I’ve been looking at these panel curtains which are similar.
On one hand I like the idea of the curtains to separate the space, on the other I’m not sure about making the hallway feel smaller. I think I’m going to try the room without them and can always add if needed.
True, it’s easy to add these later, if necessary.
We’ve been moving some furniture in the “finished” bits of our house and we’ve definitely made the lay-out more effective, at 0 cost but a lot of labour.
We’ve still not painted my room, only primed. It’s not really motivating to go and paint now, because I haven’t received any quotes for the ladder to the attic and as long as I don’t know the details about that I can’t make decisions about the furniture and floor either. I am so tired of tradespeople, I wish this bit was done! I’ve approached so many businesses but most can’t even be bothered to send a “sorry, not interested in this job” e-mail.
Flooring picked out and paid for. He said they’re scheduling 10-14 days out but will have a better estimate when the installers call to schedule. The furniture movers are coming to move the Peloton to the 4th floor in a few min and the donation place is coming on Wednesday to get the rest of the furniture. Now I just need to find a painter then I can start moving things into the room! Getting this mostly done (except for the window) before thanksgiving is feeling very doable!
@photojenn You’re really cookin’ along!
Three days of diligence and swearing and the railing looks done! Holy heck on a poptart!
There are still 32 screws to drill into the metal on the underside of that top rail, but that is Tomorrow T’s problem. Also the railing and gate for the stairs, but I am taking every win I can.
Wow, it is looking amazing!!
I absolutely love it. When’s the deck warming? 
Right?! I would spend so much time on that deck. The gorgeous deck and the views 
@TheMistressT it looks amazing!
Amazing and it doesn’t block the view! Beautiful.
THANKS @jemimah @Abbeeroad @photojenn We hope it will be a real 4-season space for us. Yes, even in winter in Montana. 
Eventually we’ll have some kind of retractable cover, but even as it is now so long as it isn’t raining or snowing we hope to be able to be out there with the help of a heat lamp and thick blankets. I already picked up a faux fur electric blanket!
@marionberries Thanks! That’s exactly why we chose cable railing and the “drink rail” top in “continuous” configuration! The typical configuration has the posts stick up a few inches above the rail and they have post caps. Too much visual “noise” for us or the setting. The cables kind of disappear when you’re not inspecting the railing, too. The only drawback is the obvious one: less privacy. Luckily that’s not really much of a concern in our spot.
That looks so nice! All your hard work really paid off.
Thank you! We think it really made a difference in our “curb” appeal. Quotes because we are miles from any actual curb and our house doesn’t even really face the road. 
Y’all! After about 6 weeks waiting for a part and then the retailing accidentally sending that part with the wrong contractor (about 6 weeks) we’re getting our woodstove replaced with a pellet stove! This should make heating our house so much easier and tidier. Maybe even cheaper year to year, not taking into account the cost of the stove and installation. No more hunting down a firewood supplier who will split and deliver, no more of the dirty, dust, bugs, and chunks that fall off the wood in the house, no more ash scooping! Of course, there is still work associated with feeding and maintaining the pellet stove, but it should be greatly diminished. Also, if we can source the pellets from w/o 600 miles, then they are considered a carbon neutral heat source. We can program the stove to get the house warming by the time we wake up! Eep!
I picked out some electric adjustable height legs for my art studio desk. I’m going to get casters too then I’ll have the flexibility to roll the desk next to the rolling tool chest and raise the desk height to create myself a 39” tall 52”x 50” rectangle (the desk will actually be a bit longer). I don’t have plans for it yet but the added flexibility of height adjustment and casters seems like a big win. Then I can also easily move the desk if needed or if I decide to rearrange.
Wheels on all the things 
That sounds like an amazing upgrade!
We sure hope so! It’s so much smaller that our kitchen looks bigger.
You are going so faaaaast!! How do you lure all these tradespeople to your house?? I’m so excited for you!!
@TheMistressT the finished result is amazing!!! It looks great. I had no idea it was going to be so much work but it certainly has been worth it. All the attention to the tiny little details has paid off.
I’ve still had no luck getting a quote for stairs. I just received a rejection from a well-known staircase factory that someone I know used to work for.
I asked them for a quote for a custom job, and they said “we don’t do those jobs, maybe have a look at this website” and the link they sent is like staircase Ikea - super basic models in standard sizes, shipped in bits and pieces. A great option for someone with DIY experience, but the exact opposite of what I asked them for - a quote for a made to measure stairs 
Well, it’s clear they’re not that interested, and it’s nice that they emailed back because most companies can’t be bothered, but if even the staircase specialists won’t do it I’m not sure where to go.
I’m just looking for someone who comes to my house, takes the measurements, makes a sketch, goes to work, then comes back to install it and when they leave the only thing I have to do is pay them (no installation, painting or carpentry) . Maybe that just doesn’t exist?
Same. Pffffffffffft.
Sorry to hear about your continued struggle to find someone to build your stairs. It’s so weird when something like this is so difficult to hire out! There have been times when I think, “Why doesn’t anyone want to take our money?!”
We went through this so much when we were trying to find the source of a water leak coming into our bedroom ceiling. It was impossible to find anyone to do work. Every trades person either said it wasn’t their trade (roof, windows, brick) or said that we needed ridiculous replacements then completely gaslighted me when we got our HOA involved. It took about 6 months before we could sleep in our bedroom (luckily we have a guest room we could sleep in).
For the art studio it’s all very straight forward which I think is easier to get people to do. I think when it’s custom or lots of problem solving involved companies tend to not want to do the work and prefer much easier jobs.
It seems like there’s the small middle ground of work that’s not too small or too complicated where everyone wants to work. I imagine with mystery water that’s even more the case.
The flooring is being installed on Nov 1 which is a little later than I was hoping but that’s ok. I need to find a painter next week so we can hopefully get them scheduled for right after the floor is in. We decided to just get a painter because we are going to get the whole first floor painted including the entry way and powder room. If it was just the art studio we’d paint it ourselves.
I ordered the butcher block top for the desk yesterday. My husband did some tests yesterday on scrap wood for the round over I want on the edge and testing out some new finish (Rubio mono coat). The round over looks great (1/2”) and I think should make for a really comfortable desk edge. Once the finish has had time to cure, I am going to test “spilling” different things on it like paint, inks, glue, etc to see how it cleans up with one coat of the finish or if we will need more coats.
At this point I think I have most things picked out and am ready to click buy once I get the painter figured out. The main thing I haven’t figured out yet is the desk chair. I’ve found a couple chairs in the style I like online but ideally I’d be able to sit in them first. There are tons of furniture stores in the city so I might have to check them out even though I’d probably end up paying more for a chair at a local store vs somewhere like Wayfair.
I am getting SO excited!
