Saturday, July 26, 2008

Inspection....FAILED! But still we press on.

The old adage is that a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Well, here it is: All I have to say about our electrical contractor:



Moving on...
our awesome microwave is in place,
as are the balance of our beautiful handles:



Looking in from the front door,
here's the NEARLY complete left side of the kitchen:



And the TOTALLY complete right side of the kitchen:


I tried really hard to find our napkin sketches from a long ago trip to Florida that gave rise to this design for the right side of the kitchen. I know we still have them, but, alas, I may have packed them away already.
I hope to post a side-by-side of the sketch and finished product.
You'll be awed by our vision! :)

And just to confuse you, here's the backwards view
(from the den to the front door):



Our first canine visitor (who has seen this construction mess twice before), the adorable Morrison dog, Momiji:



Here's the pregnant lady from across the street who follows Momiji around:


In another small step toward habitability, check this out:



YES! Actual GAS coming out of our ACTUAL burner! That's the crazy center dual-burner on which I cannot wait to burn many many pancakes!

More news of (near) completion:

The second floor hall bathroom now has vanity,
AND vanity mirror, not to mention re-centered lights:



And, if you will forgive my inconsistent lighting,
here is our completed tub deck in the same bathroom:


....DRUM ROLL PLEASE....


Chic's Opus - the 3rd floor shower - is DONE! Well, the tile work, anyway.

Unfortunately, the bathroom is too small for me to capture all thirteen spectacular feet of
travertine perfection that is this shower.
Seriously.
It's gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

It took Chic nearly three months to put the finishing touches on it.
It is a master work.

If anyone in the Baltimore metro needs a tile guy, and is not in a time crunch, this guy is UNBELIEVABLY talented. You just have to accept that he is an artist, does not live on a schedule, and doesn't believe that anyone else does, either. Time issues notwithstanding, we could not be more thrilled with every single thing he touched in our house.....now if I could just get him to come back and install my towel bars..............

But, without further ado:
Here is the view of the shower from outside the bathroom door:



Here is the onyx floor and travertine curb combo,
on which it is utterly tragic to mount a glass door:



And here, yet another glorified wrench:


And now, here it is.....
our moment of cool, comfortable Zen:

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

No. Not yet. But soon.

Here are some recent photos...

Sean is in China; I'm in our apartment; the house isn't finished; at least I have air conditioning.

Our fancy hood is installed:



Here's our 3rd floor back door out onto the roof
(from the outside...still waiting on a facade):




Master bath double vanity
(sans handles):



Sean getting artsy with bathroom fixtures:


The master bath double headed rain shower:



Our tiny laundry room
(right next door to the master bedroom, not 15 blocks away!!):


More pics tomorrow....
Thanks for tuning in to our continuing saga....

Good night, and good luck.

Friday, July 11, 2008

another little taste...

today was a good day.
many lights installed, many toilets plumbed.
we are happy.

see some pictures:


new front railing.

wet bar sink.

appliance garage.


fridge is cold and working!

fun with lights!




fun with showers!



in 7 days Sean leaves for China.  we're blowing everyone off and spending our last weekend together at the beach.  don't call us, we'll call you :)

S&O&b

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A little taste

Lots of things are happening as the house (gasp) comes close to being finished.  95% of our lights are up and working, half of the bathroom vanities are up, and most of the trim has been caulked and painted.
Unfortunately we've both been so busy and it's so hot in the place that we haven't been taking many pictures.  Here are a few that Olga managed to snap today:

The 1st floor bathroom aka the powder room.  still needs a coat of paint.

the 1st floor front aka the great room:  fan and picture lights.

2nd floor hall bath vanity and shower tile:


master bath vanity lights:

master bath shower & tub controls:



we promise we'll take more pictures soon!

S&O&b

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Railings!!!

About 3 weeks ago, we had Mike of Mike's Welding come out to measure our stairs for a custom fabricated steel railing.  Today, a mere 20 days days later, we had them installed.  And, if you've been following our story so far you already know that this is quite a feat in the saga of 2215 Linden Avenue.  Mike's Welding was professional, fast, competitively priced, fast, and their work looks freakin' great.  To top it all off, they were in and out in under SIX HOURS!  

Did I mention that they were fast?

Enough talk, enjoy pictures!

welding:

grinding:

railing!




we absolutely, positively LOVE our new railings.  Thanks Mike!!!!


and, oh yeah, Chic still isn't finished...  
bah..  
I can't stay mad at this guy.  look at 'em!