November 24, 2006
small details
Putting things back together, almost in passing, and the downstairs becomes more and more of a living space.
We put the front mantle somewhat back together again. It all still needs a cleaning and there are 2 pieces that we still need to knock the plaster off of, but all of the big pieces are there. It makes more of a difference than we were anticipating, and it was pretty easy, too.
The fireplace in the front room. (before)
Another long-missing detail has been the decorative pieces on the columns at the end of the handrail on the steps. One of us had pried them off back in the spring after seeing something somewhere that said that folks sometimes left stuff in the hollow columns underneath. We of course found nothing, but one of the drywall guys did drop his cellphone into one by accident. Today the detaily pieces went back on; we should’ve dropped something in the column first for posterity but we didn’t think that far ahead.
Empty columns.
I think the word you’re looking for for the “detailey things” is finials. I always loved the finials on the posts at the bottom of older staircases.
Also, I find you house fascinating and your work impressive, especially in the area you’re located. Thanks for sharing the journey with the rest of us.
Finials they are! I tried to find that because I *knew* that there was real name for them, but my google-fu was turning up nothing. Thanks!
I love it! WOW is all i can say and think each time i look at the progress!
That fireplace before and after is amazing. Great job!
Hehe… my grandmother’s house used to have a ball-shaped finial which wasn’t secured in any way, you could just pull it out. And EVERY kid loved to do that and play with it! Once out it looked like a bal, maybe 4″ in diameter, with a 4″ section of broom stick going out of the bottom (the “broom stick” went into a hole in the stair rail).
When my uncle completed splitting up the house into apartments (it had always been apartments, but the downstairs was pretty much open to the stairway and he walled it off) he removed that part of the railing *grrr*
TR - This house lost whatever was upstairs when this house was split.