As always, slow progress.



Here's a picture of the bathroom wall in its current state. Yes, those are half of the Full Metal Brackets for the Arctic White Algonquins which will flank the mirror. The white boards they're mounted to are pieces of PVC trim we were using to finish something else. To center everything with the outlets, you can see we have the screws offset to the right side of the boards since the outlet boxes are both mounted to studs on the right side. It all feels really solid, so I think they'll work well.

The mudding below is from needing to install some support for the wall-mounting vanity cabinet, since the mounting system for it wasn't made with standard stud spacing in mind. Not that the studs in this wall were standard, but it wouldn't have worked either way. So my dad cut out that section of sheetrock, notched out the studs (with a reciprocating saw and chisel) and placed a 2x6 to horizontally span the distance. He did the same thing in the kitchen area where we needed more support for the cabinets. Hopefully that's the last time it needs to be done.



Here is a photo of the doors to the bathroom (left) and bedroom (right). I'm not particularly happy with the installation of the doors. I'm not sure if you can see it, but the frame doesn't quite reach the floor on the right side of the bathroom door, which bothers me a lot. The doors were also cut down more than I would have liked. I was always going to get door sweeps to close the gap, but the gaps being so big to begin with seemed unnecessary. And yes, the doors are solid-core because I wanted to stop sound where I could. I put weather stripping around the frames and will add the door sweeps when I can.



Just what you wanted, another picture of the stairwell. It wasn't high on my list of priorities, but my dad really wanted another handrail for the right side, so this is what it looks like.



And last image for now. I needed a way to get the power and data cables through the ceiling tiles in the equipment closet, so I got some of these FastCap Dually Grommets. More than I wanted to spend, but they're pretty handy. They would be perfect for cabinets where you want to run wires through.

We're waiting to hear back from a place about the kitchen countertops and carpet for the stairs. In general, there's still touch-up painting that needs to be done, and some more ceiling tiles that need to be cut to fit the perimeter of the bathroom. I'm wanting to switch out most of these white standard ceiling tiles with something a little classier over time, but my dad already had these. I imagine something in the realm of plastic would be better in the bathroom and even kitchen area, something that could be easily wiped down, if I can find anything that looks good.

In any case, that's the latest on this strange odyssey where I'm trying to get home while already physically being at home. It's so close to being habitable, and boy, I can't wait to finally have the space to tinker with my home theater and have people over for movies.