So it seems.....

So it seems that there are a few of you out there who are reading the blog and I am surprised when I meet you and you tell me this. This is of course due to word of mouth but it still surprises me. So first off, I wanted to thank you all for checking in. It is reassuring to know that there are some people out there who are interested.

Now I have been thinking about these posts lately that have been about furnishings and what is actually going into the house. I have had a conflict with whether or not this is valid material for such a place. I go from thinking about this being a house blog and focusing on floors, re-glazing windows etc, to this aspect of the house which is more about decorating and less about restoring. I feel that the character of the house is enhanced by the decor, and that is a vote for keeping up with the design postings.... but my conflict continues. I am posting a poll to see what you think. Be my guest and vote!

Third floor spare bedroom renovation

So the main spare bedroom is underway. The first task was to remove a very strange set of closets that had been haphazardly installed. There were four solid handmade pine doors across the outside wall. Behind each was a bay with a hanging bar and each bay was lined with cedar particle board. Now I am making this sound a lot better than it actually was. The cedar board was screwed in with dozens of drywall screws, the design was all wrong for the house, and it was unfinished. The good news is that when I took the unit out, most of the solid pine that was used was recyclable. I will use this wood for shelves in the attic studio. The closet was not too difficult....easy in fact compared to the floors.

The floor was painted around the carpet which was both good and bad in terms of sanding the floor. The painted area was a top layer of acrylic, a layer of glue which held the carpet, and two more layers of paint. The disc on the sander hits this and immediately gums up. I picked up a heat gun and tried to remove all that I could before sanding. This worked a bit better and I have made some progress. The area that was unfinished has had so much foot traffic without the protection of the carpet that the pine is more of a grey color than a patina. The area under the paint has a more of a patina to it and matching that to the grey dirty area has proven difficult. Eliminating the rectangle in the middle of the floor will be a challenge. Here are some pics.

Before:

Here is the sandpaper pad

New dining room chairs!

So I went down to Mode Moderne and bought some Eames DCM chairs. Michael at the store was extremely patient as he took me to the warehouse and looked over what was available. I cannot say enough great things about them. This place is packed with great finds which are all in great shape. You can see the website here. Below are some pics of the chairs.

Furniture Progress

So here is a dry fit of the table I am making for the dining room. The inspiration came from Jean Prouve's table. His work blends a severe simplicity with function. It is no surprise that he created one of the first prefabricated houses. I am also hand planing a massive piece of walnut for a coffee table. The piece is 18" wide by 8' long by 2 inches thick. I am going to use the whole slab for the piece. I will upload images as they come.

Ok, so this is a long time coming

I have been out of the blogging groove for a bit and have finally completed my finals with my students. I can get back to working on the house. I have a month off and plan to do as much as funds will allow. Kat and I have been through the ideas and we have come up with the following: 1. We are desperate to get the furniture that we want into the house, so I am working on making that. Below is an early photo of my friend holding the legs to the new dining room table up for a look. I am also designing two side chairs that will be cushioned with white mohair and made of walnut. More on this as developments come. 2. I will be doing the refinish on the dining room floor. The living room floor looks fantastic and I am eager to continue this process of getting these pine floors restored. 3. The guest bedroom needs a slight overhaul. There are these makeshift closets that were built in there that look like a cross between phone booths and holding cells for death row inmates. I cannot stand them and they will be the first to go. Floors, painting and patching will be in order up there. 4. The kitchen gets put on the back burner until August when my summer teaching comes to an end. That will be a major project and will require lots of dough.

I will take pics this weekend to show off the finished rock wall, the living room floors and the new paint in the dining room. I will also include any finds we manage at the College Hill yard sale this weekend! It should be a good one.