And Then There Were Walls!

Well, the time has finally come. The walls went up yesterday! By noon, almost every wall in the cottage had been covered with new sheetrock; the bedroom took a little longer.                               
                                 
                                           The doorway to the right, leads to the front entryway.

                     The empty wall straight ahead will have open shelves made from half beams.
                                                           The farm sink will be to the left.

                               The farm sink will be just under this picture window so I can look out 
                                                          at the meadow when doing dishes.

                                                   A lovely view for dishwashing, wouldn't you say?

Here is the front entry just off the kitchen. The blue wall is the only original wall we left in the house. Remember the blue boys room I wrote about (And So It Begins... 6/30/12)? 

That wall is now the back of the new coat closet. This room will have bead board wainscoting, a bench and hooks on the right side. The front door still needs to be stained. 

                                          

Here is the new living room. The fireplace is behind the vertical piece of leaning sheetrock. The windows look rather close to the fireplace, but, bookshelves are going to be built on the right and the couch and floor lamp will be on the left. Once the stone is installed around the fireplace, 

the look will change considerably. The patio door is just out of the photo on the right. 

This is the other side of the living room. The hall on the right leads to the bathroom and bedroom. 

The window-like opening in the wall is where the cellar stairs used to be before Michael turned them around. This will now be a built-in bookshelf. The doorway on the left side of the photo is the kitchen.

The bathroom is just around the corner from the living room. We double-insulated the dividing wall between the two rooms, to ensure privacy. Even with dark colored, mildew-resistant sheetrock, it's still a bright room because of the skylight. Michael wanted to carry on the beam look in this room and I think they work really well here. The commode will be tucked behind the wall on the right while a built- in linen cupboard will be installed on the left behind the tub. The vanity will be placed directly across from the tub.

Michael held off on the bedroom until last. 

This room was the most difficult and took the longest to complete. 

The tongue and groove flat boards you see in the middle are for the ceiling. 

We first have to prime and paint them all white before we can hang them. 

We hired a talented guy (Josh) to tape and mud the sheetrock, which he will do today.  

The area above the beam on the wall, will also have sheetrock applied. 

It will just take a little longer to cut around the beams.

       It's the same on this side except a little loft door will be installed in the middle of the upper wall to 
                                                              access the attic space.

 The door on the right heads into the walk-in closet. The door on the left leads to the hall.

           Here is the inside of the walk-in closet. The slanted ply-wood you see, forms the ceiling of the      basement stairs, which are located just below this. The slant takes up a bit of space in the closet but will  
                                                         serve as a practical shoe rack in the future.

It's been pouring rain for the last three days but so much is still getting done. I have to pause here and just mention how amazing Michael has been. Even the weather doesn't slow him down. He has not stopped for a minute since this project began. He has given everything he has to this endeavor and it shows. The workmanship is flawless, the timing is spot on (ahead of schedule actually), the graceful management of other workers and his planning is perfectly precise. His talent and skill as a carpenter and general contractor are only enhanced by his artistic soul. 

I am so very grateful!