Old News

As I mentioned in a previous post, when Tim was doing the original demo work in the basement, he came across a stash of old Portland newspapers that had been crammed into a crevice (how's that for alliteration?). It's been fun to look through them and see what meaningless drivel passed for news back then, before folks knew about Britney and Paris (note: not the city; that wasn't discovered until much later).

Here's a shot of the front page of an issue of the Oregonian from July 10th, 1921:



We're planning to find a particularly interesting page from one of the papers and have it framed. We've got a fair number of these things, so if anyone is interested in checking them out and perhaps snagging one or two for your Portland memorabilia collection, feel free.

I found this story particularly amusing (click on the image for a larger, more easily-readable size):

Now We're Talking Basement!

Amazing what a little sheetrock will do. Things are really starting to take shape now, kids. I'm running low on witty commentary (some would say my tank was always hovering pretty close to "E"), so let's just get right to the pics, shall we? We shall.

Coming down the stairs...











The rock room...





Feast your eyes on that sweet laundry area!...



And of course, being the lush you are, you are drawn finally, inexorably, to the wine room...





Check out that cool bah! (That's Bostonese for "bar").



Yes, that's our washer and dryer, and no, they won't be living in the wine room. I can't have Laura disturbing me by washing my clothes while I'm trying to drink.

Pictures, Round Two: 3/11/08

Yes, I have done a less-than-stellar job of keeping pace with the progress of work in the basement. But just think of how much cooler that's going to make things look.

At this point, just about all of the framing and insulation is done. Most of the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work has been completed too, with the exception of the finish work. Basically, the big things left now are flooring and sheetrocking. Then comes the real rocking! Grrr!!!

Ahem. Anyway.

So here's what you see now when you come down the basement stairs:



That big white box holds the fridge that will be going into our wine room and holding all manner of tasty adult beverages. Those other big white things leaning up to the right are the double windows that will look from the hallway into the music room. Speaking of music room...thar she blows!



That's the view from said window looking into the music room. Those big green bags are leftover insulation (feel free to hit me up if you're in the market).

This is a shot from the far corner of the music room, looking back out into the hallway:



And this is a shot from the other corner, where the exterior door is:



Mmmm...you can almost smell the guitar solos.

Anyhoo, proceeding on down the hallway:



Those little doors on the right are the under-the-stairs storage area. On the left is the small room that will house our laundry basket and hot water heater.

What's that? You want to hear more about this magical room? I'm sorry, some things are too personal, even for a blog.

OK, OK, fine. Here's a little taste:



That brown rectangular thing extending down from the top of the picture is our combination laundry chute and cat evacuation route. It'll look more majestic when the laundry basket's in there.

And of course, what's a laundry closet without a laundry room:



I know, I know, it's a little too much excitement for one post! OK, calm down, deep breath.....phew. There. All better? Alright then, let's continue.

Proceeding down the hall past all things laundry, you come to the wine room:



That shot is taken from the end of the room closest to the door (which is on your left in the picture), about where the bar will be. Aaaaaaand from the other end:



There'll be a table coming out of the wall and some chairs right about where that shot is taken from.

Oh, and one last thing, just because it's cute/funny/mind-numbingly boring:



This is the storage area under the stairs. That little wooden box that looks like a cell at Guantanamo Bay will actually house a litter box for the kitties. Precious!