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Oh the hardware. The decision to save the hardware last Fall was rather last minute. I thought about it a few times and almost didn't do it. There were A LOT of handles to remove. But it turns out, it is very fast work. All you need to do is just borrow your dad's power drill since your's has been in storage for the last two years. I was never totally confident that I was going to re-use the hardware - but I wanted the option to use it. I didn't want to regret it. Even up until the last couple days, I was questioning whether it was possible. The hard work actually came from having to clean this filthy, old hardware. I tried a bunch of routes before finally finding success. I had ridiculous visions of a tv infomercial cleaning sparkly jewelry. All I needed to do was just dip the handles in some magic liquid and then kablam... clean. The reality could not be further from this. Ultimately, I tried three methods with significantly varying degrees of succes......
One of the best parts of this project has been the revitalization of the stairs. I've always been intent on saving them. I love standing on the landing and looking out across the "parlor". In some ways it feels like the soul of the house. A couple months back, I did a retrospective of the exterior progress of the house - and wanted to do the same for the stairs. Unlike the exterior, there wasn't a lot of "change" since theoretically all of the pieces never even left the house. We just demo'd and rebuilt around them. But - we did need to do some extra work to bring them back. For about a month, I looked into sodablasting them to strip out all the old paint... but nobody wanted to do that work. "It was too messy". Thanks, but this is a construction site. When I finally did get a guy out to the site, he was super nice... but said the wood was too soft and would get too damaged. Thus, back to the old fashioned way of hand sanding and strippi......
This was quite the week for the ole lady. The lawn really started to come in... and the cabinets were installed. Lots of really obvious things that people love to talk about. I have spent so much time watering this lawn that it's like having an infant. I'm checking on it every three hours. I think that's how often people feed babies but I really have no idea. The cabinets were quite the process. I think they originally said it would be two days... and it ended up being four. It was so great to see the first couple get installed. The colors are totally perfect and look amazing together. And any lingering doubts over using the original hardware are gone - it's amazing. The first second that I saw that beautiful copper tone against the gray I was sold. So what's the bummer this week? The top elevation of the cabinets. There was a mistake with the measurements (my opinion) and there is an inconsistent gap between the ceiling and a few of the cabinets. As of ......
I'm getting confused about all the weeks at this point. I think I probably talk about them like a pregnant woman would. I'll just start hashtaging things with the week. I was doing really well with individual weeks until this one. Life got busy and I kept having it on my list... and then I would get to the next thing and not this. But these have been some big weeks. The tile is really really happening. We only have a few areas left - and of course all the original designs have changed a bit. The bathrooms have come out beautifully. If I stand in the master bedroom doorway, I can see both bathrooms at the same time and it's perfect. The crisp white subway tile from the hallway bathroom.... and then the beautiful legs of Richmond the tub. What else has happened? The landscaping of course. After a lot of texting updates, the lawn has been seeded, the hedge is in, and the hydrangeas have started to bloom. I wish I had the budget to do sod over seed because all this waterin......
I have relentlessly controlled so many aspects of this house. I have picked out ... everything. I did ask for consultive opinions on big things like the tub and the tile. But not to get all braggy, but I really have picked out everything without consultants. That is until it came to paint. A couple people mentioned to me that you can have this local hardware store out to help you pick colors. So for a whopping $50, a very nice woman showed up to my house with a stack of paint chips... and we picked colors. The entire job was done in less than an hour. Without this woman, I am convinced that I would have stared at colors for at least three weeks. Instead, I have this cohesive 1900s beach house. Yes, it's a lot of gray but I'm good with that. The color will come from art and furniture. In particular, I'm envisioning a giant gray deep sofa on a red rug. I am however dreading seeing all of my belongings that have been in storage for 2 years. Room Cod......
I spent much of the week just waiting for two things to happen. I wanted to have the gas meter installed and I desperately wanted the landscaping done. I didn't really achieve either of those items. I honestly feel like building a house is a lesson in patience on how to not go nuclear on someone. To this point, I think I've managed to not go nuclear on anyone. I did flip out once on my dad, I had one breakdown on the streets of Somerville. When the cellar flooded, my heart rate absolutely was elevated. But, Columbia Gas is really pushing all of my buttons. I have no gas meter ... and it's been months. I am now calling my contact twice a day for updates and sending emails reiterating the delays ... and demanding monetary compensation for the delay. It's really cute. It's probably hard to believe but I do think I am being nice about it. Like when I talked to "Dan" on Friday at 11 AM, I said "hey, we haven't talked yet today. so what did you have ......
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