Warning - Photo Heavy Blog...

House update - we WON'T be in by Christmas LOL - but not too far afterwards.  Apparently when you build a house single handedly it takes a really long time, especially when you decide everything is custom and handmade - case in point our staircase! one-of-a-kind ladies and gentlemen.

Lots of trimming out around the ceiling, windows, floors etc. The false floor came out from in the living/dining room and opened up the whole area.  

Before (excuse the dirty camera lens)

After...

Then he trimmed out the big, curved window.

So pretty with the window trim all painted white.

We finally got the chimney fitted ready for the pellet stove - inside.

Outside...

Finished up ducting for the kitchen and bathroom fans and got the final mechanical inspection completed and box ticked!

Next the trim.  We had brought a HUGE pile of Port Orford cedar last year, and rather than paying to have it kiln dried we dried it ourselves in the house with the heating and the dehumidifier.  Worked like a charm (well it had plenty of time to sit around). 

And now it was finally time to use it, every piece needed to be sanded, 4 different grades of sandpaper, then treated with tung oil to finish it off.

Before (with splotty camera)..

During...

After - The trim is designed to look like a solid beam between upstairs and downstairs and the wood is beautiful, lots of interesting grain.

Trim around the cedar beams and the top of the stairs.

Next job was the stairs, the bottom corner had to be designed, welded etc.

Each tread had to be sanded.

Measured, cut and fitted into place.

The corner treads were made from 2 pieces of wood, glued together, cut to shape, sanded...

Hand rail is still a WIP..

Then the most amazing thing happened, the treads were varnished in a clear floor varnish, and they became a thing of beauty, seriously look good enough to eat..

Sanded round edges on the treads..

From this...

To this in really not that long a time frame, just about 4 years plus some change.

Inspected and approved and they definitely work...

I got my paintbrush out and threw some paint around, that is pretty much all the painting done now.

The colors don't look anything like they do in the photos, but you get the idea, a yellow theme,

And now he is fitting the kitchen, we ended up buying a kitchen as cost wise it was the same as building from scratch, time wise we are hopeful for much quick activity!!!

It seems like it is taking forever, especially now we are getting down the final few things to tick off the list, but every little detail counts.  We are both excited to move into the house and finally live in it, that doesn't seem like too much of an illusion anymore!  

Happy 2023 everyone, may you all get to live in your dream homes!

And then things just kept getting better...

Really? Things are getting better? aside from tile in the bathroom the upstairs of the house is finished! the downstairs isn't far behind.  Three (3) witnesses today heard the words uttered "we will definitely be in the house this year".

At last check in the doors were starting to be hung! well that is now done and done, and they look so nice.  Lots of plaining, routing of holes, fitting of fixtures and painting of tung oil, quite a production line he had going on..

And then he entered serious dust territory, he sanded and treated the Port Orford posts, dust E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E, but now they look and feel amazing!

Next he made the door to the storage space.  This is going to be a hidden door, it will eventually have a seat in front of it that will fold up to allow the door to open, but when the seat is there you won't really be able to see the door.  This is also in my office space, so I wanted to make it a bit of a feature, it's so Mr. M has somewhere to sit when he feels the need to visit me at work *rolls eyes*  Oh yeah, and he cut out the storage in my office, which are built into the eaves of the roof.  And fitted doors etc. etc.

He also finished up his ceiling fan - he's feeling pretty pleased with himself about this...

It is even better in motion...

Then it was on to paint - we all know how hard it is to get the paint colors on camera, but here we go.  We have gone with quite bold colors throughout the house, with all the wood the walls need to speak for themselves.

Master bedroom - I am a bit in love with this white and "Flipper" color scheme, and why yes that is a little window through which you view the other side of the house and spy on the front door...

From the other side...

Out the door to my office space..

My office... which is hard to really to capture.  We have selected to go with yellow tones for the main room and up the stairs to my office with the colors meeting at the top of the stairs.  

The upstairs trim detail between the walls and the ceiling explains why this house is taking so long.... LOVE IT!

Downstairs bedroom...

Utility room...

Next is cabinets, utility room and kitchen, then time to finish up the tiling and flooring, stair treads and voila, we will be done! 

It's been a cold wet spring here on the Oregon coast, so the garden is off to a somewhat soggy start, but everything is planted and it will all catch up soon.

Until we meet again!