After 3 months of making parquet flooring I'm finally working on structural components again. The library inlay was installed on a 16" plywood sheet separately from the rest of the house, but it isn't installed yet. Unless someone makes a battery powered desk lamp, I will need to wait until I can make a trip to Ron's in October before finishing the flooring. The 2nd floor's main wall outlet circuit will run under the library floor and connect with an outlet built into the globe feature. A desk lamp wired through the desk will plug directly into the floor, but I need an exact fitting with the desk itself before I start drilling holes into that floor.

Since the trip isn't for a couple of months, I have started work on the other 2nd floor rooms. All of the walls have been wired and paneled. I start mapping the floor for tile placement in the bathroom later this week and final assembly of the 2nd floor staircase in September. One of the upsides to eventually finishing the floors is I will be able to finally install the turret windows permanently. They have been waiting for a home for over 2 years. I will be relieved to have them attached and out of harm's way.

I'm gearing up start cutting styrene tiles for the bathroom floor and walls. The room will have an oversized jacuzzi tub sunk into a pedestal flanked with a pair of columns. I'm still working out a way to build it, but I hope to have a back-lit dome above the tub. The room is over 16 inches deep, but only about 7 inches wide, so it will take some work to make the room look balanced. I had thought about giving the room a barrel vault with a sky mural, creating a Roman courtyard feel, but I think that might be too much.

The bedroom next to it will have warm gray, almost cream colored walls with white base and crown molding. All of the doors will have identical frames as the 1st floor entry ways, but with paneled doors similar to the front door.

If it wasn't for all the wrought iron railings I have to make for the staircases and custom book shelves, I would think building the rest of the house in time for Chicago International would be a breeze, but it will be very close if I finish in time at all.