doors, medallions and hardwood

After 5 weeks of waiting, our doors are finally in! We ordered them custom through Lee Lumber in Chicago. We picked them up yesterday right as the skies broke open and a thunderstorm blew through (perfect timing, right?) But, they are everything we hoped and dreampt about! =)

We debated endlessly over the paneling: 5 panel? 3 panel? 4 panel? raised panel? flat panel? jamb style? hinge style? hinge finish? There are honestly too many decisions to make when choosing doors. But we finally decided: 4 panel, flat panel, colonial jambs, square hinges, oil rubbed bronze finish.

Today Justin and my Dad worked on installing two of them. Of course, in an old building like this nothing is plumb or level, so it look took them about 3 hours of shimming, nailing and sawing but they're up! And now, every time we walk down the hall we catch ourselves doing a double take because a.) we actually have doors again! and b.) they're beautiful!!!

pre-installation

post-installation

We also purchased and just recieved the ceiling medallions we're going to install above our light fixtures. Medallions compliment the victorian style and should add a little extra detail to the bedrooms. The style of the bedroom medallions is pretty simple but we will probably pick something a little more ornate for the living room (once we get to that project.)

I also got fed up with our lovely brown paper/blue tape protective flooring and took it all out in the bedrooms. In general I'm starting to get a little tired of feeling like we are living temporarily (first in my parents basement and now in our kitchen); I needed to see something pretty in my house to keep me sane and optimistic that we are still progressing - slowly but surely. We put that paper down in the bedrooms the day after the wood flooring was complete, so getting to finally see it again was a very welcome sight. Farewell brown paper! Now, I just need to get it out of the hallway...

tile accomplished!

Finally finished putting in the tile this week! Last week we laid it, Thursday we grouted it and yesterday my Mom and I spent a couple hours buffing it clean. Let me just say... tiling is not as easy as you would think or as easy as the people at the tile store like to make it sound; just dont believe them. It's a pretty stressful job because you are limited in time. From the second you mix your thinset or grout, you only have about 20 mins to use it until it dries up and becomes useless... so laying tile is kind of like running a marathon. You've gotta keep up the pace and dont stop until the job is done! Luckily, we made it through our first tiling job and are pretty happy with the results. We saved a lot of money doing it ourselves and we learned a lot along the way.

The only change I would make would be to have gone with the black grout instead of the dark grey grout. The lady at the tile store did a good job of convincing us that we would absolutely hate having dark grout and I almost believed her until I got home and remembered my true vision for the tile. And the more I walked the streets of Chicago, the more I was confirmed in my thinking that darker is better. Just about every vintage door stoop in this city has mosaic tile with dark black or dark grey grout, so I had my answer... we ended up returning the light 'wisper grey' she convinced us to buy and getting the charcoal. It's a dark grey, but not true black. I'm definitely happy with the dark grey but next time I'm going all the way with the black! =)

Lesson #37.6793: Always trust your gut when it comes to design desisions.