Our New Foyer!

So about two weeks ago I blogged about our changing foyer soon to be complete with a built in bookshelf! Well friends the time has come for the big reveal!

It took a little bit longer than we expected, but then again, what house project doesn't!? The results though are SO worth the wait and extra effort. At least I hope Josh feels that way since he did a lot of the grunt work. ;)

The difficulty came when we realized the floor was just a touch un-level/sloping, and unfortunately the bookshelf was slightly uneven as well. As luck would have it (not that I believe in luck, but I can't think of another transition phrase), they both were leaning the same way so unfortunately one's off-ness did not fix the other.

This is where Josh's grunt work came in. What did we do to fix the problem? Sand, sand and more sand. Yup. Josh sanded the tar outta that shelf until it was level when placed on the slightly unlevel ground. I'm so grateful for a hard-working, non-flustered, dedicated husband. See when kinks come up in our projects, Josh is calm... hardly anything ruffles him. I on the other hand, get all tense, flustered, and am easily overwhelmed. Perhaps it's when things are out of my comfort zone that I have the hardest time trusting, but yet that's exactly what I need to do. Josh and I are a great team, and we've solved many little bumps along our home improvement way. So I need to trust that he is more than capable and together we can come up with a good solution.

I didn't take any pictures of sanding but oh well.

So are you ready friends? Here is the big reveal!

Here is the foyer before we even moved in:
(Here we're measuring in preparation to build the bookshelf!)

Mid-progress- after we've ripped out the carpet, the old rickety banister, and installed new floors:

And finally: NOW!

Of course there are still more changes to come- staining the railing, hanging a 3rd picture in the 'walks of life' series, perhaps a collage of photos on the other wall, & painting the foyer;  but we are SOO happy with the results! It feels wonderful to have thought up an idea, planned for it, seen it built, and to finally embrace the end product!  I love being a home owner with Josh and wouldn't want to do this whole adventure with anyone else! 

Now onto continuing my current project... give you a hint- the preparation for it is in this picture (and no it's not hidden in what we affectionately call 'the tool bar'):

It's coming!

Oh I love house projects- well most of the time. And this is one of those most-of-the-time times.

I've been recently working on painting a BEAUTIFUL bookshelf, Josh's best friend made for us to go in our foyer. See when we moved in here the banister that existed could hardly be called a banister. (well maybe I'm being a bit hard on the poor rickety old thing but anyways) Suffice to say, it would not be staying as it was un-safe.

 Here's my husband, who stands 6'4". See how short the banister is? (*granted he is not the 'standard' height)

Notice the gap on the bottom- i.e. not safe for when we have babies crawling around who might like to go right under the gap (or stick their head in between the not-up-to-code slats)

No no. It was decided that this puppy needed to go. So out it went.

(Note the HORRIBLE linoleum floor that we found after we ripped up the carpet in the foyer! It's the black stuff)

And so then we were left with this, which is how it looks TODAY (with the exception of 2 pictures I hung on the right wall)...

But not for long because right now I'm in the middle of painting this sucker that will soon find its permanent home running lengthwise in the foyer, complete with baskets for organization and shoe shelves on the bottom!

End capped with this beautiful piece (see safe, aka child proof, aka Josh height and normal people height safe):

Welp, I'm off to go paint. Can't wait to see how this looks when it's all finished and installed! =)