Still standing

The house didn't fall down.

But taking down the stairs wasn't necessarily something that anyone living in our house wants to repeat anytime soon.  Kev jerry-rigged a rope and pulley system and had Andy hold the stairs up while he and I slid the bottom stairs out.  Then he and Andy lowered the thing down to the floor.  It was quite an engineering feat.

Kev was a wee bit annoyed to discover that the stairs had been placed against the wall before the walls were textured.  So, he'll have to try to match the texture on the wall before we repaint.

Carting the darn things outside was a feat in itself.  They were heavy, heavy, heavy.  We got a small dolly to put Andy's end on so he could navigate the corner to get them outside.  They're still sitting outside...right in front of the door.  Okay...slightly off set from the door, but they are right outside waiting for Kev to decide what to do with them. 

He took yesterday off from work (Wednesday, March 7) to work on the house.  (Actually, he's maxed out on his vacation and HAD to take some days off.)  When I got home last night, he'd laid new tile where the pellet stove sits.  We had originally put it up on a platform, but decided at this point to go ahead and put it on the floor.  The tile we picked out perfectly matches the stone on the wall.  I was so pleased to see how nice it looks!  I also think we'll like the stove without the platform.  It will make sweeping and cleaning much easier.

 Here's a close up.  We weren't going to do the border initially, but finally decided that we needed some color and something a little fancier, so we picked up the 6" tiles last weekend in Wichita.

 I know this is an awkward photo, but we also wanted to tile in front of the front door (the brown door) and decided to extend the tile clear past the garage door (the white door). The size of this area was really what convinced us to use the border tiles. 

 Kev really out-did himself on the corners of the pellet stove area and this area of the front entryway.  I love how he cut the tile with the angles.  It's just so totally professional looking!  Now all we have to do is grout.  That's on tonight's agenda.  As the official family grout-er, I hope my grouting job doesn't ruin Kev's hard work.

 While we were in Wichita, we looked at lights.  The light above the original stairs was just a hall light.  It was on the living room ceiling, but only lit up the stairs.  Upon the removal of the stairs, we knew we needed better light in the Living Room.  We just happened to stumble on this track light that we both liked.  It's contemporary, but not too modern looking and the sconces are tinted off white and brown, so they really tie in with our furnishings.  Kev put them up last Sunday afternoon.  It's bright enough now that I can probably stitch while sitting on the couch.  (I want to replace the ceiling fan, but Kev informed me that the ceiling fan wasn't part of the bet.)

We're moving along quickly now, but don't worry...Turkey season is right around the corner to be followed by fishing weather to be followed by garden weather and outside work.  Inside work will slow down and I will still be able to win the bet.