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Showing posts from March, 2013

Inching to the Finish

I hate to start out with excuses as to why I'm not showing a finished ...well a finished anything.  The tile that was supposed to arrive in 2-3 weeks did not ship until day 23, so we are still waiting on that.  Then we were forced to remove the gas pipe to the firebox in order to raise it to accommodate the tile.  May I just say it was set in approximately 8 inches of super solid concrete and leave the rest to your imagination?  That set us back time wise.  Add to that the normal, "construction takes twice as long as you thing it should" and you have my litany as explanation. The hearth went from here, to here, to here.  (no grout yet) Making 5 pieces of this tile come out evenly across each side of the firebox took some finagling. But, it came out beautifully thanks to Dan's patience. persistence, and fine workmanship. This is where we got hung up waiting for more tile.   As you can see the existing chandelier is centered on the room

Foyer Progress Report

The first thing on the agenda was to choose the tile for the face of the fireplace. Next came laying it out in a manner that was pleasing to the eye without distracting cuts. Finding the tile required a little legwork, but this is what I settled on. Making it work was a bit more of chore for Danny.  Once the old tile was removed he had to level the base so that the 12x12 tiles for the hearth did not rock when in place.  Before he started that leveling process I took a picture. My children's names had been drawn into the fresh concrete years ago so I thought I would share that memory with them.   A good layout plan resulted in some creative thinking and a lot of (ugh) math. We decide to add a strip of wood flooring onto each end of the hearth to make five of the 12x12 tiles fit perfectly.  Luckily we had saved some of the flooring from the dining room tear out in preparation for the powder room.  (I know, slightly different color.  I'll deal with tha

Chameleon Foyer

The entry in my home of 35 years has changed it's appearance a few times over the years .  It is currently going through another transformation.  But before I talk about that, let me show you a few pictures leading up to this new look. This room measures 11' x 13', has one window, a wide pocket door that leads to the living room, the door to the outside, and a doorway to the rest of the house.  It also has a large 4' long radiator.  By now you are getting the picture...bigger than some entries, true.  But because it is actually a room with several openings, it is not really big enough for much furniture.  Leaving a walkway from the front door brings it down to about  7' x 13'.  So, what do you "do" with this room? When I bought the house, I realized that behind the faux stone paneling there used to be a fireplace.  I decided it was something that should be restored.  This involved removing the bricks that had been put in to close off the fireb