Not Quite a Teardown...: Detail Work and a Finished Room

So, it appears that we've somehow gotten into a bi-monthly posting pattern here...which I promise I will try to remedy starting this weekend. But in the meantime, here's the summary report:

First up, we finished the hardwood flooring on the first floor and, since the basement will be carpeted, our floor installation days are officially over for this house. We've ordered the carpet from our favorite store, Home Depot, and it should be installed in a few weeks - after we finish installing the trim in the basement.

Next, we've been working on a number of smaller projects and we've done a good deal of shopping as we picked out and purchased tile for the fireplace surround and the two full bathrooms that still need to be installed. We also painted the large expanse of ceiling in the open kitchen/dining room area - a project that took two weekends overall. First, my friend Dana (thanks, Dana!) came over to help me cut in and put a first coat on. It is an understatement to say that it did not come out well. Although the main problem was my technique (I'm not leaving my day job to become a painter, shall we say, ever), the paint and roller weren't helping either. We've been using Behr paint throughout the house with generally good results but on such a large ceiling that gets so much light - and thus shows every single bit of texture, intended or not - it just wasn't working out. We were also using 3/8" rollers, which weren't helping either. The winning combination turned out to be Duron ceiling paint (purchased at Sherwin-Williams, which now owns Duron) with 100% polyester 1/2" rollers. Final result - a nice smooth ceiling finish and a note to start with Duron ceiling paint the next time around.

Once we finished the ceiling, we went ahead and repainted the dining room walls. We had already painted them once but the gray color we originally picked was much too light and the walls tended to look sadly dingy rather than deliberately painted. After that poor start to painting choices, we've since committed to a Sherwin-Williams color, Worldly Gray, for all of the first floor, the basement, and the stairwell/hallway on the second floor and we've been very happy with how it looks so far. Once everything was painted, we were able to move our furniture back in and call the room finished.

Last topic and then we'll get to the pictures - Brian has been working on the fireplace surround between these other tasks. We'll be installing slate tiles on the floor and marble tiles on the walls but the first step is, as usual, prep. We've pulled out the old (soon to be replaced) doors, cleaned it up, and poured a deck mud base for the tiles. More "after" pictures of the fireplace after it's actually finished...