They came in twos

Well,

   It's been awhile since I have posted but darn it, we've been busy and I've been tired (pregnancy does that sort of thing to you).  Anyways, changes include hiring a friend, Scott to help us out with siding and various other projects that are driving me crazy or are beyond our current level of patience which seems to be getting shorter by the day.  He re-sided the entire porch-quite a task, just finished cutting out rafter tails to size in prep for the gutters that will hopefully be up by next Friday (we hired this out as well-can you tell we are getting burned out?).  Other projects include help with patching the cut off window sills on the exterior of the house which I feel will make the house look so much better.  He is amazing!

They came in twos you ask?  Well, we finally took a trip to Portland Nursery last weekend to pick up the much debated conifers for our front yard.  My brother, the landscape architect, initially wanted us to get conifers that would eventually reach 60 or so feet tall and just be huge in our opinion while we wanted something more on the dainty side.  After much research, we found that the mountain hemlock was just the right size, getting only ~8' wide and 20ish feet tall (about 6 feet tall right now).   We planted them last weekend and love 'em...one is a little crocked at the top but I feel it adds to the charm!   They frame the house very nicely.

 ~mtn hemlock on south side of house near column~

~mtn hemlock on north side of house near column~

If the rain holds out for us, we hope to finish painting the new siding tomorrow (we caulked, sanded patched holes and painted today until the rain came) so that we can plant all the plants by the garage that make the house look like a nursery.  

Happy Fall!  I love fall!  My favorite season!

How did it stay tall?

Amazing that our house is still standing after finding what we found underneath the column boxes. One 2x4 literally suspended in space and just hanging, one just there and another bowed, split and half there. I guess that we hired help none too soon. While we were going to just have him do the columns, we decided to spoil ourselves (or save a couple fights and some heat exhaustion) and hire him to do the railing boxes and two sets of stairs as well. Contractor Ben you are our savior!

Hard to tell, but the columns were crocked and misshapen long
before we found out what was really wrong with them


Can you find where there is only half of the 2x4?

half a 2x4 that is bowing is holding up our house....sweet! What else will we find?


New Posts...and done in one day-magic!!!!
Maybe hiring a contractor is worthwhile????

Dreaming custom built-ins

Here are some inspiration ideas we have found through my research. Our dream built-ins include corbels, stained fir, cabinets with stained glass door, window seat with storage, columns, and a secretary desk

Built-ins

Our current project (among others) is to design and have built built-ins around our fireplace (newly rebuilt in Spring of 2008-it was crumbling) and to divide our living room and dining room while adding functional storage and beauty. This has been quite the task and more research than I imagined. Not only does it take months to get a concept in your mind, it takes even longer to find the right pictures to show the cabinets makers and then even longer to find the right cabinet makers.
I have learned many things about cabinet makers over the past week.
A. There are many contractors that will describe
themselves as cabinet makers but that is false
B. True cabinet makers are artists
C. MY OH MY is it pricey to have fir cabinets built!
D. Hiring a great contractor is a job in itself.
However, we have met some pretty cool people in getting these estimates but I am still looking for quality while sticking to a budget, something I have yet to find. I have found that copying pictures to get my vision across has been the most helpful part of the quote process and that you know when cabinet makers have your vision and the ability to make your dream reality.
We are the type of couple who almost never hire contractors but when we do, we expect to get quality and what we discussed-does this seem like asking a lot? Not to me but apparently so. We have have some fabulous and not so fabulous contractors thus far. I typically get about 10 as opposed to the typical 3 before I hire a contractor and it pays off for the most part.
Anyways, here are some pictures showing pre move-in, mid demo/rebuild and our pathetic, but current reality...vision soon to come