Interior Decorating

That wonderful man o' mine worked for three solid days last week at The Ranch. His main goal was to finish up a few areas of insulation and to put up the interior siding. He was able to finish the insulation and most of the paneling, and it looks fantastic!

And even though it took him longer than he anticipated, it would have taken him much longer had we not invested in this handy gadget. A generator is a must have in the country!

We chose a channeled knotty pine paneling that we plan to leave unfinished, to give it more of a rustic look. I grew up with knotty pine paneling on the walls and hated it. It's interesting how age gives you a different perspective on things. This is the longest wall, the one on the garage side...

Every plank of paneling had to be measured and cut to just the right length, and the ones where outlets must go took extra time and cutting. I would not have had the patience for that, but thank goodness Neal did! Here is a view from the center of the apartment, looking towards the front yard...

Our plan for the ceiling is to use galvanized metal sheets that can be screwed into the beams. They come in wider sheets and should be easier and quicker to do than the paneling. At least we hope so! In this corner is where the wood stove will go, when we get one...

The pups and I drove over Saturday to lend a hand, but I ended up doing more babysitting than anything else. Poor George was terrified of the sounds coming from the compressor and the nail gun. He retreated to the somewhat enclosed bathroom for safety. After a few hours, I gave up and we left Neal to do his work in peace.

The bathroom and part of the kitchen are all that lack paneling and we plan to head back over and do that this weekend. We are on a time crunch now to get things done before the winter weather rolls in. If you look closely on the right side of the picture below, you will see what looks like water spots. To our knowledge, there was no water or dust on the lens when the photo was taken. I told Neal they must be orbs that were lending him the energy he needed to get the job done. Sounds good, doesn't it?

These views are the stuff dreams are made of, and one day they will be ours for good...