Sep 27, 2012: Flooring, tiles, cupboards, etc

Lots of things going in over the last few weeks:

Cork flooring (hallway/kitchen/dining/living rooms): as Thurmon-coloured as we could get it, to disguise the fur... Plus, a friendly surface for baby boy XY to learn to crawl on.

Slate flooring (bathroom, front and back entryways): durable in the areas most likely to get wet and muddy, and possible scratched at (thanks to Thurmon).

Our walk-in shower, with its gorgeous green stone mosaic and fabulous, curved sill, shaped to match the curved shower rod. Stephane, our tile genius from Greening Homes, has created a work of art.

The classic subway tile on the shower walls, which will have a gray/brown grout that highlights the pattern in which they're applied (same tile and treatment for the kitchen backsplash). Also, green mosaic tile in the shower niche shelves and inside the window. Overhead there'll be a sun tunnel (much like a skylight; just picture stepping into a shower drenched in sunlight in the morning!). Oh, and heated floors and towel rack. A rain shower head. The bathroom has really become our miniature spa...

The window sills, made from wood salvaged from the original floor joists taken out during the moving of our staircase - lots of interesting wear and tear marks on them (and if Thurmon spends a lot of time scrabbling about on them a little more wear will fit right in). Note the joint linking two pieces in the longest sill in the living room - thanks to Steven at Greening Homes for suggesting that fun, industrial detail!

Kitchen cupboards (IKEA on the inside; on the outside will be solid wood Shaker-style fronts by Phil), and our new Marvin glass door (far more energy-efficient than the old sliding patio doors). The kitchen now has far more connection to the backyard, the dining and living rooms. Not to mention space to move around!

The trim - simple, finger-jointed pine lumber (which will be painted white), but applied in a more elaborate scheme than usual. Chalk that one up to reading all of Sarah Susanka's "Not so Big House" books - it's the trim that ties everything together...

Sep 03, 2012: Windows!

Our new windows are in, which is very exciting - now we can see when we're inside (with the windows boarded and no lights hooked up it was very dark, except when the contractors were at work and took out the boarding)!

We enlarged the living room window so that it was better suited to the large room - it was previously  the same size as the front bedroom window (a perfectly fine size for the smaller room, but it looked a bit lost in the living room). It also helps balance out the oddly asymmetrical arrangement of the front door, which was just off-center - now the big window makes the design look deliberately asymmetrical. And the best thing of all is the greatly improved energy efficiency - they are pultruded fiberglass frames from InLine Fiberglass, which will be tightly sealed and comfy to sit near in the winter. And in the summer we'll be able to leave the small windows at top open for natural ventilation, without having to worry about rain/intruders getting in.

I've also been toying around with Photoshop mock-ups for how to change the door surround and paint colours to work with the natural pale pink brick and red roof (although when the asphalt shingles hit the end of their lifespan we'll pick a new colour that is easier to work with). I'm trying for something a little more Craftsman/Japanese than the pseudo-Colonial look we've got at the moment. Although I'd like a bright red door it's hard to work that out with the pink brick and red roof, so I'm thinking of softer colours, without any bright white...

Here's another option - eavestroughs/soffit same colour as window & cedar shakes at the gable end (as of Sep 27 these items are actually in the works for real), teal door...

or darker green door...

or more of a slate blue door...