Maybe this will serve as a diversion from the Trump disaster. As a side note, during the middle of the night, Thurston apparently decided it was too cold out and took a shit in the tub. A metaphor for 2016, if you will.
On to the house pics. New door has been hung to the half bath in the downstairs. Before:
After:
The master bedroom has been painted, wood finished, ceiling fan done, all wiring works, all vents work, now just needs flooring. Before:
And after (the color is actually much brighter than it appears here. The name is Lemon Twist):
Moving along to the next room.
The 2nd floor spare bedroom has had the wood finished, the closet fixed, the vents cleared, and has been painted. Before:
And after (the color is Meadow Thistle and it looks darker here than it really is):
The bathroom has been framed out and is ready for tile and paint:
Finally, the last picture is a mini project for my safety and sanity. This is a picture of the stairs from the second floor going down to the landing in between floors. As you can see, the woodworking is done, stairs have been stripped (and I will carpet the middle of them), walls have been patched, and it is ready to be painted. However, I had two nightmares of me walking in the night and falling into the 12 inch gap on either side of the stair, so we are going to build out a railing with spindles from the wall on both sides, stain and varnish them so they match.
Flooring should start going down this week.
jacy
Love that thistle color! And all the dark woodwork. It’s going to be lovely, Cole.
maye
Very nice! You’re almost ready for HGTV
russell
look on the bright side. at least it was in the tub.
Omnes Omnibus
So Meadow Thistle is pink?
mai naem mobile
That meadow thistle is real purply on my phone and yes you would fall down the stairs, especially if you were hanging onto Miss Lily. Hope you got a remote with the fan. Everything looks good. Areally you planning on moving before the New Year?
SiubhanDuinne
Everything is looking wonderful, John! We’re all looking forward to seeing it when we come to visit.
What?
Denali
Good idea with the railing!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: The plant is kind of a purple pink, but I suspect the paint color is a deep lilac bot not quite violet color – more blue than red.
debbie
@mai naem mobile
On my laptop, it’s like a rose magenta azalea. I’d kinda like to know the brand of the paint, actually.
Yarrow
@debbie: It’s Valspar. There’s a link in the post.
debbie
@Yarrow:
Thanks. I zipped right past that.
HRA
This is great progress and very nice paint colors, too. Advice on the carpet for your stairs from a personal experience of falling is to make sure it is not slippery.
Sarah
Spectacular. I love the thistle color. I wish my house was moving along so fast.
Sourmash
The railing is a must. I’ve got a permanently bad ankle from a set of stairs like that. Also, in the spirit of the season, it is a great way to extend Christmas decorations into the upstairs is you run lights/greenery up the railings and into the upper floor. Just an idea…
Unabogie
It’s going to look amazing! How the hell will it fit all of us, though?
phoebes from highland park
Looks great. Glad you’re getting the stair railings. Only one suggestion: sometime the stairs aren’t quite wide enough to bring large pieces of furniture up and down without taking the railing off.
Pete Mack
Watch out for dark colors, no matter how nice they are. Better to use a light complimenting color and add some trim in dark.
Just for you John
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091541/
Baud
I’d also suggest a safety harness for going up and down the stairs.
pamelabrown53
Love the window in the landing. Always enjoy the house updates. When is your move-in date?
Thornton Hall
Love the window frames and the master bedroom color. Maybe chicken wire glass on the window on the landing?
raven
Love the sheetrock mud buckets!
lollipopguild
Can we all come by and inspect your counter tops?
M. Bouffant
Short of Thurston using the toilet, that seems like the best of all possible worlds.
Yarrow
House is really coming along, John. Looks good. Glad you’re doing something about those stairs. Looks dangerous the way it is.
Donna L Washington
I’m glad that you are making headway on your house. This is going to be absolutely lovely when you are done!
