Sunday, April 29, 2012

Things are moving fast now

As we head down the home stretch to our first guest (4 days!), it's good to see that visible progress is being made every day.  So far we're so pleased with what we've chosen.  For example, the wallpaper on the landing went up today - it's beautiful!  You never really know with wallpaper until you see it on the wall, but this is exactly what we wanted.


Otherwise, I'm moving forward on the smaller bedroom and Dom did a lot of work on the front staircase between the 2nd and 3rd floors, deciding to paint the vertical parts of the stairs as well as the sides.  Big thing was to take out the carpeting on those stairs; they were incredibly filthy.  The stairs themselves are in pretty good shape but we're going to put a new carpet on.



I got to do some of the fun stuff today, i.e., decorating-type shopping:  mirrors, soap dispensers, bathmats, hand towels.  Got the rings for the curtains so I can hem them.  Now to find a jumbo-sized bottle of Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Soap and some good shampoo.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Weekend work

Billy started the wallpapering today - oh my god it looks so beautiful.  Tomorrow he'll finish the larger bedroom and hopefully the landing as well.

Brian came by with the wood for the crown molding and chair rail which Dom will tint or paint this week, then they'll go up on Wed.  We had some bad news on our floor - the milling of the character-grade white oak made from reclaimed barn wood got bumped by the miller for a bigger project.  He can't even give us an estimate of when it might be ready.  So we're going with new wood - still character-grade white oak and from Ohio trees, but not reclaimed.  Very disappointing.   The good news is that it's less expensive, but it's very frustrating that this guy let us down.

Dom painted the second-to-third floor stairwell today and it looks great; just needs the wallpaper on the lower third.  And I worked on the smaller bedroom, which needs a ton of work.  The "accent" wall is ready for its wallpaper, and the other walls are in various stages of priming and skimcoating.  Lots of patching, taping, and caulking required, plus we'll have to paint the ceiling and floor molding.  Fortunately we have until May 24 to get it done.

What's today, Saturday?  We're really in countdown mode:  5 days to go until our first guest.  We're not ready...!!  But we will be (I think; I hope).

I'll add some pictures later; too tired right now.  Where's that drinkie poo?  Or maybe a shower first, in our new shower, that is, one of our 3 new showers!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Together again

The crew has left, the bathroom renovation work is 99% complete, and we are back in our bedroom and in one bed again for the first time since mid-February.  To celebrate we put on the new sheets we bought back in January in Paris.  It wasn't bad, living in the garret, but it feels much more civilized to be in a real bedroom.

I skimcoated the smaller bedroom wall, the one that's going to be wallpapered this weekend, so after I sand it tomorrow all the walls should be ready for Billy, who's coming on Saturday.

The roofing appears to be done (2 days!) although there is some material laying about so I guess they will be back tomorrow.  And the shower doors will be installed tomorrow!!  It's starting to come together...

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Where to begin...?

I'm so far behind I don't even know where to start.  Our major renovation project - the upstairs bathrooms - is largely finished; three-and-a-half weeks behind schedule, but nearly there.  Just a few details to finish up and the shower doors to install; they should be here on Friday.

In the meantime, Dominique has finished his office and the little room next to it, and we have painted the large bedroom as well as completed most of the prep work needed to be ready for the wallpaper.  I've made curtains for both bedrooms although they need to be hung before I can hem them.  Now it's a question of coordinating a number of contractors who will, in order, hang the wallpaper, put up the wainscoting,refinish the floors, lay staircase and landing carpeting, and lay and finish a new floor.  Then we'll move in again with the curtains, furnishings, and other final touches.

We've assembled most of the items needed for comfort and beauty:  new bed frames and mattresses, sheets, towels, artwork, bedding.  Need a few more bath items and some area rugs.

Have been trying out and/or refining several recipes:  waffles, granola, buckeye candy.  Have some great coffee and hot water carafes.

In the midst of everything else, our roofers - who were supposed to have started several weeks ago but couldn't because of the weather - have begun roofing this week.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Wallpaper and draperies

Notice that I wrote "draperies," not "drapes."  I have recently learned that "drape" is only a verb, never a noun; the correct word is "drapery."  I will never again speak of curtains and drapes.

Anyhoo, we are in the market for some wallpaper and drapery fabric and I have located 2 stores in Cleveland that sound amazing.  US Wall Coverings is one, with 4,000 different patterns at 50%-80% less than retail.  The other is Schindler's Discount Home Decorating and Upholstery Fabrics, featuring hundreds of fabrics, also at discounted prices.  We're going to try to see one or both tomorrow.  Hopefully they're as good as they sound.