Momplex

Have you been wondering what we are going to do about the exposed plywood on the gable ends of the Momplex?

Yeah, we really need to build some stairs, don't we?

Every time I've ever tackled stairs in the past, it's been quite a bit of figuring.  

Well, go figure (pun not intended), someone comes up with a stair building app.  I've lost my purpose in life.  

Just fill in the blanks, like how tall the overall rise is, what your tread thickness is, how deep your treads will be ..

And out comes your stringer pa

This set of stringers is going to get put in a skirt and heels - er, risers and treads today.

But before we start putting our Sunday's best on these stairs, let's take a second to remember where these stair boards have been.

We originally spent $400 on 2x12 boards,

Yep, at one point, they were new, not gray and old looking at all.

Until we poured concrete in them.  That's where the gray staining comes from.

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Grandma-who-likes-to-sew took a little trip a bit back, so we hijacked her side of the Momplex and got to work on a project we didn't quite get finished up before moving day.

Downstairs, where the stairs land, between the garage and the bonus room (which will hopefully someday become Grandma's craft and sewing room), is a little area that will make a perfect mudroom.

In Alaska, where coats and boots are used like shirts and shoes, a mudroom

We are getting to the good part. With snow threatening to stick, and noticeably less light each day, winter is fast approaching up at the Momplex. We have been blessed with a beautiful fall (THANK YOU for your thoughts and prayers for good weather!), and are still optimistic about getting a roof on the Momplex and being able to work inside over the winter. I am so desperate to work inside the Momplex because these are the projects that I love. I already have the kitchen cabinets made i

Last week, we got all the doors stained and top coated for the Momplex unit we are currently working on.

And then we hung all the interior doors.

Doesn't look like we got a lot done this week, but we did!  Did you notice the new trim?

On this side of the Momplex, we are going for a modern rustic look.  Wood doors with wood trim on a wood floor would have been way too much wood, wouldn't it have?  

So we opted for

Maybe we are getting lazier, but I'd like to think we're getting smarter ... Today, we are going to finish out the window and door trim in the Momplex. For the windows, we've already extended the window jambs inward, to cover up the extra thick super energy efficient walls of the Momplex. And then we started the trim of the windows by adding casing to the sides.

When I first started drawing plans for the Momplex, we were really invisioning something along these lines Image from The Petersen GroupOne level.  No stairs.  Senior housing.  You know what I'm talking about.But then things just worked out where we bought this lot that the Moms love.But when we were clearing the lot, I climbed up in the loader and noticed something.  Let's see if you see it too . . .View from ground levelView from the loader.Did you see it?Imagine those

Do you remember last year when we poured the slab for the Momplex, that we used up the extra concrete to fill up these sonotubes?  (UPDATE: Thanks to all of you, I now know those are not spelled saunatubes!  hehe!)

Well, today, they are going to become more than just an obstacle to avoid in front of the Momplex.

Those posts are the foundations for the little roofs!

And today we are going anchor beams into those concrete fil

So what is the most intimidating part of building your own kitchen cabinets? 

Apart from the huge scope of the entire project, I'd have to say building and installing easy to use drawers can seem very intimidating.  Kitchen drawers get used dozens of times a day, so you want drawers that are both easy to use and will hold up over years of use.

For the Momplex white kitchen, we decided to use a drawer side/slide combo system, call Metabox drawers by Blum.