
We were going to paint the living room today but decided to wait until after we see how dirty stuff gets with the floors being sanded.
I wonder how they will get these stains out?

And these trouble areas

The estimator thought it could all be fixed. I can't wait to see.
(e:matthew) suggested making our house a free tour spot.
(e:mike), I totally understand how you felt about the Linwood Home Tour last tour, especially the apartment building (free advertsiement) part of the tour, but you also have to think about having seen the inside of the other houses. Its not often that you get to see what the inside of these houses look like. Perhaps, it is old hat to you because you see our house all the time, but for some people its a totally fresh experience.
None of the money is going back to the people that are opening their homes to 1000 people. It is going to buying new trees, fixing up the street, etc.
You have to think of it like a comic book convention. People will pay $20 to get into a comic book convention if they like comic books. I mean how much of that money goes to charity. Same with the Linwood Tour and people that have a thing for historical architecture - it is really exciting. At least in this case the money is being used to beautify the public space of our neighborhood that anyone can use.
I also think it is stupid that houses can not do it more than one year in a row. I would rather see a couple repeats but have a bunch more houses to look at.
Here we are int he foyer - pre floor redone. (e:matthew) took this picture. You can see the area where we removed that remudled modern bathroom from under the stairs.

UPDATE: While shopping for supplies we stopped at that consignment furniture shop on Sheridan near Colvin and got this solid oak dining set for $299. It is huge and seats eight. The woman selling it was getting a divorce and just wanted to get rid of it. It will be so nice to have somewhere to sit for dinner parties.

The roses from (e:matthew)'s birthday keep getting even prettier.

(e:matthew) really wanted this light at Lowes but it is all plastic and I am done with plastic crap. I feel we have way to much plastic in our lives and I have been working for hard to reduce that. I would rather wait till we can afford a glass one or try and make one myself.

(e:terry) pointed out that if oil runs out, someday plastic will be rarer and people would say an original solid plastic early 21st century tiffany style lamp, lol.
tea is priceless michael....
the tea is an extra 15 bucks or something.
you don;t need to feel guilty about getting involved with the community, I can't wait to see the inside of your house :)
also, you could grab any paper in any city in the world and find an event that you thought was a rip off or some shit but if people want to do something why the fuck not? I am just glad that the people of the linwood house tour aren't funding terrorism, making small Indian children stitch their curtains for three cents a day, encouraging violence, vandalism etc...really, it could be so much worse than wanting to plant some trees and keep the area nice......
The way I see it is that for twenty two bucks I get to support my friends, nosey around other people's houses, make polite conversation with Americans who love my accent and have a nice cup of tea which all sounds jolly relaxing......
I have no idea how you would get that stain out. Of course you could replace the wood but the problem there is that you would have new wood and old so it would look funny. I wonder if there is some way to stain your floors so they become a dark wood instead of a light wood and when it is all darker then that stein it wouldn't matter. One quick thought on why you can't do it two years in a row. Say I went last year and saw 10 houses would I want to go again if 3 houses (30%) I had all ready seen. Also lets say the most you can have is 30 houses. Lets say that there are 15 premiere houses that are all ways going to be the best houses then that cuts down on the number of other people who can show of their homes. I'm not saying that this is why they do it that way but I'm guessing it is a way to keep things fresh and to encourage people to work on there homes. I think they should have a bonus 3 houses that would be called last years favorites. you could be a favorite for say two years in a row that means if people liked it you could be in it 3 years in a row, but maybe they don't want to do any thing that isn't simple and you would have to have a poll and stuff so it isn't perfect but I'm guessing they do it that way to keep it fair and not all ways the same houses.
I wish there was a Kenmore home tour. Maybe that would help motivate me to undertake some of the projects I keep putting off, lol.
you now have a cupboard underneath the stairs. i always wanted a secret hiding space in a big old house when i was a kid. i think you should go check if you have harry potter living in there.