The house was built in the early/mid 30s by a very affluent family in the area. It stayed in the family until I purchased it. The house is a mix of victorian and craftsman. Most of the interior design elements were "over-the-top" Victorian. The house is the largest/nicest house in the area and is one of the houses everyone knows. There are quite a few things that are not strictly to-code in the house, but the house is grandfathered so most I don't need to worry about. While updating, if it is possible I try to correct any issues, but some things it just isn't possible. FYI, the radiator sits back into the wall under the window. The cubby is 8.5" deep. We've never worried about burning ourselves on that radiator. The one in the basement my knees touch while on the toilet, but they don't get hot enough to actually burn (hot water, not steam). I WILL be fixing that one in the future. I actually found the original blueprints to the house in the basement. From it, I can tell there have been A LOT of changes, and additions to the house over the years. Generally you can look at the material and have a pretty good idea what decade it was done. When I spoke to the previous owner (his father built the house) he told me they didn't care about keeping it era specific or anything, his comment was "we like what we like, and wanted what we wanted", and they had the money to do it... I am NOT a purist, but the bones of this house are of a grand nature. I am trying to restore what I think the house should look like in my own way. I am keeping with the mix of victorian and craftsman as well.

Two kids and life have gotten in the way of finishing. Quickly realized you can't stop tiling halfway thru - the morter/glue dries and now you have to scrape that away so the new section isn't higher. We are close, I think he can make perfect cuts to line up nicely to the doorway. However, he is a perfectionist and really is leaning to a doorway piece to cover (i'll fight it though). The other concern is the cuts are so close we can't get much grout in between wood piece. I think he's looking into grey kaulking to line the doorway to look like the grout ? (first mistake, the wonderboard under is too tall and we can't slide the tile under the hardwood door piece.) regarding the pics ** The tiles around the doorway are not in, just testing it all out. Where the tile isn't lining up well, those are not glued in, just laid there. Thanks for everyones continued interest!!!

IMO if you are not aDIY persone get a contractor and see what comes up removing walls is always a crap shoot since often there are other things in the walls like heating ducts, plumbing . Is that your kitchen in the background> It is always an issue to do things backwards like the flooring after the kichen design for instance. I would need to see the whole layout to make any helpful suggestions at this point.

For the first time in my life, I did buy non-matching washer and dryer this last time, on purpose. I wanted a certain washing machine and I was not fussy about a dryer. I wanted my dryer to fit through the doorways and dry the laundry. I don't mind it all. Anyone who has ever seen them has not noticed. They are both white and the same height--which to me would matter somewhat as I use the tops of both machines as my folding area. If you end up with mis-matched, you probably won't notice it much, if at all shortly after installation.