Kieffer House

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

We're Back!

We returned to our home on Mother's Day, May 10th, after an unplanned five weeks away! The wait was worth it, as we have been able to complete most of the painting, and now can focus on completing the baby's room and doing touch up work.

Excitement Building...

Third week in April. The glass for the downstairs shower has been installed and it looks wonderful (the tape will come off of course). The shower has been grouted and is ready to use, although the rest of the bathroom is not yet complete. This is one of the most exciting parts of the project for me, and the result is really satisfying!

After the hardwood floors were finished, we realized that painting would be much easier and safer for everyone if we stayed with my folks and worked on it during the week. So...I've spent every night for several weeks working on the rooms, and finally finished the first one, the new bedroom. On a positive note, I now feel confident painting without tape!

The floors look great.

The room won't be completely done until I finish the closet and bookshelf.

Joaquin's room is also nearing completion.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sometimes Mistakes are Good

During the first week of April the tile installers finished the installation in our downstairs bathroom. When I first saw the completed product, I noticed immediately that they had neglected to include an accent piece of lightly colored glass tile that was sit above and below the main accent strip of small recycled glass rectangles. Despite that error, both Cynthia and I found we actually liked the look as much, perhaps more, than the original design.

The shower will have a natural stone floor and soapbox, something I've always admired. The walls are 3x6 subway tile.

As the project nears completion, our contractor's guys have been completing some finish molding around the house, including the passage between the kitchen the new office.

The threshold between the dining room and the family room, previously just exposed drywall, will now feature a very nice molding.

Fulfilling a long-held wish, we added crown molding around the existing house, as the original had likely been removed years ago.

Facing reality

During the initial design and construction phase, Cynthia and I had convinced ourselves that we would not need a formal closet in our bedroom, that we would use an armoire or something else. Unfortunately, as the project draws closer to it's completion, the need for a closet has become obvious. We asked our contractor to add one during the first week of April, after the floors had been done. He agreed and it was constructed in just a day, leaving me much less anxious.

The new floors look great.

The closet will be large enough for our clothes and some storage and will close with two swinging doors. We considered sliders and even a nice set of bi-fold doors I found online, but in the end aesthetics won out.

Old lath and plaster visible in the new closet.

The new closet requires a small amount of the bedroom that will become the baby's. We will add a small built-in to this entry area to make the closet appear more functional.

Floors!

During the last week of March, the new flooring was installed. The flooring contractor advised he would need to sand the entire hallway/landing area to ensure a uniform appearance with the new oak upstairs. Given that necessity, we decided to have both of the other bedrooms done to ensure a match. This required moving out of the house for at least a week.

The work took just a few days, and with very little dust.

The flooring upstairs is oak.

We matched the existing fir downstairs, although the installer's recommendation was to install clear fir initially and allow it to age to match the existing color.