![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/house.jpg\" "\\"house\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nDecorators, anyone?\u00c2\u00a0 See that mantle?\u00c2\u00a0 We picked it up for a SONG after Katrina.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s unbelievably gorgeous and we have no idea what to do with it… it just sits there now.\u00c2\u00a0 That white inside of it is a piece of wood I painted with primer and stuck back there to hide the wall and cords running down from the stereo.\u00c2\u00a0 We aren’t sure what to do with it.\u00c2\u00a0 We love it; it’s an incredible piece of New Orleans artistry and history (it came from a mansion on Rosa Parks).\u00c2\u00a0 But maybe we should sell it and finance a trip to Europe on the proceeds?\u00c2\u00a0 We have no idea.<\/p>\n
Also, since this picture was taken, above the mantle, we’ve hung up a big carved wooden flower made by a Honduran artist.<\/p>\n
One more detail.\u00c2\u00a0 See the second doorway on the left?\u00c2\u00a0 For years, one of the pocket doors hung in that doorway — the door was warped and could not be put back in the wall.\u00c2\u00a0 Paul took the door down a few hours before this picture was taken and dropped it off at The Bank — they’ll strip it, press it, and fix it all up so it will work.\u00c2\u00a0 At least, we hope.\u00c2\u00a0 Otherwise, we’ll have to cut open the trim to fit the door, which would be a bummer.<\/p>\n
The front door we use is in the middle of the picture.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s still not finished.\u00c2\u00a0 We think we’re going to end up painting it white, but still aren’t sure.\u00c2\u00a0 We keep thinking we’ll find a temporary replacement door, install it, and then take this one to be dipped and repaired and locks updated at The Bank (salvage and restoration place) and then seal it before re-installing it.\u00c2\u00a0 Who knows?<\/p>\n Here’s another view of the mantle.<\/p>\n This is the kids’ play room.\u00c2\u00a0 Most folks would use this as a dining room, but I can’t see the point of having two tables to eat off of.\u00c2\u00a0 We have one and it’s in the kitchen area, enough already!\u00c2\u00a0 Plus, this is a space where they can make a mess without us tripping over it and going crazy.<\/p>\n Another thing I did while Paul was away… I stripped the old oil-based paint off of this granite fireplace hearth and fireplace cover.\u00c2\u00a0 The bank must have taken the summer grate when they foreclosed on the house and when we bought it, there was a wooden cover attached.\u00c2\u00a0 We took off the cover and found it FULL of soot.\u00c2\u00a0 It took days to clean it out.\u00c2\u00a0 While Paul was away, I stripped the paint (wow, so so so so so messy) and then painted the fireplace surround black.\u00c2\u00a0 I went back and forth on what to do about the granite and am thinking that we should try to polish it and see what it looks like.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a large crack in the stone, but I sort of think it gives the hearth character.<\/p>\n Will’s room.\u00c2\u00a0 It gives some perspective on the ceiling height.\u00c2\u00a0 The Star Wars Lego Mosaic is 5-feet high.\u00c2\u00a0 Will’s bunk bed was a floor model from the Pottery Barn out in the suburbs.\u00c2\u00a0 We waited nearly 2 years for it to go on sale and then picked it up for a quarter of the original price.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not a fast way to get a bargain, but it worked.\u00c2\u00a0 (Same for the kitchen set in the kids’ playroom.)<\/p>\n More of Will’s room.<\/p>\n Our room!\u00c2\u00a0 A few months ago, we finally splurged on the King-sized mattress.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a Keetsa and deserves a proper review now that we’ve slept on it for a few months.\u00c2\u00a0 We have no bed, but who cares?\u00c2\u00a0 Paul is planning on building a platform one of these days and maybe I’ll design some sort of headboard.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, in my free time.\u00c2\u00a0 Eventually I’d like to paint the end tables, too, maybe when the kids go to college?<\/p>\n Here’s something exciting — see the DOORS above?\u00c2\u00a0 (The ones to the right, the ones up high on the walls are our “upper” closet — the ceilings are so high that the rooms can have closet on top of closet.)\u00c2\u00a0 But back to the doors to the bathroom.\u00c2\u00a0 The door that used to be there is the one we’re ripping down to use as the hanging pocket door to the study in the back.\u00c2\u00a0 We scoured The Bank on several occasions until we found a salvaged door that fit… and had the folks at The Bank split it in half and remove the upper sections so that we could make them glass (or something) in time.<\/p>\n Now, not only are they installed, but they are PAINTED (errr… primed).