A Promise to be a Better Blogger

Soooo... OK, I have not been true to the blog... I admit I slowed down but, perhaps things are actually getting done and perhaps I DO have things to report for the Beast.

Recently I discovered that the closet at the head of the stairs was not an original part of the house...wasn't supposed to be there.... and I discovered this fact when I attempted to pull off that lasssssst piece of ugly paneling that was on the side wall of the closet. Pulling it off uncovered new studs.... and drywall on the inside of the closet instead of plaster. Upon further inspection I realized that the dreaded past home owners had stolen the landing area with an ugly closet.

Of course.... I ripped that sucker out... and without the help of my sister, El Destructo, because it was cold... and wintery ... and she had some gall bladder surgery and wasn't in shape to tear up my house.

Anyway.... here's a before picture.... kinda before.... during destruction...

After destroying the closet I set about attempting to find a handrail that would match the old rail.... and find balusters to match the three that were intact. I found 4 old ones down in the creepy basement.... and no luck matching them up... guess they are too old of a pattern. By the way, it costs a fortune to have someone mill your existing balusters... and since I am fairly cheap.... an expensive fix was out of the question.

I did find plain balusters and a handrail that matched fairly well from Home Depot's vendors.

Then, as usual, I found Rick the master carpenter and had him restore my landing with my new parts....

Rick is so very skillful.....



and......



wait for it......



here it comes.....



are you ready.....




Ta Da.....

Love it... love it...

Looking forward to scraping paint off the rest of the stairway... and maybe getting it stained and varnished this summer...

let's all keep our fingers crossed.