Home Improvements-the hall

Home-project related unintended puns:

"This vacuum really sucks" - J (my kid, who abhors vacuuming)

"Well, I better know which tile I want because once I glue it down, I am stuck with it!" - me, as I was telling my brother about the bathroom.

The second one is related to what I have been doing lately. I have gotten remotivated (thank you Jim) to finish some projects around the house.

I had torn out the carpet (see photo on left; half of tread carpet complete) on the upper level stairs and in the hall; I removed the banister and handrail (and NOT fallen off the hallway ONCE!-Gary was concerned), replaced some drywall (water damage), removed all trim and flat-paneled doors.

Fairly quickly, I put in oak-faced risers on the stairs, oak hardwood flooring in the hall and replaced the doors with six-panel doors with bronze knobs (very unique). A bit later, I put in the mission-style oak newel post. At that time, I also finished the hand and base rails for the hall, but due to severe miscommunication with spawn, they were put out with the trash about 30 seconds before the trash truck came...sooooo......I had to get new and start all over -- it's always something.

As a perfectionist, I sand, I apply sealer, sand, apply....repeat no fewer than two more times...sand, apply polyuerathane, sand, another coat, one more sanding touch-up, then final coat. Then, I have to figure out the railing. I bought black wrought iron pickets to give the railing a more open, modern look compared to the horrible 70s inspired original design. As of today, I have finally measured and settled on a final length. This next week, I'll drop them at an iron shop for cutting. Then, I'll have the joy of precisely drilling holes into the floor, marking the bottom of the railing, and chiseling out the squares for installation. While getting this thing installed is a bit intimidating for me, I know it isn't going to install itself! So...

It has been a bear trying to figure out how the wood around the stair opening should work, what to do with the stairs (finished oak or painted trim? Wooden handrail or wrought iron?)

As of now, the baseboards are all installed, caulked and repainted (three times). Quarter round --prefinished from Bruce Flooring,expensive at $14.95/8 lin. ft, but looks perfect --was glued down (go Gorilla glue!) and carefully braced to avoid nail holes. Today, I repainted each of the four doors (twice) and touched up some of the trim.

Awhile ago, I became distracted by the idea of a mural. Jackson loves it when I paint these crazy things, so talked me into doing something in the hall. To the right, you can see what I have done, thus far. It still needs much work, but I have other priorities, right now.

I expect to have the whole thing (except the mural) finished by week's end. I have a few other photos of the trim that I'll post later. I know you are really excited to see it, but you will just have to wait a bit longer--you can do it!

In case you are curious, below are a few photos of other murals I have done. The one on the left is currently in Jackson's room that is decorated with a southwest theme. It matches a wool kilim pillow cover that he won't keep on his bed. The photo in the center is actually just a small part of his room, as it was decorated before, with a tropical underwater theme. The one on the right is an accent wall I painted in the dining room. I had a rug that matched it very closely. Now, the rug is gone and the wall has been painted with a green suede paint.