Part 19: The Master Bath Progress

My excellent painters have been hard at work painting the master bath.  In this photo you can see all of the tile covered with plastic and the final paint color drying.  I'm loving how the soft white on the walls, ceiling and cabinetry sets off the tile mural.

Part 18: The Glamour

The glamour of renovation is unmistakable:  The ever-growing piles of debris, the thick coat of dust over EVERYTHING;

The revolving boxes and crates of supplies in the living and dining rooms;

The toilets sitting in the master bedroom waiting to be re-installed;

the old appliances and jetted tub sitting in the backyard, the holes in the wall where the future new windows will go... someday...

Early on, I bought two plastic Adirondack chairs and set them up for the occasional lunch break.  The crates can be used as buffet tables.  Best $28 dollars I spent.  I call it "Reno Chic."

It's human nature (at least mine) to focus on the pretty and exciting and interesting bits of the renovation process.  But the dust, debris and noise are definitely part of the process.  I'm very, very glad that I wasn't trying to live in the construction zone and advise anyone considering renovating to move out during the work.

Click here for Part 19:  The Master Bath Progress

Part 17: The Cherry Floors

Update:  The floors are looking beautiful!  They've been sanded, stained and had their first two coats of water-based poly.  They'll get the final coat in about another week, after the finish carpenters have motored through.  I'm really happy with the color;  a rich, warm brown that brings out the grain of the wood and shows it's character.

Original Post:
The original hardwood floors are solid Brazilian cherry.  The wood is gorgeous and very hard - but very, very orangey-red.  Not my favorite look for wood floors.

The raw wood is really beautiful.  It looks like oiled teak and if I could get it to stay looking like that, I would have.  Here's a shot of the unfinished cherry that was under some cabinetry we removed.  You can see how orangey the old, oil-based poly made it look;

But putting any sort of durable finish on wood (oil or poly) will "bring out the richness of the wood" - in this case, bring out the orangey-red.  I experimented with a variety of stains;

and decided on a 50/50 mix of Walnut and Jacobean, shown in the middle of the picture below.  This mix brings brown to the floor, which it needs to help cancel out some of the red, without going too dark.

The Real Hardwood Flooring team sanded and patched earlier this week;

The put down the 50/50 mix of Jacobean and Walnut stains, then the water-based poly on top;

The results are very pretty, but definitely more "RED" than I had expected.  My brain is crunching on this info, thinking about how all of the different elements will work with this very rich, browny-red floor...  I haven't decided if I need to make any tweaks to the other elements yet, or if I'm good to go.  I think I'll leave this as a background process for a week or so... Stay tuned....

Click here for Part 18:  The Glamour

Part 16: The New Fireplace Wall

Update:  The Montauk Black slate has been installed around the firebox and is looking pretty fantastic.  It still needs grout, but I'm loving this stone.  It has a "satin" finish, meaning the rock still has some clefts and variations in surface depth, but it's been sand-blasted to a satiny-smooth surface that makes you want to run your hand over it.  Really lovely.  The dark stone blends a bit with the black metal gas fireplace box, making it look a tad bit less modern-gas-insert-y and will be a lovely contrast to the white painted mantel and shelves with the dark wood floors.

Original post:
Hector's been installing bookshelves, a mantel and trim for the new fireplace in the great room, along with new trim for all of the new windows and new front door.  He has a good eye and great attention to detail and does beautiful work.  His nephew, Francisco, is quiet, likes to listen to Mexican dance music on his phone as he works and does an excellent job.  They've matched the new with the old and work so fast, it's blistering.

Here's the fireplace wall, mantel, bookshelves and new windows all trimmed,  It's just as I'd imagined when I first walked into the space.

Click here for Part 17: The Cherry Floors

Part 15: The front hall

Finally, the clumsy, tiny front hall closet is a thing of the past.  The structural support has been addressed (larger, longer beam above, sistered joists below), and the drywall is in.

Here's the hallway before;

And here's the hallway now;

Please ignore the old kitchen drawer boxes, which were on their way out the door.
The hall went from 3.5' where the closet use to jut into the space, to a comfortable 6' wide.
Salvador is an expert drywaller and did a fantastic job blending the new with the old.
I liked the glow of the color of gyp plaster so much, that I had it color matched and am planning on using this color for most of the main floor.
That ill-placed closet cost so much time and money to remove, but the space feels SO much better now.  Next is the new fireplace surround.

Part 14: The new front door

Big day at the house today:  Mike and Guy, my contractors, had Jose, Miguel and Jose of J&J Construction install the new front door, sidelites and transom.
As usual, they did a fantastic job and the results are lovely.  Big change from the original, crooked door.  This is the same team who built the new columns for the front porch, new windows at the kitchen nook and above the new fireplace.

From left to right:  Guy, Miguel, Jose and Jose.

They also did some work adjusting the height on windows, and trimmed the patio doors of the ADU. 

It was raining, but they were good sports.  Results are fantastic.  So nice to see finish work!  This means we're getting closer to the finishing the project....

Thanks, Guys!  Great job.

Click here for Part 15:  The new front hall

Part 13: The Marble

Marble acquired!

I found a great supplier/fabricator, Keystone Granite, in Salem.  They have great prices and customer service so I drove down to look at their warehouse.  I wasn't sure what I was going with for the kitchen, until I found this slab of marble.  Bam.  Choice made.  It's just too beautiful to keep looking anywhere else.  It's now paid for and sitting in their "Sold" stone yard with "O'neill" written in the corner.  They'll also be fabricating the white quartz counter top and shower threshold for the master bath.  They're so busy that it'll be about 6 weeks until they get to my install, so I'll probably have to make do with plywood counters for a bit, but I believe it's well worth the wait.

Here's the walnut butcher block counter that's already sitting in the garage waiting for installation onto the island cabinets.

So, that will be white painted cabinets in the kitchen, Carrara marble counter tops for the perimeter cabinets, walnut butcher block for the island, stainless appliances and nickel hardware all against the dark, stained wood floors.

Simple, classic materials that will fit into the early-20th C. architectural vibe of the house.

Oh!  And drywall is going onto the walls and ceiling this week!  Hurray!  Here's a shot of Salvador, the excellent drywaller, working in the front hallway.

Click here for Part 14:  The new front door