Sunday: Happy Easter! (4/24/11)

They just took the plastic off these windows.  Perfect timing as the dogwoods are now blooming.  What a pleasure.

A few more flowers down the same wall...

Wednesday: Bring in the big cats (4/20/11)

We decided to give up on waiting for workers to show up at the house and headed downtown to the zoo to see the lion cubs.  The zoo was an absolute zoo today.

It was so crowded that they shut down all the parking lots and we had to park in the nearby neighborhoods.  But this guy made it worth the trouble.

Tuesday: Lighting progress (4/19/11)

We finally came to a decision on a light to hang in front of the fireplace wall.  We all seemed to like the white light on the right in this photo.

I drew up a sketch, with the Bruck monopoints installed in the elevated ceiling and the newest pendant idea in front of the fireplace wall.  Whew.  One more thing past us.

Monday: Color conclusions (4/18/11)

We met with a local guy who does all sorts of decorative finishes and Venetion plasters on Saturday and are considering a switch in direction on the colors.  (And I'm trying larger photos just to see what it looks like...)

Both of us liked this color, which is quite a switch from our previous direction.  It ties in well with both the stone colors and the Douglas Fir of the windows.  And it should look good with the cedar on the exterior as well.  I suggested we might ask for a sample a shade darker, as long as it doesn't head toward peach or yellow tones.

And Jack had earlier had a lofty career as a hand model, but thankfully decided to forgo the jetsetting lifestyle for family life with Sheila and me.

Sunday: Stuff I forgot (4/17/11)



I realized I'd forgotten to include a photo of the new back door yesterday. We suddenly lost the old exterior wall and gained a back door, so now Reuben has a much larger world to inhabit.  The end of the new hallway is now secured for the first time, so it's good to be able to let Reuben out of the bedroom hallway.  The exterior is still covered with plastic as the finish hasn't been completed.





And I like it next to the stone wall in the dining room.



So now Reuben has assumed his permanent sentry position at the other end of the new hallway, looking out for any and all action happening on the street.  We never had any windows looking toward the street, so it's a whole new world for him.  (And a little noiser/barkier world for us.)

We'll be watching for you...

Friday: Merry Emancipation Day! (4/15/11)

There was an absolute blur of activity at the house today.  Maybe because no one had to complete their taxes by midnight on April 15th, in honor of Emancipation Day in the District, they were able to apply themselves to this project?  Or maybe not.

When I left the house in the morning, the stucco guys were working furiously and the builder's guys were prowling the roof.  When I got back with an armload of groceries, I was instructed to be very careful coming in through the front door, because this was in the way - the old dining room exterior wall!

The old kitchen window is gone...

The old exterior siding is off...  (The old front door opening is directly to my right as I took this photo.)

By mid-day, the stucco guys were gone.  I'm guessing they're done with the base coat, but I'm not really sure.  This will not neccessarily be the same color as the final coat.

The carport - it looks better already.

The outside of the courtyard garden...

And the inside.

As if a tornado had hit, our old front door is now front lawn decor.

As a matter of fact, our front yard is much more full than it was in that "before" picture I took on Wednesday.

By about 3:30 that afternoon, much of the old exterior wall was gone.  The wall which had housed the kitchen window and the old front door is mostly missing.  Sections of it will return, but this is certainly refreshing progress.

Thursday: Unstuck on stucco (4/14/11)

We've been planning on having stucco applied to all the cinderblock walls - two walls for the carport and two walls of the courtyard garden, the wall facing you in this photo shared between the two spaces.

The sample phase wasn't going well and lasted weeks beyond what we'd all expected, so we decided to talk to another party about applying the finish coats.

So on Thursday, all parties had agreed to split the work on that portion of the contract and work has begun!  Here they're beginning to apply the base coat.

Wednesday: Before the workers came back (4/13/11)

If I recall correctly, I think I took this photo Wednesday afternoon because I was trying to figure out which side I wanted the front door sidelite to be on.  It was such a gloomy day, I'd decided not to use this photo on the blog.  But when the workers showed up bright and early on Thursday morning, it wound up being a good "before the work resumes" photo.

Wednesday: Hey, I've got nothing else to do... (4/13/11)

We had decided on some monopoint lights for the dining room and raised-ceiling portion of the living room, but given my moderate success in making mock-ups (and total boredom), I gave it a go.

I still like the choice.

If only Sheila would get a science project assigned on lighting...  (And wouldn't she be mortified, knowing how excited I would be about that?!)

Saturday: Mock me, will you?! (4/9/11)

While shopping online for lights, Jack and I were both quite taken with these concrete pendant lights, and thought they could look good over the raised bar/counter behind the new kitchen sink.



So off I went to Michael's to buy some material for mock-ups - styrofoam balls (close to the same diameter) hung on embroidery floss.  Gorgeous, aren't they?!  They just glow...







These are one option for the multiple ceiling lights that would go in the new hallway.

I did a far less representative mock up of these just to check on the size, using the smaller 6 1/4" diameter option.  Actually, maybe the larger diameter would be better...  I'm thinking I'd like to be a lighting designer in my next life.  One who doesn't use materials from Michael's.