Poopyman
@Unabogie:
Well, I was going to volunteer to sleep in the tub, but not if the dog’s going to shit in it.
grumpy realist
@Denali: Definitely thumbs up on the stair railings. If you ever have ankle trouble you will adore having something to hold on to. Just make sure they’re not easily pulled out of the wall–but you already know that.
(I’ve had so many problems with stuff that only turned out to be sunk into drywall…)
rikyrah
Everything looks great, Cole.
Kay Eye
That is a damn thoughtful dog. In spite of ripping up all the store-bought dog beds.
Elizabelle
Looks great.
Thurston has expressed all of our sentiments.
mkd
Love the lemon drop master bd color. An aside, I remodeled our kitchen a few years back, painted the wood cabinets an old gold, put in a mottled black back splash intermixed with copper wine bas relief tiles, and topped the counters with a creamy granite that had mix of those black and gold colors with red highlights. And added black hardware and red accents on the counter. Looked around and realized with a pop of blue I had a Steeler kitchen ! and it was good
Pogonip
Other than that they’re a fad right now and make the house sell for more, is there anything particularly special about granite countertops?
Pogonip
@Baud: Since it’s Cole, I’d suggest he sell the place ASAP and move into a one-story. With safety harnesses for when he trips over an animal.
mai naem mobile
@debbie: valspar.it’s in the linky.
Roger Moore
@Pogonip:
I think there are a few things people like about them. The surface is hard, which makes them durable, and it’s very heat resistant, so you don’t need trivets for your hot pots and pans. The speckled pattern in granite also helps to hide dirt, which may or may not be an advantage depending on your point of view. And granite isn’t necessarily very expensive.
Mary G
Better the tub than the carpet! It all looks beautiful, John. You will be happy there. Just looking at that stairwell makes me nervous, so yes, all the railings.
M. Bouffant
@Pogonip: It’s an oldie. You could start here, or here.
Diana
My cat shits in the tub when the litter box is not as pristine as she feels is appropriate. Presumably Thurston was expressing the same opinion about the great outdoors — at least the tub is easily cleaned.
And I know renovation is expensive and a hassle, but you sound like you routinely host guests. The great thing with houseguests after a renovation is that every time you have a houseguest they’re amazed to see what you’ve done. So you keep getting the thrill of isn’t this amazing over and over again, long after you’ve gotten used to the new place yourself.
laura
Your heart is going to soar, and you are presently unable to comprehend your future joy. And when you come face to face with that joy, well, take it.
Jean
Wow! I can’t believe how fast your house is being renovated. It looks fabulous.
geg6
Jesus, Cole, I’m so jealous! When I think of how many years it took the ex and I to get as far as you are in just a few months, I am just gobsmacked. Love all the colors! What is the living room color? Can’t remember if you showed it or mentioned what you planned.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I think Thurston is only trying to help by doing what he can to heat the house with steaming shits. You should be thanking him.
opiejeanne
@Pogonip: I like tile, really, but a solid surface makes cleanup really easy, especially if the sink is mounted UNDER the counter, instead of the drop-in sinks.
I currently have a soapstone counter on the island and something called “SuperWhite”, aka quartzite, around the sink & stove. It’s nice stuff, the soapstone is softer than granite but it’s wearing as if it has been there for many years, and it’s a beautiful slab.
The cabin has a black quartz counter, which we have not yet seen. The work has been done in our absence since September. The backsplash is supposed to be done but the tile guys didn’t get their flu shots, so that may start tomorrow. I’d like to be there to make sure the feature strip goes in at the right height, and we’ll be there tomorrow, midday.
Chris T.
@Roger Moore: We put in quartz (various brands, Silestone and Caesarstone and the like, but they’re all human-manipulated quartz) instead of granite. Prices are similar but quartz doesn’t require sealing twice a year.
These guys are selling stuff but the description is accurate.
Chris T.
@opiejeanne: Yes, solid surface with undermount sink is the way to go. Just sweep crumbs into sink and you’re done! (Well, sink needs cleaning :-) )
Pogonip
@Roger Moore: Thanks!
