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Originally uploaded by daviderwin.

People always talk about what a nightmare remodeling is. When I first started telling people about our plans, long before we had even hired a contractor, people would tell me their stories.

“Our master bath addition took seven years!”

“Our kitchen contractor practically lived with us. I made him scrambled eggs every morning.”

“Did you hear about Mark and Sally? They couldn’t agree on what color to paint the trim, and they ended up getting a divorce.” Tsk, tsk, tsk.

So far, our experience has been wonderful. The last month has been stressful. We’ve had a deadline to move out of our rental, and there were a lot of small details (a LOT of them) that either needed to be resolved or completely changed.

The railing on the deck and stairs was a big one. When David and I were designing, we decided that we wanted the railing and wood of the deck and stairs to match, creating a seamless flow of indoor and outdoor space. We didn’t know anything about building staircases, but we knew that we wanted (a) for it to be open and airy since it would be in the middle of the entrance and dividing two rooms and (b) we loved the look of cable railings that others were using in modern builds (I had also read that this was a cheap solution to railing).

Our contractor scratched his head over the cable railing bit, but decided it could be done. He spec’ed it and then went all out building the stairs and deck in gorgeous Brazilian hardwoods.

Enter the last minute woes. Rumor had it that horizontal railing wasn’t up to code because it could be used as a ladder. We never did confirm that suspicion, but in the interest of time, we were forced to find another solution. I wanted something modernist, like interlocking squares or circles, but these too could be used as ladders, so we eventually settled on the very simple iron balusters you see in the pics.

The stairs have been without railings for so long that to walk in yesterday and see them there was a shocker. My first impression was that they were too dark, too imposing, too overwhelming in that room. I felt a little like we were jailing the hardwoods. I was disappointed at best.

But I’ve slept on it. And today I looked at the pictures… and they are starting to grow on me.

The stone wall, our one bare wall in the house, will go up today, I think. I’m pretty sure the wood, iron and stone will all complement one another beautifully.

But when people ask me down the road what I thought of our remodeling experience, I won’t tell them about the contractor who practically slept at our house or how it took seven years. I might instead mention the little things, and how nothing can ever really be completely planned for, so get used to surprises and welcome them with an open mind.