE: Standing in the hallway looking southwest into the bedroom. Behind the small door is the attic access (one of three). BELOW: Standing at the top of the stairs and looking south down into the hallway and bedroom. On the left is the bathroom and right is the linen closet.


ABOVE: Looking down at the stair landing. The railing and banister still aren't completed. We're building our own pieces (post, spindles). BELOW: Standing in the far north corner and looking down through the hallway at the linen closet. The spot is saved for the computer desk, a chair, reading lamp, and maybe a bookshelf. There's an attic access to my left.



ABOVE: Looking north at the stairwell and "den" area. Check out that skylight! It'll be a nice spot to work on the computer or read a book.

Now we're patching up the spots beat up from the carpet guys, touching up paint, working on the banister and getting the closet doors put together!