Tears on My Banister

Monday was a day full of tears and frustration. It all started with a call that the stone for the exterior of the house I picked out months ago could not be used because of it's size and that I had to pick out new stone. I had to make a trip to the stone place and came home empty handed because they didn't have any samples for me to take. How was I supposed to decide on a stone without checking it against the stucco? So, I knew that at one time there was a cardboard sample of my stucco at the house so I drove over there to try and find it. When I got there the very nice man that was making my railing was there and wanted to get my opinion on things. I was completely horrified by what he was showing me. I don't know how to explain what was going to happen other than to say that there was just going to be railing against the niche wall that went through the middle of the niche and just returned back into the wall and then the iron was going to attach to the floor from that point. I had to tell the very nice man that it was no offense to his skills, but that was the most horrible way to put railing on an expensive home let a lone the front entryway. The poor guy was just doing what my builder told him to do and bottom line--there was major miscommunication in the begining of this process. this of course lead to extreme awkwardness when I began to cry at the thought of that hideous rail. My Foreman was summoned over and very long story short and many tear filled loathings for the railing later I left to cool off and get the pictures of the house this was modeled after. Luckily while I was gone the very nice man found a beautiful solution to my problem. I had very limited options with the door opening up right there and my bottom step not being very deep. I had resolved to just have them leave off the railing entirely except for one side of the wall for code purposes. I think it turned out really well. There is a walnut floor under that maroon paper and there will be carpet up the stairs and the railing and the banisters/spindles (?) (which you can barely see through the iron) will be stained the same color as the doors and trim. It should look very warm and inviting when all is said and done.
The same railing is on the look out from the loft above. You can see a light fixture on the wall there that is not my actual fixture. Again something that did not go smoothly. Apparently the lighting store didn't bother to tell anyone that 9 of my lights were on back order and wont be in until September. Lovely! No real worries because they had to give me loaners although those fixtures are so not me. The ones I picked have some pretty iron and a glass shade. They are kind of similar to the one you can kind of see in the below picture only with a much longer tail and a more narrow glass shade.
This is the view from the loft and you can see the color of the trim in this picture which will be the same color of the railing there and on the stair case. My builder was also nice enough to use maple instead of oak so it will be really pretty when the stain goes on. So, now when you come visit me you can think of the tears that were shed over my staircase. :)