\u00c2\u00a0 AND… that’s GLASS!\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, GLASS!\u00c2\u00a0 Inside of them!\u00c2\u00a0 I ordered cut glass from an industrial glass place in town and picked it up while Paul was gone.\u00c2\u00a0 No hardware yet, but hey, DOORS!<\/p>\n See DOORS!\u00c2\u00a0 They open!<\/p>\n Also?\u00c2\u00a0 I primed the doors and trim around the hallway doors up to about 6-feet high — if you look closely, you can see the tops of the door frames and the transoms are still not primed\/painted.<\/p>\n The bathroom!\u00c2\u00a0 It almost looks finished from this angle.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you see the other DOOR?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Again, no hardware, but it’s primed!\u00c2\u00a0 And installed!<\/p>\n No doors yet on the closet in our room.\u00c2\u00a0 But at least there is a closet!<\/p>\n We have plans to hang a long mirror on the back wall by the vanity.\u00c2\u00a0 Eventually, too, we’ll figure out things like towel bars and hooks.<\/p>\n All this cleaning up to prepare for the onslaught of company, and what did we forget to do?\u00c2\u00a0 Hint: look into the closet.<\/p>\n I am that girl who gets all dressed up and walks onto the stage to give the big speech, all the while unaware that her dress is tucked into her underwear.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, that’s me.\u00c2\u00a0 Here’s the proof.<\/p>\n We forgot to put away my underwear.\u00c2\u00a0 There they hang, drying away.\u00c2\u00a0 Lovely.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you see Paul, giving tours of the house and this part in particular, which he built.\u00c2\u00a0 All that time, standing and talking in the bathroom and showing off the delicate details… while my intimate garments hang for all to see.\u00c2\u00a0 Perfect.\u00c2\u00a0 I feel certain each member of my board walked through here.<\/p>\n Also, the shower is still not finished.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s almost 2 years later, and Paul is still suffering post-traumatic stress from the tile incident<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 He swears it is going to be The Project this summer.\u00c2\u00a0 Until then, it’s storage for random construction items.<\/p>\n Kate’s room is adorable.\u00c2\u00a0 I love the carved and painted wooden birds and butterflies from the Peruvian Amazon.\u00c2\u00a0 All of them were bought at an artisans’ wholesale market in Iquitos.\u00c2\u00a0 I wish I’d gathered more!<\/p>\n We would like to find a bed for Kate, but it’s actually hard to find used twin beds in New Orleans that are in decent shape.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The current plan is for Paul to build a daybed.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, eventually.<\/p>\n Paul built that floor-to-ceiling bookshelf while I was pregnant with Kate.<\/p>\n The quilt on her bed is second-hand… it’s a beautiful Pottery Barn pattern and is Twin-sized.\u00c2\u00a0 It was such a good bargain that I got it to put aside for when she finally has a twin-bed.\u00c2\u00a0 (I also have princess-themed sheets.)\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s hope that she is still into flowers and princesses when we finally do get her that bed.<\/p>\n Here’s the laundry room.\u00c2\u00a0 I *love* having a utility sink.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s made cleaning up after painting (and especially stripping the paint off the mantle) so much easier.\u00c2\u00a0 Right now, I have socks soaking in bleach solution in that sink.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a dreamy, dreamy room, this laundry room.<\/p>\n Another thing that’s cool in here.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you see the curtain under the washer and dryer?\u00c2\u00a0 Behind that curtain is storage for extra laundry supplies AND… the cat’s litter box.\u00c2\u00a0 He has an opening in the wall in the bathroom (a little cat door cut-out) and the curtain on this side.\u00c2\u00a0 Extra privacy for his regal catness.\u00c2\u00a0 (And less offensive litter box experiences for those walking through the laundry room.)\u00c2\u00a0 Architect-smarchitect.\u00c2\u00a0 I think we planned the renovation layout pretty darn well, if-I-do-say-so-myself.<\/p>\n Paul installed the cabinets and, of course, built everything in the room.<\/p>\n We moved the pinball machines to the back room before Paul left.\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s just say that he can’t quite throw them around like he used to, but that he managed to get these back here — essentially by himself — without injuring anything or anyone.\u00c2\u00a0 (To lift and move these, you need two people who can dead-lift 300 lbs each.)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n