So happy :)

This is what we were starting from: the original beadboard barrel vaulted ceiling over the front door.
This was uncovered when we removed the steel siding and aluminum trim. I had seen it in old pictures of the house and wanted to put it back in place - luckily, it was still there! Dad attempted to remove the chipping paint, but this was more of a job than anyone wanted. So we installed new, freshly primed and painted beadboard in its place!

The underside of the overhang (and the wood face with the arch cut out) was wrapped in the same PVC I used for the trim everywhere else. This will be resistant to rot and will hopefully last a really long time!

After using a plumb bob to find where the center of the pillar would be, we got to drilling the hole for the lag bolt that would secure the base to the step. We actually just expanded the holes from the previous bolt holding the iron posts in place, which was much easier than drilling an entirely new hole in this solid old mortar.

One down. And the roof didn't even fall in! ;)

After bolting and gluing a piece of pressure treated (and primed) lumber to the step, we wrapped it in PVC and made this base to support the new pillar. We used a spade bit to drill a hole down into the base to receive a wooden dowel. There's a corresponding hole in the top plate as well. 

Voila! Snapped into place and fit perfectly on the first try!
We glued the dowels and pre-drilled and counter sunk four screws into the top and bottom of each pillar.
You could hang a (tiny) hammock from these babies!

On pillar (and day) number two, I started out solo when Dad was called into work.
Since we had already done all of the hard work in trying to figure out how best to do this job, the second pillar went much quicker!

My grandpa came over after we had lunch and helped me trim a half-inch off the bottom of the second pillar.
I failed to account for the the slope in the step from side to side to help with water runoff...so one of the bases is a tad higher than the other if you look closely.
No matter, though...we trimmed the pillar, installed the dowels into either end, and snapped this one into place all the same!

I couldn't stop looking at these yesterday - I was so happy with how everything turned out!

Mom and I filled the screw holes, sanded away any excess, and caulked all the joints or seams all around the ceiling, arch, and top and bottom of each column. After a coat of paint, this is going to look even better than it already does.
HUGE thanks to everyone who helped! This was the last big construction project around the house and it was such a weight off my shoulders to actually have these popped into place and finished that I was all of the sudden really inspired to throw down grass seed and start focusing on this ratty looking lawn of mine! ;)

Moonflower

Among the new plants in the ground at my house now is Moonflower - aptly named as they bloom at night and close back up during the day. They spread and spill out over the area where they're planted and fill an awful lot of space..which is nice for me right now because I have a good amount of space to fill! They also have great foliage, so they're pretty even when they're not blooming...as all of my plants are in the process of doing at the moment.
As you can probably tell, I took this picture when I pulled into the driveway last night...headlights and camera flash: ON!

Happy 100th!

For my 100^th post, I have for you (drum roll) MORE WINDOWS! J Specifically, the LAST windows of this renovation – the tall, skinny bay windows in the living room. A pretty fitting 100th post celebration, I'd say!

Before: single pane replacement windows that had some small issues. 

We had a lot of fresh air flowing through the house Sunday afternoon!

First window: DONE! This one took the longest - after we had a system worked out, the other two took no time at all!

Not too shabby!

All I have to say is: thank you baby Jesus for friends and family. I wouldn’t have any of this without them!

We'll trim around the new windows, install the stained glass window above the bay, set my new/old porch columns, and finish up the siding! It's almost too easy...

Solarium Sunday

I don’t know about you, but I had myself a busy little weekend!

Friday night I had to be responsible – I spent the night cleaning the house, doing laundry, and getting beds ready for company. Not terribly fun, but not bad either..and it needed done.

Saturday was the Brews & Muse street festival at the local brewery. I had a couple friends in town and we had a great time listening to a couple great bands, meeting new people, and eating and drinking way too much J

Sunday morning, my friends and I started talking about installing windows in the front porch/solarium/greenhouse and decided we’d give it a shot!

Remember what we started with?

The original plan changed because the new windows were shorter and narrower than the old windows – with that, we were able to squeeze five windows along the east wall of the solarium creating an entire wall of windows! It’s going to look great when it all gets trimmed out and painted J

A pretty good sized hole..

HUGE view! :)

The frame we built for the windows. I just KNEW this was the way to do it..turns out I was wrong :)
It all worked out, anyway!

Getting everything cleaned up - what a difference!

Once things have calmed down a bit, I'll order the decorative grilles for the windows to give everything a little more traditional look.

After cleaning up the large pile of window waste. Not looking half bad!

They even line up! It's like someone knew what they were doing! HA!

Two more windows and a new front door yet to come, but this was a big day for us – a HUGE thanks again to my amazing friends for hanging out with me Saturday and Sunday and being roped into slave labor!