If it’s not expensive, why was Michelle Malkin peeking in that lady’s windows several years ago? What did she hope to prove?
Michelle’s lucky I didn’t catch her peeking in MY windows. I’d have stuck a gun in her face and held her while I called the police, sworn out a trespassing complaint, and filed a civil suit for mental distress and whatever else my lawyer could come up with. Out here in West Deplorable, window-peepers rank about a half step above burglars, which they usually are, in the act of seeing who’s where in the home so they know which window to cut a hole in. Michelle’s excuse of “I wanted to see if her countertops were above her station in life” would not cut much ice with me, my .38, the cops, or the judges in these here Deplorable parts. And nobody wants to see a pogonip with a gun. Papa Pogonip was a long-time Army small-arms trainer and he pounded into the Pogonip progeny’s heads that you do not take out a loaded weapon unless there is a high probability of its being used Real Soon Now. So God protected Michelle from her own stupidity by guiding her to a house that wasn’t mine, a blessing she was probably too stupid to count.
If you never read about this, or have forgotten it, google “Michelle Malkin granite countertops” and the story should come right up.
As a past and likely future cat owner, I am intrigued by surfaces that hide dirt and pawprints. I will look into this.
Pogonip
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): He probably assumed BTU stands for “Bowel Thurston Units,” and, aware that many BTUs are needed in winter, did all he could in service to his master.
J R in WV
John:
Regarding the stairs, where you say “However, I had two nightmares of me walking in the night and falling into the 12 inch gap on either side of the stair, so we are going to build out a railing with spindles from the wall on both sides, stain and varnish them so they match.” Which is a great safety feature!
You might consider putting a small LED night-light (or two) there, set to come on in the dark automatically. Or just to stay on forever, at 1 or 2 or 3 watts, an LED bulb would last the rest of your life.
Also, the half bath downstairs, how wide is that door? Would a walker, for example, fit through that door? ‘Cause you would be using a walker after a knee replacement. For example.
When we built our house, the bathroom has a walk-in/roll-in shower room, and all the doors are wheelchair wide. Back when we were in our 40s. Partly because we intended to live here for as long as we can, partly because we have friends in wheelchairs. Also, Mrs J has had both knees replaced, and used a walker for about a week each time.
ETA: Love the colors and finish work, it is beautiful!! Huge amount of good looking work done already~!!
Pogonip
@Sourmash: It seems to me that basic safety would require a railing for more than 2 or 3 steps, wherever they are. The world is full of toddlers, geezers, and folks in between those extremes who have temporary or permanent balance problems. (Physicians refer to that fourth group as “Coles” or “boat payments.”)
Pogonip
@J R in WV: Glad you brought up that very important point. This house was built in the postwar boom and the hall will not accommodate a wheelchair. So when Papa Pogonip began to fall at random we had to wheel him back & forth to the bathroom in an office chair. You can get a walker down the hall but it’s a very tight squeeze.
J R in WV
We got a plain old Formica countertop for the AZ camp, and it’s light and dark mottled very like granite. At first I thought it would be great, not showing dirt at all.
But NOT SO… you can’t see where to scrub hard, the dirt is invisible so you can’t see what needs wiped up. Sad!
I think I would like granite, with big rectangular depressions to fit heavy cutting boards, so they don’t slide around. That would probably cost extra, huh?
John from Minneapolis
These updates DO distract me from the troubles of 2016. I very much look forward to them.
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: You just need a big board with a little overhang along the wide edge to stop the thing from walking. They have them at IKEA, and you will need to wipe them down with the correct oil before you use it the first time.
Under $20 cutting board
karen marie
@Omnes Omnibus: OMG … woodwork is beautiful but the color choices.
Let’s just say, I predict every room will be repainted within a year. That pink is especially “choice.”
