OCTOBER 2004
Beginning to get real tired of this project. We so wanted to be done by now. The house is looking
great and we love living in it, but we're tired and running out of energy (not to mention money).
We're also getting nervous about winter coming and not being ready for it. We've still got a lot of
exterior work to finish to make the house weatherproof and there are still three big things waiting
be done inside: the glass walls, the master bath, and the metal ceiling. There are tons of little
interior details as well that we'll probably be working on for months (or years) to come. I've been
real lazy about taking photos this month, so there's not a lot of action shots.
10.01.04 – Steve and Ron, the hired help, spent a whole day working on the back fence
and cleaning off the back patio, which has been covered with building materials and
junk for months. We forgot how large the patio really was. Now we just need real patio
furniture.
10.06.04 – Don begins the kitchen counter tile. This job will take the good part of
four days to complete.
Steve sprays clear epoxy on the front door jambs and trim to protect the metallic
silver paint. A look at the first few tiles in place.
10.10.04 – All of the kitchen counter tile is in and being grouted to match the floor.
The sink area is the only counter with a backsplash section, and the tiles around
the sink were very time consuming because the sink is an undercounter style.
Note the 2-inch square sections at the front edge of the tile in the right photo.
These are inlaid stainless steel tiles that align with the drawer pulls directly under
the counter edge.
10.11.04 – The finished tile counter! Well, not quite finished... there is still a stainless
steel trim edge to be glued on.
10.13.04 - 10.19.04– All the rest of the red ceiliing trim is put around the edges of the
main living area and kitchen lights. This paves the way for the rest of the ceiling to
finally go up. Although, because of all the lighting, it will be a slow process.
10.20.04 – The kitchen and master bath doors are finally painted red
on the exterior side and rehung.
10.20.04 – The kitchen ceiling starts to magically appear! We decide to do the metal
ceiling for 3 reasons: cheap, easy and it would look cool and unique. It was cheap,
and it certainly looks very frickin' cool, but easy... no, not really. What you see here
took more than 7 hours. Some areas will go fast, but there were a lot of lights and
tricky measurements in this area.
10.29.04 – Don Sr. continues work on the ceiling metal. Look how nice our tropical
planter box is looking. Well, the plants are looking great, the box is still waiting for
it's wood paneling.
The family gathers in the front entry to admire the halloween decorations and the
four new in-ground lights. For our Jack-o-lanterns, we cut the hole in the bottom of
the pumkins and placed them on the lights, which worked great. At right, is our
newly installed dining room lamp. It's a cheap, assembly-required knock off of the
modern classic "Artichoke" lamp designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958. An authentic
version runs about $9,000. We settled for the $96 version. Also, notice the silver
"gooseneck" lamps.
10.31.04 – A pre-trick or treat Halloween night dinner gives a good view of the
kitchen and dining room lighting as well as the two new silver barstools in front
of the island at lower left.
Our custom-made sheetmetal sconce covers finally arrive. They are first coated with
a clear protective epoxy, and then hung in place over the six exterior light fixtures
on the front of the house. This photo makes them look quite a bit brighter than they
actually are. See below for close-up.
Cool heh? Another small detail that makes a huge transformative difference!
Well, that's it for October. Come back next month for more finishing touches.
Also visit Don's portfolio site: www.designbutton.com
