lyndale renovation 2015 & 2016
finishing touches & final disasters

The bathroom checklist —
A final coat of harwood floor sealant will be applied tomorrow and we will be cut off from all of the house except the basement.
Shown here is my check list of tasks as I prepare to spend a night in the basement. The entertainment portion of the list includes,
among other things, Airy and Beanie (nicknames for our laptop and laptop speaker)—from bikes to electronics, Val and I name
everything. Another entertainment item is Kevin Kling's book, the Dog Says How. Kevin, a local playwright, story teller, author and
actor is, in my view, a national treasure.

The basement camp —
Note: Just one cot is made up. Val has decided to spend the night with Eric and Elena rather than run the risk of having
breathing problems due to the floor-sealant fumes. I'll tough it out with Kevin Kling and the spiders.

A final disaster in the living room —
Our late-breaking decision to insulate the living room ceiling for sound dampening is incompatible with the type of recessed light fixtures
that are in place. Though we plan on using low-temperature LED lights in these fixtures, we must prepare for the fixtures to one-day
be used with hot incandescent lights. Hot lights would be a fire hazard! The fixtures have to change! New sheetrock and paint aside,
we have to chop into the ceiling.

A final disaster in the living room —
Ouch!

An outdoor make-over —
On a happier note: The stucco guys are doing a bang-up job and our new windows look like they belong with the rest of the house.

An outdoor make-over —
The guy in the foreground is 70 years old and has been doing stucco for many, many years.
He went to great lengths to match the color of the new stucco with the old and, as you can see, he nailed it.

The front, northeast "music room"—
Nasty carpet is gone and so too is the even nastier old baseboard. Now, fabulous new baseboard,
beautifully refinished hardwood floor and a new paint job has revolutionized this room.

Baseboard bliss —
The whole first floor got the baseboard treatment and the unifying and beautifying effect is fantastic.
Now, living room hardwood meets music room hardwood rather than being disrupted by carpet,
and contributes further to the unity of design.

The living room returns —
So far, decorating is pretty Spartan; no art on the walls, no lamps on the floor. Still, the positive
emotional effect of returning furniture to the house is mighty, and not a moment too soon

The living room returns —
Oh what a mood lifter! For many months, this room looked like this: click here

OMG, it's a real kitchen again —
Truly, my little camera and limited photography skills are not doing justice to the space.
You have to move around in this area to fully appreciate its beauty and high functionality.

OMG —
Stove porn!

OMG —
The island stools will arrive in days and I'll waste no time bellying up to the bar!

The new west wall —
A truly hideous door has been replaced by a positively gorgeous door. One cheap window has been
replaced by three high-end windows and the garden has become the centerpiece of the new kitchen.
Look at what a beautiful day it is, we'd better get out and soak it up.