February Living/Dining Room Progress

We're making progress on the living room remodel project.  The tile installer was here and dry packed the floor in front of the fireplace.  The tile is another 4 to 6 weeks out from being delivered.  That puts the delivery estimate in late February early March.

We are progressing on the replacement of the living room ceiling.  At some point in the 60s/70s the ceiling was replaced with a popcorn ceiling.  There was a time when we thought we could just get use to the popcorn look, but we ultimately decided that it needed to go.  We looked at having contractors do the work, but we either couldn't get them to return calls, or the price was prohibitively expensive.  We did all the drywall in the kitchen ourselves, so we decided to do the same in the living room.  So far, we've raised all the panels and have started taping and mudding.  The plan is to finish mudding and sanding in the next two weeks.  The walls, which are still in pretty good shape, will remain the original lath and plaster.  We boxed in above the built-in cabinet in the dining room to give it a more finished look.  We will finish the sides of the cabinet with frame and panel wood.

We've been pouring over the Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interiors book by Robert W. Lang to figure out the construction of our frame and panel wainscot to be installed on the back wall of the living room and dining room.  We finalized our drawings, calculated the lumber list and have started collecting the materials.   We ordered six sheets of finish grade fir veneered MDF core plywood that's been loaded into the workshop.  The current plan is to begin cutting this down into the appropriate size panels and stain before installation.  The vertical frames are being built out of 3/4" reclaimed vertical grain fir lumber that will be milled down to the required 1/2".  Seeing the lumber material in the workshop is getting us very excited about this project.

There are no shortage of misc. other small projects in the works.  We have pulled most of the baseboard and misc. other bits of trim that need to be stripped of paint, sanded and stained.  Stripping paint has to be one of the most torturous home remodeling activities ever!

More updates coming soon.

Antique Chandelier Repairs

A year or so ago we picked up this chandelier light in a couple of boxes.  It was literally in a couple of boxes and in desperate need of repair.  A couple of the light fixtures had brass pieces that had broken off, so we were able to rivet them back together using rivets crafted from copper furniture spikes.  The individual light sockets were in good shape, but needed new insulators which we installed.  We rewired the entire fixture using a new cloth wire.  The light shades have slag glass that is in red and green tints, and only a couple are broken.  Thankfully, all of the glass pieces are still there, so we can glue them back together.

Once the repairs are complete, we plan to install the fixture in the dining room over our dining table.  This light fixture should be good to go for another 50+ years.

Hurry and Wait: An Update on the Tile Work

Home remodeling can be a a roller coaster ride sometimes.  We were pretty anxious to get the tile installed, and so working with our tile installer we figured out quantities and placed the order.  That's the good news.  The less than good news is that our tile supplier doesn't have the tile in stock and therefore they had to order it from the supplier which is located in Wisconsin.  The supplier doesn't have it is stock, and so they have to make it to order.  That pushes the delivery of the tile out 5 to 7 weeks.  Not ideal, but I'm certain we'll be able to fill the time with other projects.

Okay, so now we shift gears, but to what?  Hmmm....

Winter Wonderland

Icemageddon 2012

The Snowmageddon 2012 event has morphed into an Icemageddon event.  The Seattle Times is reporting 120,000 customers without power.  The Governer has declared a state of emergency for the region.  Snow eventually turned into ice, and at this point we have somewhere between a quarter and a half inch.  So far the power is on at our house, but not everyone in the area is so lucky.  Here are some photos.  Enjoy ~

UPDATE (3:00 p.m.) Still got freezing rain coming down.  When is it going to stop?  You can tell that the birds here aren't use to this.  I witnessed one bird sliding out of a tree.  Pretty funny.  We still have power!  AMAZING

Pacific Northwest Snowmageddon 2012

Wow, we thought the end times weren't until December of 2012, but apparently it's arrived early!  The News Tribune of Tacoma is reporting Snowmageddon: "If you don't have to go out, don't".  You don't have to ask me twice -- I'm more than happy to stay home!  We officially have 6.25" and the snow is beginning to taper off.

From Tacoma, Happy Snowday!

Tile Installer Starts Monday

Drawings are complete and designs are final.  We thought we knew exactly what we wanted in the kitchen, but we changed the plans last minute.  We're very exited to get this job started.

Monday the contractor is coming in to tear out the floor in front of the fireplace and dry pack it at the appropriate height.  The Motawi tile we've selected for the fireplace is .6" thick, so the floor will need to be cut in deeper to accomodate.

Switchplaces from James Mattson Coppercraft

We're so excited about the progress that we've started looking at finishing touches for the living room.  We're considering ordering switch places from one of my favorite craftsman studios.  We've had a link to James Mattson Coppercraft on our blog for years, but we have yet to incorporate any of his work into the house.  This may be the right opportunity to bring some of his work into our home.

I'll be posting photos of the tile progress soon.