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August 29, 2006
Concrete's here!
We've been waiting nine weeks to get the basement floor poured. Every time we talked to the guy, he'd tell us that he'd do it "next week sometime." Well, "next week" has finally arrived, as the guys are busy placing concrete in the basement as I type.
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August 23, 2006
From garage to office
Having an attached garage is a nice perk, especially here where, in the winter, temperatures can easily reach -40F (-40C). However, in order to be practical, one's vehicle(s) also need to easily fit into said garage, while still allowing room for the driver (and, hopefully, passengers) to exit. In this particular instance, such was not the case, as Dana's car
The new office had to hold both of our primary computers and the piano.* Oh, and at least some of our large library. My dad built a long, two-station desk into the room, and will be making a 2'-wide floor-to-ceiling bookcase to match. We've managed to cram a lot into a small space, as the room is 7' 8" x 11'. The 4' x 5' window really helps, as does the fact that we didn't close the room in, electing, instead, to use a 5' high wall to separate the back door & its hallway from the office.
The "before" pictures:
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And, the "after" pictures:
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* Due to the fact that there are only two feasible spots in the living/dining room that the piano could have lived, both of which would have forced us to constantly walk around it (as we had to do in the rental property), we decided that we'd sacrifice office space to get it out of the way, while still keeping it accessible.
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August 22, 2006
Turtle-like progress
Or, at least that's what it seems like some days. We really are making good progress, but so much of it is fiddly little stuff that, at times, it doesn't seem like we're doing all that much, even though we spent the whole day working. Now that I've finally got my portion of the office set up, I'll be able to post the numerous photos I've been hoarding.
Our kitchen cabinets have arrived, and are now occupying various rooms throughout the house. I never realized how much room cabinets can take up, but having to store our fully-assembled, boxed cabinets has remedied this. Our dining room and front porch have become a bit of an obstacle course, and will remain this way until likely some time in mid-October. You'd be hard pressed to fit more than four people around the table right now.
On the plus side, our cabinets are going to look fabulous. The original cabinets, while functional, were rather impractical, and in need of some significant repair due to extensive water damage. We've chosen to keep the original footprint of the cabinetry, but expand it just a bit so that we can actually wash dishes side-by-side without getting constantly jabbed by each others' elbows!
We ended up unpacking the one set of drawers that made it as far as the kitchen--was it ever heavy! So, now we're at least able to see what the new cabinets will look like, which enables me to pick a couple of colours for the kitchen. I can hardly wait until these are installed!
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