Sunday, December 6, 2009

One Project Down

Once again, I wish to thank Mrs. Blandings for posting the photo of her new stair runner. I shamelessly stole a photo of her beautiful home and used it as the inspiration for my sales pitch for our holiday project. Mrs. B you are my hero.



With the help of our buddy Chuck, who has made a career of saving me from myself, together we tackled the design and build of our copy cat version of wainscoting. If you ever are in need of a bit of holiday mirth, sit two adult men down and watch them design a house project.

I designed, Chuck revised, I redesigned. We fought like sisters. So certain was I that I had communicated my plan than I didn't look at the panels until late the night before installation. They were awful.

Chuck showed up in the morning, saw that I may have been sorta right, gathered up his material and left. He returned in several hours with truly astonishing great pieces.











When did you last use a protractor? I haven't since high school Geometry. In our discussions we had to figure out which angle to use when cutting the end caps at the top of the stairs. Chuck begins with the " I think its a...."



Stupidly, sometimes I've just got to be right. Not often, but occasionally the mood hits. So I pulled our trusty protractor out of the desk to suggest the angle may be... but I couldn't read the numbers. We both fell down the stairs in hysterics.



As you can see our house is small, the stairway and corridors are narrow and dark, but I think the paneling and white paint help make it seem brighter.










Most importantly, my bride likes the finished product, completed on time and under budget. Let the holidays begin.


Toad

19 comments:

David said...

Toad it's super! Nicely done Sir.

Anonymous said...

Very nice touch - adds a lot of finish to the space. Laughing over the protractor!

Jeff, Jill and Erin said...

Beautiful! I am going to share this with my Brother, your house looks identical to his and once he sees your pictures he is sure to want to copy it also.

We too live in a small house. It has forced us to learn about color selection and furniture placement to maximize the space. I knocked out the wall between the living room and the kitchen when I remodeled it (with my own “Chuck” no less – my Brother – in – Law Steve, a master carpenter) and what a difference.

It actually made the living room smaller, physically, but the entire area feels so open and inviting. No doubt aided by the presence of my bride and toddler as I tend to be less inviting.

Thanks for sharing your results,
Jeff

Martha said...

Toad -- it is amazing how much better your space looks! It went from bland to spectacular! You should be proud!

Mrs. Blandings said...

Toad! It's wonderful! I'm incredibly impressed, and can say that, because while the inspiration was my hallway, it existed before we bought the house. Serendipity. Let the holidays begin.

Gail, in northern California said...

Holy cow! It's beautiful. It amazing how the little things transform a room. Good of you to notice Mrs. B's, propose it to your wife, and followed through...all in record time. You can be proud.

Toad said...

Thank you all, I love it.

Kathleen (House Things) said...

Nice work. I'm going to copy it, too. Someday!

Kathy said...

It really does lighten things up. It's on my list too.

Brian said...

It feels good to get something done. The finished project looks great. Around here we just end up hiring a carpenter so that the Mrs. and I don't kill each other.

ADG said...

Toad...did I see Ted in a picture? He still looks embarrassed.

ADG

nanc said...

Wow. It looks wonderful.

Patsy said...

Oh, that is awesome. You and Chuck should be very proud.

Toad said...

Ted the Wonderdog looks much better with fur.

TWA said...

Fabulous job mr. toad, well done on the on time and under budget part.

In The Littoral said...

Toad, What a great job, the white will definately help brighten the halls.

DW

PS love the HST for Sherriff poster! May he rest in peace.

Toad said...

I suspect that wherever HST and Elvis are now, they probably aren't resting.

Easy and Elegant Life said...

It's the Freak Power ticket poster that does it for me, too.

As for your project, you are a far better man than I! Congratulations.

lisa_d said...

I can't see those photos. Do you have a new link for them? I want to see it. Thanks! :)

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