Leaded glass is your friend

Here's a close-up shot of the bookcase door we had replaced. In a few years it should patina like the others and it'll be like that little accident never happened. :) For anybody in the El Paso area who's interested in having work done on stained/leaded glass, I highly recommend the Glassworks on the westside..

Interior pics at last!

Finally got around to getting some interior pics. The living & dining room are in the highest state of "doneness". Pretty much just some fresh paint to a two tone scheme my wife & I prefer. Still haven't decided on paint for the foyer though. We did the dining room about a year ago and just finished the living room. Hopefully it won't be another year before we do the foyer.. :)

You might notice the third leaded glass door (from the left) in the mantle bookcases is a little shinier than the rest. This is the one we had fixed. Apparently someone put their foot through the door a while back. Fornutately most of the original "wavy" glass was still intact and the place we had it fixed was able to reuse most of the pieces. Another thing you'll notice is the box beam ceilings are a little darker and shinier than the rest of the woodwork in these two rooms. This is something else I have on my to-do list: refinish the box beams.

I don't look forward to it, but it's got to be done.. And yes, I know our living room is empty. We recently purged the old furniture in anticipation of our new living room furniture. Unfortunately it got delayed by about a month, so hopefully it won't look empty for too much longer. :)

We have liftoff

We have liftoff!! Hi all & welcome.. I'll be detailing the renovation of our craftsman style foursquare. Overall the house was in decent condition when my wife & I bought it 1 1/2 yrs ago. The plans we have in store are mostly cosmetic.

Short term goals:

• remove bars off windows and repaint exterior woodwork to historic colors
• remove evaporative A/C unit on roof and upgrade 60's furnace to a modern central air unit
• interior painting
• refinish painted woodwork in upstairs bedrooms
• backyard landscaping (sod planting, patio, etc)

Long term goals:

• kitchen remodel in the A&C style
• upstairs bath remodel in the A&C style
• refinish basement for a den area
• build detached garage in backyard accessible from alley
• Rebuild porch/pergola in rear of house (previously torn down)
• extend rear deck to full width of house

Completed projects:

• refinish hardwood floors
• replace broken windows
• restore broken leaded glass window in mantle bookcase
• painting in living/dining room
• basic landscaping in backyard

Here are some basic stats on the house:

• Built 1929
• 1904 sq. ft
• 4 bed or 3 bed/1 upstairs den (depending on how you look at it)
• 1 1/2 bath
• 1/2 basement
• located in Sunset Heights historic district, El Paso TX

I'll be posting some interior pics as soon as I can, so check back soon!