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: Formica burns, gets scratched, wears poorly. Any dark surface makes me work harder at cleaning it because I can’t tell if they’re clean as easily as with the lighter surfaces.
In our little Anaheim house someone had laid dark green floor tile on the countertops, with dark gray grout. I scrubbed that stuff all the time whether it was dirty or not because there was no way to tell. It was ugly, so we retiled with a white field tile, medium green v-cap, matching white crackle on the backsplash with a feature strip and a few feature tiles. It was mid-century but not too mid-cent modern. It was more of a cottage, and people who viewed the house when we listed it all commented on how they loved the tile. This was when granite countertops had become more affordable and the middle class was putting it everywhere, and they still liked it. It was really pretty and I knew if it was dirty.
Before: Anaheim kitchen
After: New kitchen
Detail: Apple
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: This is the cabin kitchen, so far. I chose the wrong faucet, should have gotten chrome or at least brushed nickel. The bronze wasn’t supposed to happen.
new counter and cabinets
yellow tile Go to kitchen 35 of 49, yellow subway backsplash tile.
Our feature strip is different, narrower, yellow & black, shaped like this: fish You may have to scroll down to “fish” to see the shape.
Black quarter round at the edges.
Singing Truth to Power
Another advantage of quartz over granite – I can attest to the fact that if you by some terrible accident make a big mark with a purple permanent Sharpie on your new cream-colored quartz island top, you CAN remove the Sharpie using Barkeepers’ Friend. And no sealing is ever required.
devore
Exceptional work. Sounds like you’re just about ready to fix up another one – but with a film crew this time. This Old West Virginia House?
John Cole
@karen marie: It’s not pink.
max
And after (the color is actually much brighter than it appears here. The name is Lemon Twist):
If you’re using Valspar colors, I strongly recommend doing the ceilings in Fair Maiden (7001-10). It’s a white, but it has this awesome hint of purple in it that makes the room colors pop. (I do ceiling in white to make the rooms brighter and to make the ceilings seem higher.)
max
[‘Just a suggesting.’]
John Weiss
@Pogonip: Something special about granite counter tops? Nothing special, save for beauty and durability. Are you a formica guy?
NotMax
When it comes to the balustrade at stair top, might consider using slats rather than spindles. Picturing a present or future pet getting caught between the spindles while attempting a shortcut.
If it isn’t too late to work it in, an outlet at the stair landing, too. When it comes time to vacuum the runner on the stairs, you’ll thank me.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
If it weren’t for that lovely woodwork, I’d suggest a half-height wall instead of a railing on one side. We had one at our townhouse, and one of the cats would constantly lay on the half-wall waiting for a game of “toss the mouse up from the stairs”.
Another Scott
@J R in WV: When J’s parents lived with us, I used door hinges like these to gain extra space or his walker to clear the hall bath doorway. It’s a cheap and relatively easy fix.
Cheers,
Scott.
fergie
Place looks great. One quibble… Don’t do the carpet down the middle of the stairs! I had to use a toothbrush to gouge out pet hair in the crease of the stairs. (I don’t know what you call the place where the stair tread comes to the upright riser?) I told a friend this recently… they went ahead and put in the carpet and now she is on her knees with the tooth brush!
fergie
maya
You’ll grow to love that Lemon Twist color even more as you live with it. I did all the walls in my home in a Sherman Williams Candlelight yellow. It glows when the sunlight hits it ( Southwest exposure) and when it gets dark it actually does cast off a candle light appearance. Hate white walls. Too much like an office or hospital.
Suggested ceiling color – off white with an orange peel tint works fine with the yellow.
karen marie
@John Cole: Yeah, okay. :)
opiejeanne
@John Weiss: I hate Formica but have had to live with it a couple of times. One house where we did replace it, the Formica was cherry red/pink with the boomerang pattern. The house was an Arts & Crafts bungalow, a great big wonderful house, so we did do something about those counters eventually, but what a period piece. The cabinets were birch with the hammered copper pulls.