Stairs on schedule

About a month ago, I talked about getting someone in to remodel our staircase.  I can't believe we took this long to call the guy for an estimate, but I guess between looking at 500 magazines to get ideas and then going to Nashville/Louisville, we never picked up the phone. 

So the work will begin shortly and he'll be installing all the components beginning next Thursday. The best part – it should take 2 days to install.

I've never had a contractor work on anything; so to go through ideas and talk about options was exactly what I needed. And I figured out that the reason my dad and I probably argue so much over remodeling is that I need to talk about projects and have a plan.  He doesn't (or if he does, he doesn't tell you what it is) and that stresses me out.
 
I guess I'm not the fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants gal I thought I was.

Step 3: Remove trim

Bye Bye Rosettes!

I don't feel that bad about replacing this trim because it wasn't even wood - it was like some sort of Styrofoam. And if I could remove it all by myself (which I did), then it must not have been up there right anyhow.

Now I can paint without having to needlessly tape any of this.

Step 2: Paint cabinet & mirror

LaCrosse

My cousin just graduated 8th grade and made his confirmation, so our gift to him for surviving a Catholic education was to take him to his first professional LaCrosse game.

Yes, professional LaCrosse - who knew they had their own league, the MLL. In Chicago they're known as the Chicago Machine and 2 of their games were played at Soldier Field and we went to one of them Saturday night. They played against the Long Island Lizards and lost by only 2 points.I had never seen LaCrosse played before and it was a fun game, action packed, constant play, and the players are allowed to hit (rather beat) each other with their net-sticks, which I thought was hilarious. Plus we got 1st row seats (no assigned seats and we arrived early) and were right behind the Lizards "dugout."

Step 1: Sand and Prime

It was 95 degrees outside so it seemed like the best thing to do on a Sunday when you can't do anything else for fear of melting.

Inspiration

Matt and I have spent the better part of the last few nights combing through magazines our friend Mike gave us, trying to find “inspiration” for the staircase. The problem with this strategy is that when you comb through This Old House and Fine Homebuilding you’re bound to find inspiration for a lot of other projects too. Coraling all the creative horses running amuck in my brain has been a big problem.

So now I have 2 piles of magazines in my house; one of the piles is labeled “Staircase,” the other is labeled … well “Other.” And by ‘other’ I mean everything from porches, to basement floors, to cabinetry, to bathrooms.

And by bathroom, I mean that I have found my inspiration for the upstairs bathroom. It’s just perfect for my remodeling ‘lite’ project. Remodeling ‘lite’ – this means no ripping up floors or walls, no re-doing plumbing, no 6 months worth of work.

Here’s the photo inspiration for the bathroom.
Cabinet: I didn’t want to replace the cabinet so painting it is a great option and this is such gorgeous color.

Countertop: When Mike was over he recommended we change out the sink/countertop and we had to agree. This solid-surface one with the under mount sink is so much nicer.

Fixtures: Goodbye gold and chrome combo!

Walls: Yes … we might actually have beige walls. My hand is shaking as I type because this is so foreign to me but with a blue cabinet, I think beige is the best option.

So there we go. A new upstairs bathroom should be a 2-3 months away!

Bathroom when we looked at the house

Trading Scotland for Simon

We just made our September vacation plans and they don't involve Scotland, but instead another island that starts with S - St. Simon Island off the Georgia coast.

Matt's parents have invited us along on their coastal vacation of the year, and it's been a long time since we've gone on vacation with them (Charleston in 2006?). We've never been to St. Simon's and it's always fun to go somewhere new -- I've already scoped out some restaurants for seafood and BBQ.

Trading in the haggis for some 'Que, Scotland will just have to wait ...