I think there actually IS a light at the end of this renovation tunnel! :)

I know it's been a while since the last renovation post, but unfortunately there

hasn't been a lot to tell...

Seems we made great strides and then

things came to a

SCREECHING HALT...

Let's see... last update was about paint colors, I think...

Well, the painting is done, and boy does it LOOOK GOOOOD! 

The flooring is down and again... OH MY it's GORGEOUS!

That is the most beautiful flooring these eyes have ever seen.  

It's such a perfect fit for this old house with it's 

scrapes, dings, knots, and varied board widths/lengths.

We are STILL waiting for the final trim pieces for the floor to arrive --

via slow boat from California, I think... Ugh..   :)

But once that arrives and is installed, the furniture gets moved back in

and we have our home again!!!   

We landed on "Slate" from Restoration Hardware for about 95% of the space.

We added "Cappucino" from Restoration Hardware below the chair rail

in what will be the dining room.

{NOTE:  MANY OF THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON-THE-SPOT
WITH MY CELL PHONE, SO... PLEASE EXCUSE THE
LACK OF QUALITY.}

Other than that, the walls AND the ceilings AND the crown mouldings

are all Slate... And it really looks so handsome and elegant.

The sconces in this pic look soooo great now against that slate color.

I have some old-fashioned "Edison" lightbulbs coming that I ordered for them.

Can't wait to see how they look!

This ceiling medallion used to be painted in tones of 

verdigris and golden mustard to match our dining room scheme of

French/Provence tones decor...

I repainted/glazed it to now match the new scheme of 

slate and stone colors... It looks fabulous now against the Slate ceiling.

We lived with plywood underfoot for a couple weeks while other work was being done...

I finally reached a point where I just HAD to put SOMETHING in the space

to remind me that there WILL be a time when we can actually live in here again.   ;)

I grabbed a chair from the entry way and plant, etc. and

it really lifted my spirits each time I walked through the otherwise

torn apart room.  I recommend this "therapy" to you if you find yourself

in the midst of a reno that seems never-ending!   :)

Then FLOOR DAY came!   :)

It took a couple/few days to put it all down, but boy 

does that wood look AWESOME!

There have been set backs a plenty, delays, delays, delays...

BUT  I can see a brilliant light at the end of the

RENOVATION TUNNEL!  :)

See it?  Shining there through the window??  :)

I have carved out for myself a corner of one of the rooms where I've brought in

a few things from around the house to make homey.  

I know, I know... the minute I get the word that the carpenter is coming back out

to istall the trim moulding for us, I have to quick take it all back out...

BUT FOR NOW...

Ahhhh.... feeling more like home again...

LOOK WHAT I "FOUND"...

I had this rug stored in a closet under the stairs since last year...

back when I was hunting for the perfect cowhide rug for the family room

I ran across THIS BEAUTY online at Williams Sonoma Home

for A SONG!

I snapped it up -- just in case we couldn't find a good cow hide.  (WINK WINK)

But now I see it was meant to be all along...

just look how PERFECT it is in this new scheme!!!

And don't you just know it... 

Look who has claimed it now as "his"...

Dude's got good taste...

Back soon (I HOPE!) with good news that it's 

DONE!