Installing our stairway to heaven

Another wacky aspect of our house is that we originally had no interior staircase. The original house was actually two separate houses, where the previous owner's parents always occupied the first floor and the aunt and her husband occupied the second floor. This was in the 1930/1940's. I know this because when taking up the linoleum upstairs, well everywhere in fact, there were lots of magazines and newspapers sandwiched underneath as quasi-insulation. Did you know that you could buy a can of peas for only .02 francs? If only we'd invested in lakefront property back then, ::sigh:: .

Anyway, we only had the exterior staircase for the longest time. Last year we finally chose the spot for the inside staircase, cut a hole in the ceiling, took a hatchet to the built-in armoire, chiseled the plaster off the adjacent wall and ordered a beautiful forged metal staircase from a company in Lyon. It all got installed when I was 7 months pregnant. Finally we could go upstairs! The trouble was that upstairs was just a dusty disaster zone. So, you see where fulfilled dreams lead you. Into even bigger projects! More on that another time.

Here, behold the before & after photos:


before...the armoire was uglier in person, believe me



after...still need to paint the stairs but they'll be gorgeous