Closet doors!

We finally got the closet doors in. They had to be trimmed at the top and bottom because they're hollow core. Overall, it took about three weekends from start to finish.

It takes much longer to complete a project with two kids in tow.

Our master suite is complete!


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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!

We're painting!

While we're not painting, we're picking out paint colors and carpet...so many choices! Leaning toward a really pale yellow and a fat berber.

It took the mud and tape guys two weeks to get the job done, but it was all under the table and pretty cheap (under $1800). They did a great job on the smooth wall.

Now we're priming. It all soaks up so much paint. We're going through about a gallon a night.

Look at my new closet! It's hot and I can't wait to fill it up!

Stupid dog.

That's my sweet new heater on the left and all the hookups for the new TV on the right.

Drywall is hung!

One month later and the drywall is complete! So many angles and cuts but he got it done! First time drywaller. With the sheetrock, green board, hardibacker it was about $650. Plus, we ended up buying a screw gun and renting electric sheers.

Check out that bathroom! It's quite a site! You can even spot the pocket door cavity on the left.

Look at all those elecrical outlets! Even a spot to hang a TV!


The stairwell is pretty tall, but it's covered now. The other two sides will be a railing that we'll build ourselves.

We're hiring out mud and tape for $1750. He'll be out on Nov. 1 and says he'll be done in about a week. Then it's on to trim and paint! Yay! There's an end in site.

Drywall is here!

90 sheets of 8 foot, 1/2 inch drywall arrived in the driveway from Home Depot Saturday morning. Of course, I was alone with the baby at the time...with a chance of rain on Sunday! The dads came down to help load in, but hubby didn't arrive from work until four hours later!


They got it all loaded in before the bad weather settled in (and it did rain on Sunday!). Tools were bought on Sunday and the practice pieces were installed; re-interior closet, my closet! Yay! I have a new closet!

Can't wait to fill that thing with clothes and shoes. Maybe we'll do a few more practice sheets and then get the dads down again to help cut and hang. Mud and tape guy will come down end of this week or early next to give us a quote. Hopefully it's good because we really don't have a plan B...besides giving up and moving to a cookie-cutter neighborhood.

Yay for drywall! Early December?!

Insulation complete!

It took two days for American Insulation to completely re-do the insulation upstairs. $2200 later and we have this beauty. They did such a great job, even filling the holes where the electricians drilled in the 2x4s for the wiring. They sealed up the skylights, cracks around the chimney, space between the new windows.

Now, when you close a window upstairs, you could hear a pin drop...it's so quiet. Maybe not THAT quiet, but it's pretty quiet. R23 for the walls and R15 for the ceiling. The ceiling is 2 1/2 thick rigid board. The trusses are only 2x4s, so not a whole lot of space. It'll be interesting to see how hot it gets tomorrow.