We’re so glad to have put away all of the big, heavy and noisy tools in favor of paintbrushes and finishing nails. We have one more dust-creating task ahead of us: the installation of the laminate flooring in Corten scheduled for Friday. After that it, it is time to install fixtures, touch up paint and start the final decor installations.

It’s been a long hard year, but as we are beginning to see the end it is starting to feel worth it.

We began this journey just about a year ago when we got our first look inside the building. We made our official pre-offer inspection on April 9 and four days later – on our first wedding anniversary – signed a contract on the building. Although we didn’t close until June, we began working on plans as soon as our offer was accepted, so it’s been almost a year that the creation of Lafayette Flats has been our single-minded obsession. Every moment we weren’t sleeping or working at our real jobs has been spent in pursuit of the completion of this project. We have been working on the building each and every weekend between June 21 and now, and for the past couple of months we have been making the drive between Fayetteville and Charleston several times each week so we could work in the evenings.

And so, as we roll the paint on the final walls of the final flat this week, it feels very odd to know that we’re winding down this phase of the project. When we open the doors to visitors on April 6 the interior of the building will be complete.

Of course, there is still some exterior work to be done once the weather finally breaks (if the weather ever breaks!) and there will be adjustments and trouble shooting that will go on for a while, but those things will bring with them a welcome change of pace and scenery.

We are so looking forward to being able to take some time off to explore the wonderful things about Fayetteville and the Gorge that our guests will soon be coming to enjoy, but alas that time is still a few weeks away and until then we’ll be hard at work.

But at least it is finish work.