Time goes by. . .

. .  .like a freight train.

I have been quite busy with my real life.  My SR project is on the market and I have a new project.  IN getting ready for the listing on a Sunday evening, I heard a great racket in the chimney.  I suspected that it was a raccoon, as I could see 'shimmy' prints up the gutter.  I delayed the listing and open house, and called Critter Control to evict. I lost several nights sleep thinking about the racoon's demise.  As a great animal lover, these things touch me with great sadness.

They do set live traps, but are unable to relocating them due to the risk of rabies.  They are euthanized.  The balance of the house was protected (chimney cap, re screened vents) from re-entry from another itinerant raccoon.

This one piece Toto toilet sits in perfect harmony with the beautiful marble in the master bath.  I'm really happy how the master bath turned out--small but opulent.

Though we listed on Monday, we only have had one showing.  On the FR property, we had 8 showings within the first week.  I'm at a different price point here.

I tiled the shower in Q-Seal, Berkshire 9" x 18" tiles.  The shower floor is in 1" x 1" format, and the main floor is 12" x 12".  We took it up to the height of the vanity (to provide a fireman protection behind the toilet).  The mirror was inset with pencil.  The shower was framed on the inside and the outside door with chair rail.  We ran a 1/2 sheet high of the glass/stone mosaic in the shower and put in a niche.

It is single person event space. 

After completing all of the work at Skipton, I had to take a hard look at the cabinets.  I had planned to just leave them.  But they looked to bad.  So the cabinets, quickly became my personal version  of  "Leisa's Last Stand" or my very own personal "Alamo". 

I removed the doors, stripped the face of the cabinets, and the doors.  Sanded, sanded, sanded.  Applied Waterlox Original, which was the perfect finish for these cabinets. 

I had to use surface mounted hinges as the holes were still there and could not be disguised.  I went with an H hinge from Acorn--that is a straight bar v. the spade end hinges that came off.  I found a lovely handle (after hours and hours of searching) that worked well.

Here they are in their splendor.  There is just no toning down cherry in a picture.  These are solid on the bottoms and the sides.  A neighbor came by to look and loved them.  He was rubbing the finish, and marveling at how smooth and beautiful it was.  I'm thrilled.

The cabinets were NOT a weekend project.  I'm glad that I tackled them.  I had ultimately had to solicit some help on some of it as my real job needed me.  However, I was not as satisfied with the quality of some of the work.  I'm picky, picky, picky--and I think that you need to be in projects where the end results matter.  These are cabinets whose quality cannot be duplicated affordably.  Of course if you want a nice white, light kitchen, this is not the kitchen for you.

My favorite room in the house is the den.

It is warm and inviting.  My staging items are from scrounging around.  I picked up the leather club chair and ottoman in the corner and the Chinese coffee table at the Salvation Army.  The sofa came from Diversity Thrift, and is in a perfect neutral to stage. The walnut sofa table was from an antique store (and it is one of my favorite pieces of furniture).  The English Setter statue and the metal mirror over the fireplace came from a consignment shop. 

The dining room is staged with a Pennsylvania House Set that I bought from the CHKD Thrift Store for $150.  I recovered the cushions which were green velvet in a former life.  The rattan furniture in the living room came from another consignment shop.

I hope the home sells quickly.  We are certainly hitting a better sales market and a good season.

I'll tell you about my next project in a different post.