Dining Room Ceiling

Well, instead of just hanging a bit of crown molding around the perimeter, B got a little carried away, and in the process solved the Ugly Chandelier Problem we've been dealing with. With the new layout of the kitchen and dining room, the Ugly Chandelier does not hang in the middle of the room. The other problem is that the room is large and conducive to a variety of tasks, not just "dining." We've had the chandelier tied up close to the top to get it out of the way with a spare piece of wire. Not exactly attractive. So. here it is:
B and Pop spent this Monday laying out the dimensions with 2x4s (not an easy task since there is not one SINGLE square wall/ceiling/corner/anything in this whole house. We're talking oblong parallelograms at best.) and getting the beams covered in melamine board.

The rest of the week (and this weekend) was spent cutting and insetting 144 linear feet of crown molding inside the coffers, and hanging can lights instead of the Ugly Chandelier.

And here's what it looks like tonight with a good coat of primer on it. It looks like a million dollars!
Now no one will hit their head on a low-hanging mess of Ugly. And everyone will look up and take notice of the mighty fine workmanship that went into this project.

New Floors Part 3

The transformation of the living room floor: a Photo Essay:


Before:
Day 1 of the installation:


Day 2 of the installation:


End of day 2, and 2 hours before Easter dinner:

Base Cabinets

B spent the weekend building base cabinets for the kitchen. The cabinet you see below will have a bank of drawers all the way down, including a couple of deep ones for pots and pans that don't fit in the storage provided by the stove.

These three on the other side of the stove will each have a single drawer at the top of them an regular cabinet drawers below.
So the last of the old cabinets will be occupied by Ty, 'cause Miles will never find him in there... perfect for sneak attacks.
Man, looking at Miles in the photo makes me realize he's becoming the old grey man. I remember the days his nose was solid black. Ah, well. He and B share the same birthday and are exactly 20 years apart, which means he'll be turning 12 this year. We've been really fortunate to have such sound dogs. They've both had their traumas but for the most part they've been happy and healthy over the years.

New Floors Part 2

Well, here are a couple pics of the bamboo flooring in the foyer and in the kitchen. The only room we don't have completed is the living room. We bought some decorative trim to frame out the room and and add some panache and had to wait for it to come in. Well, it's in and ready to go, so that will be the focus of Easter weekend while Pop and the family are in town.

From the kitchen looking towards the front door:
From the front door looking into the kitchen:
And here's a good look at the floor. You can really appreciate the color. Mmmm... caramel.
Notice the new base cabinet carcases! With shelves! B just needs to build the drawers and trim them out, then we'll be ready for painting and doors.

Grief to Gratitude

Another mother with some insights...

February gift

I decided to make socks for February's monthly gift for the new little one. They match the little sno-cap hat I made back in September and are ten times cuter in person.
While I was at it, I decided to make B a pair of socks for V-day. It took me until March 4th to finish them, but hey! He still got to wear them in all that snow we got last weekend. I used a pattern with a broken rib stitch on the main body of the sock, and measured B's feet so they would be a "custom" fit. I think socks will be the new fixation. I keep looking at the Big Box craft stores for good yarn to use, but I am realizing I'll have to make a special trip to My Favorite Local Yarn Store for a little bit of shopping. Darn.

I am thinking I need to switch gears soon as well. I still have a sling to make for the little squirmer and I have an idea for a quilt. The quilt I may or may not get to, but the sling I really must complete. I even have the rings, so I really don't have any excuse. I'm getting too big to help out much around the house with the construction stuff and the nesting-thing is starting to kick in. What a terrible combination for B. All the pressure with about a tenth of the help.

Grumble.

It's been almost a week and somehow can't post any photos. We keep getting some "server error" message and told to try again in 30 seconds... well, try several days...

We've got more stuff to show folks: some better pictures of the new floors, more stuff on babies, and other assorted displays of craftyness.

I guess we'll keep trying. Well, off to see the new IKEA that just opened up the road!
May the parking gods be kind...
G.