Locking Mailbox

We finally got around to installing our new locking mailbox this weekend, and yesterday I got the stickers to put the numbers on it. It sure is nice to know that our mail is all safely locked up so no identity theives can get at it - an ounce of prevention, etc.
Of course, we don't know if any of our mail ever did get (or ever would have gotten) taken, but the neighbors have told us that they used to lose their magazines and newspapers a lot, so now most of them pick up their mail at the post office. I'm MUCH too lazy to stop by the Post Office on my way home every day, so we ordered this mailbox from Oregon Trail Box. We looked at several different ones but Cary wasn't satisfied that they would keep our mail safe enough. Plus, this one is made of extra heavy metal, so it is supposed to be baseball-bat proof, which will probably come in handy. Better to pay a little more for that up front than to have to replace the whole thing some day.

Carpet! Well, not exactly...

But we have tack strips & rolls of underlayment!
While not as exciting as actual carpet, I'm trying to keep a positive attitude by viewing them as indicators of imminent carpeting. In fact, Jim the flooring guy was there last night when I got out to the house arranging & gluing the tack strips along the base of all the walls upstairs.
He said the carpet would be delivered today, but he didn't think he'd get back to actually lay it in until Thursday. Oh well. I can be patient, if I have to.

Downstairs, the cork floring was finished and several more of the doors were hung. That means that Steve can now finish the trim, not just around the doors but also the baseboards too. My understanding is that once the trim is painted in the bathroom the plumbers will come (nobody wants to try and paint the trim once the bathtub & toilet are sitting in front of it). THat will be a huge milestone, not only in the livability of the house but also because we can then get rid of the port-o-potty!

Near the stack of doors I found a bucket of the oil-rubbed bronze hinges. Aren't they pretty? It's a shame that they will hardly ever really be noticed or looked at.

No slate was laid, but the entryway was cleared out and swept so maybe today. Or maybe something completely different will get done. Either way, it's all good. :)

The Joy of Sinkholes

Yesterday all the sinkholes were cut in the subcounters, and the sinks dropped into them, including the kitchen sink. I am going to LOVE this new big sink.
I should perhaps explain that one of the things about the new house that I am looking forward to is having a nice, big, deep kitchen sink. For far too long we have lived in a small apartment with a totally insufficient kitchen sink. (Actually, the whole kitchen is insufficient in every way, but the sink is the worst part.) You can't even wash a regular-sized cutting board, let alone a casserole dish in it! You can't fill a soup pot because the cheap @#$*%! faucet rises only about 3" above the level of the counter top, and the sink is only 5 1/2" deep. The faucet is only reaches about 5" from it's base too, which means forget reaching the corner of the sink, you can't even reach the center. I have come to HATE it. Soon, I will be rid of it forever, and I won't be looking back.

Here's the lovely faucet that goes with it:

It's still in the box, but get a load of how long it is... which will translate into being really TALL. It also has a pull-out sprayer nozzle thingy. Oh, the soup pots I will fill with you.

In the downstairs bathroom we have a plain white ceramic sink, to go along with the clawfoot tub.
It will have these super cool nearly-but-not-quite-clear white glass 1" tiles as part of the backsplash. I tell you, it was like christmas last night, opening boxes and peeking inside...
...finding things like the faucet for the clawfoot tub.
Upstairs in the laundry room the utility sink has also been set into it's cutout. Cary demonstrates just how large & deep (15") it really is:
In the upstairs bathroom the Mexican sink is also in its spot. It looks small compared to the downstairs sink because the vanity itself is wider. In actuality, they are close to the same volume, although they are shaped a little differently - not that it will matter one whit as far as using them goes.
The shower/bath insert upstairs has been unmasked at last. It's been in the house since the framing, but we haven't actually SEEN it for so long that it seemed kind of new again last night. Cary demonstrates how tall he really is:
Maybe someday when we have money again I'll tear out this insert and build him a deep, custom tile tub, big enough that he can really soak in it. Or maybe we'll just get a hot-tub. :)

Trim, Doors & Knobs

Yesterday all the doors upstairs were hung, and Steve trimmed out several of the windows and got started on trimming the doors as well. Here he is, hard at work in the hallway:
And this is what the hallway looks like when he's gone downstairs to cut some more peices...
Here is one of the finished gable windows. I really like the classic lines of the trim. (I'll try to get a detail shot one of these days so you can really see what I'm talking about. For now, you can just click the picture and it'll enlarge a little bit.) Trim style is one of those things that I've never really paid much attention too, at least not in any detailed way - I just know if I like it or not in a general sense. When Mark started asking me HOW I wanted the trim to be done, I was pretty much at a total loss for what to say. This is what he suggested, and I am really, really happy with it.
Also, notice that the knobs have been put on the windowseat cabinet. Here's a close up of the knobs in the laundry room:
And here are the drawer pulls in the kitchen. I love that Cherry. What a beautiful wood!
Lots more door hanging and trim work to come...

Ding-Dong. Ding-Dong. Ding-Dong.

That's right, we have a doorbell now. It lights up, as you can see. Fancy. And what goes best with a doorbell? Why, a doorknob, of course!

The front door has been unwrapped, so you can see what it looks like with it's three little windows at the top. It will eventually be painted, but the color hasn't been decided yet. I'm leaning towards a dark redish-pumpkin color.

I now have a KEY, which is psychologically a HUGE thing. It's right here, on my keychain, reminding me that the house is real. Really, really, for reals REAL. And here is the lock the key goes to:

Knobs

The knobs and drawer pulls for all the cabinets are here! I really like them, they not only look good (imho) but they also have a really nice feel to them. The little knobs for the cupboard doors are nice and heavy (they must be solid) and they just fit right in my hand. The drawer pulls are lighter and thinner but don't feel cheap or chintzy. Both of course in the "oil-rubbed bronze" finish that we're using on everything metal. I like it for it's warm, not-too-shiny but not completely matte finish, it always looks good but doesn't shout "look at me!" the way chrome or brushed nickel does. Allen came over last night to let me know that there was a package waiting for me (UPS delivered the knobs to his house 'cause nobody lives at mine, yet), and of course he wanted to have a look at the progress on the house. It'd been a while since he'd visited, so there was lots to see. Also, my friend Toni came out for her first-ever visit to the house (though she's heard all about it, carpooling with me to work all summer. Toni is a very patient listener!). The three of us had a nice time taking the grand tour.