Favorite things...

Parts of the house are still in disarray, but there are little enclaves that are starting to look like we actually live here! Here are a few of my favorites.

Before


Now



Before


Now


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We had this amazing energy audit yesterday that should help make our house much more efficient and also win us a bunch of tax credits. Paul has the full scoop. Details coming...

Did the deed!

Stair treads?!?

When you walk in the front doors of our house, you go up six stairs to get the main living area (and six down to get to the garage.) When we embarked on laying bamboo floors throughout, we decided to save the stairs for a later date. That was largely because we knew they'd be a challenge. The economical bamboo that we bought for the rest of the house ($3,000 for 1,400 square feet!) was only 3/8 inch thick, and the manufacturer didn't provide any coordinating stair pieces. (See photo to the right.)

Now that we're ready to put wood on the stairs, we have a little dilemma. The only bamboo stair treads that will fit out space cost $80 each - a grand total of $1,200 with shipping, which is nearly half of what we spent on the rest of the house! That means we're likely going to need to go with some other type of wood for the stair treads - which could cost as little as $300 depending on what we pick. But how do we handle this aesthetic dilemma? My initial thought was to try to match our flooring as closely as possible, but then I found these cool pix that use totally different kinds of wood - which seems to be a great way to embrace the problem. Any thoughts?

Slow movin'

I haven't updated much recently because it doesn't seem like much is changing at the house these days. We're slowing chipping away at little projects. Paul added the rest of the door handles to our kitchen cabinets yesterday. We used these great IKEA handles (without the round discs on the back.)


Paul also trimmed the trees out front, which means you can walk in the front door without being brushed on the head with pine branches. Nice.

And this week, a painter is working to paint our entire main living space in Glidden Gentle Tide.


It's exciting to have the wall color in the works, but the house is in shambles once again. Paul said it perfect last night: There's ANOTHER DeWalt radio in our living room.


It's the quintessential sign of the state of things at our house.

In the meantime, we're only eight weeks 'til D-Day - yikes! The baby's room is currently packed solid with odds and ends from the living room, and boxes of gear from last weekend's baby shower that I haven't begun to open. Amid all of the chaos, I've adopted a new mantra: we will be ready in time...we will be ready in time...

Advice from the pros...

Many of you know, I absolutely LOVE the style of Sherry and John from This Young House. When I was torn about the decorating advice for our living room/dining room/kitchen area, I called on them for help. Here's what they came up with:


Thoughts? Comments? Additions? I'm off to get paint samples tonight, and will hopefully hire a painter by the end of the week. (With all we've got to do before baby arrives in only 9 weeks, it's time to start out-sourcing a bit!)

Apartment before shots...

For dramatic effect, scroll down to see the afters...

Craigslist rules!

Not only does it have great deals on stuff you need - it's great for getting rid of stuff. This week alone, I've gotten rid of two old sinks and five bushes that I want to remove from our yard. And for the bushes, the recipient is going to dig them out herself. How great is that?!? Next up, the wooden pallets in our driveway.