haven’t posted on the house in a while. actually, haven’t posted on anything in awhile…
here’s the state of things downstairs:
*the stairs are still without their treads and most visitors consider them a death-trap. in the last month, i’ve had a total of 3 people who were unwilling to come upstairs because they were too scared to climb them. while i’ve become so used to them that i fly up and down them in heels, i recognize the lack of railing, large gaps between the steps and the massive hole below that drops into the basement is not inviting. therefore, i don’t judge people who hover at the front door and assure me they will visit upstairs soon.

*where upstairs living space meets the danger zone:

*the view from below

*i take comfort in the fact that this will be the sweet view from the living room of the stairs against the unfinished brick wall and that soon there will no longer be pink installation hanging from the ceilings or death trap falls into the basement:

*c framed out the living room area with the far wall having some dry wall and insets for art and/or a screen for a projector. not sure which one yet. the open floor plan enables walking into the kitchen by the far wall, just beyond the exposed brick chimney that runs through the enter of the house:

*view of the front living space from the dining area:

*said dining room area. i think c placed the Lichtenstein painting there to get it out of the way, but i consider her tears a nod to the tears of relief i shed the other week when we found out we got a home improvement loan and could finally make a lot of head-way on the first floor:

*opposite the dining area is the kitchen, which is the current source of much stress. i always thought designing a kitchen would be really fun. guess what? turns out it’s not. the fun part is picking out stuff you want in the kitchen. the not so fun part is figuring out how to arrange it so all the appliances work and there’s enough space to move around. C has multiple plans done up in sketch-up (a sweet 3D program i’ll share shots from next time). we have yet to decide on what we’re doing. the kitchen is framed in by the brick chimney to the left and the framed wall to the right, which will contain the fridge and cabinets. on the other side is a half bathroom. there will be a center island:

it took us a few weeks, but we finally decided to open the blocked-in windows, which threw off the original design we had settled on. kitchen design conversations between me and c go something like this:
c: how about this idea?
me: i don’t like this part
c: how about this? maybe not. this won’t work. maybe this…
me: i’m not an interior designer. i don’t know what to suggest anymore.
c: stick with me rach. i need your input. stay with me on this one. your attention span is fading. don’t let it fade.
me: too late.
repeat 3x a day.

*view of kitchen area from back entrance:

*on the other side of the wall in the kitchen will be a half-bath, framed by built-in storage closets for coats, boots, and all things you want to hide from sight. doorway on far right:

*and finally, the back entrance, which will be an open area with a window and built in seating below the window. double glass doors will open onto the patio. (a massive project that is almost finished with a host of its own pictures i’ll share in its own post.) view from kitchen:

this is the open floor plan from the front of the house: you can walk in the front door and right out the back without walking through any doorways:

by the end of June, the goal is to have all the drywall in (which is much less than upstairs because of the open floor plan), floors, stair treads, and windows where they were filled in. C already ran new sewer and gas lines in the basement, is finishing up the electrical and installing lights, and hopes to begin the plumbing for the kitchen and bathroom asap. when all is said and done, we might actually be using the downstairs by fall.