Lighting

This week has been a little slow. The main work being done was the completion of all interior painting, including all the new windows. Everything looks great. Now the painter will move to the exterior. We tested the exterior stain color on several spots. It will be a change for the house to be a uniform color. One thing I had not expected, but I guess I should have, was that the painter painted the shelves in the little linen closet in the upstairs hall. What a happy surprise! All evidence of the flying squirrels having taken up residence there one year ---- finally that is long gone! The shelves look pristine now ------ a small delight!
In the meantime, the floor work will begin next week.

The electrician on the job came out two evenings this week and installed many of the light fixtures we had selected. I had struggled with these choices, but for the most part I'm pretty happy with how they actually look in the house.
Unfortunately the lighting in these photos of the light fixtures does not show how they really look. So these pictures are a disappointment to me. The interior fans were running when I took these pictures. Here's the sunroom.

Everything looks pink in the next picture ............. NOT!!

Here's the fixture on the second landing.

The two fixtures in the upstairs hall match this one on the landing --- they are just smaller.

The fixture in the master closet photographed correctly. New fan-light in 2nd bedroom. The one in the 3rd bedroom is just the same.

I don't know why it was so hard to get good photos of the pendant lights. There are supposed to be 3 of them, but only two were delivered. The shades are glass with a marble-y design, mostly tones of brown. Each one is unique. Wish the pictures did them justice.

Brad continues to work on the damper in the fireplace. Our nephew Greg helped Brad this week with some welding on that job. Thanks, Greg!!

light fixtures/kitchen paint/AC

My dream paint color is now on the kitchen walls. It looks fabulous in person. The question is how will it look with all the other elements of the kitchen, once everything is put together. I hope it will all look wonderful. A friend visited yesterday who has a great eye for color and she was totally in support so that was reassuring. It still looks more to the blue side in this photo, rather than blue-green.
In the first shot, the flash fired; in this next shot it did not, so the color seems a bit darker.

The exterior heat pumps have been installed. These are needed so air conditioning can be run while the flooring work takes place. That should start within the next week.

Here's a thermostat!! Does that prove we will have heat and/or air conditioning???

The recessed lighting fixtures are being installed. These are two going up the steps which will shine upon whatever art we decide to place on that wall that will be visible as you walk into the house from the driveway.

This shows recessed light fixtures in the living room. My camera's flash makes them stand out more than they do in real life.

These are two small eyeball lights that will shine upon the chimney wall above the fireplace. Again, not accurate depiction because of the flash.

Is it possible we will be living there in just two months??

mystery photos answer

I was reminded that I didn't describe the mystery photos. Adam was on the right track! Brad held the camera under the fireplace opening to get photos of the chimney. For the first 86 years there has not been a damper for the chimney. Remember seeing leaves in fall or snow in winter on the fireplace floor/hearth?? Brad consulted with the stonemason and was told what process he should follow. He purchased a damper and has been going through successive steps, with lots of experienced advice, to install it securely. He will also install a chimney cap. Hope this will discourage birds from nesting in the chimney and bats from coming inside.

We have a big day today, at least emotionally. The kitchen paint color is going up, the one I've been stressing over. I absolutely love the color, but have not been able to envision how it will look with all the other elements in the kitchen ---- appliances, cabinets, board and batten areas, and stone chimney. Brad says that paint is the easiest thing to change and it could be re-done some weekend afternoon while watching football. Truly there won't be much of it there. I just hope I like it when everything is put together.

The other thing about today is that our architect is coming for a site visit, and he hasn't been in about 6-7 weeks. He'll get to see all his ideas instantiated (sorry, word from data modeling days).

worthy of a mortgage loan?

I took a bunch of photos this morning and had them quickly developed so I had something to show our mortgage loan officer at an afternoon appointment. I'm sharing some of the photos, to show the current state of the renovation. It's neat to compare the new photos with those taken last summer. Here's the new version of the view on approach. The exterior will be stained in the next couple of weeks, and the windows painted, too.
This is a front-on shot of the addition from the driveway side.

Here's the current state of the "back" of the house.

Here's the addition taken from the front yard.

I love this next shot. You can see the sunroom from the first floor, and see how they used wood from the original house in the ceiling area of the sunroom.

And finally, the flagpole is going up! It's in the middle of the circle. Brad says we will raise the flag for the first time on Monday (Independence Day).

Brad and I made a list of all the things left for the contractor to do ---- turns out it is a very long list! Completion will take every bit of six weeks, if not longer. We hope to move in late August.

mystery photos

I'm posting three shots related to some work Brad has been doing. Guess what this is. I'll share the answers next time.

interior staining

I hesitate to share these photos of the new interior stain, because the stain was still wet and the final look is not yet achieved. But I want to document what is going on this week. The first floor staining will be finished by Friday and next week they will concentrate on the second floor. On this door, the stain has dried, so this is very close to what the actual color will be. The surrounding wall looks browner and that stain is still wet. It goes on looking brown and dries looking gray-er.
In the next shota again the door is dry and the wall is wet. The shine disappears when the paint dries.

The last shot shows the new color, still wet and brown, against a door which has not yet been stained. The characteristics of this stain is very interesting, due to it changing as it dries.

primer & outlets

Progress continues. It is not glamorous, but nevertheless it's progress. All the drywalled walls were painted with primer in the last two days. We'll probably leave the closets a light color close to white just for the light (although they do have light fixtures, above the entry doors).
Another task done lately was the installation of some light switches, light bulbs hanging from the ceiling (shades of "old" Hanshill!), and electrical outlets. The painters will need some light to do their work. Here's a 3-way switch on the new wall entering BR#2 --- three switches to accommodate lighting and a ceiling fan.

Boring, I know, but here's a light switch in the upstairs hall.

Master closet primed.

The master BR used to have one electrical outlet --- same for BR#2. Now each of them has 8 outlets!!!

I forgot to show the new stair treads on my last post. I love the evening light on this next shot. You may need to enlarge the photo to really get that effect.

And I close with this view from the living room ---- I love this view and can't wait to be living at Hanshill and enjoying so many new, wonderful views, as well as those original and beloved views cherished by members of our family for the last 86 years.