When we are not at Deux Hirondelles, we have access to the internet, and can spend a lot of time researching and planning. When we are there, we are implementing plans, or relaxing. I look forward to the day when we can do both while we're there: it will mean we've moved there permanently!
So, with a natural, rustic slate woodstove area, and wainscotting, we've been contemplating what to do with the floor. DS isn't sure she wants to go the acid etched concrete route. She's beginning to think it will be too cold, and she likes the idea of vinyl flooring, which is what's there now. Duster (the dog) doesn't care what we pick so long as it gives him TRACTION! What with smooth vinyl in the country and laminate/hardwood in the city, he can't sit anywhere and not have his feet slowly slide out from under him. Carpet is out because it accumulates too much dirt and dust, no matter how assiduously you clean.
So, today I went browsing on the 'web. I found a nice vinyl flooring from Armstrong. It actually has the look we would have achieved with the acid etching of the concrete: a uniform but random blend of earthy tones with no tile pattern at all. We would have to see it IRL, but it looks promising. Unfortunately, it is listed as one of the 'best' flooring, so the price goes along...
Link to it here, to see it. I wasn't able to link to the image.
The other thing we've been contemplating is the closets in the MBdrm. I got the idea of using the drawers from our dressers in pairs at the bottom of the closet, with hanging space above. DS said, why not just put the hanging space over the dressers as they are? Turns out, three drawers wide would be way wider than we can fit, at least on my side where the slate wall will be. Besides, it's not like we have a ton of full-length stuff to hang: it's almost all tops and pants.
Doing this gives us drawer space without having to go to the costly customizing and also opens up the wall space either side of the door, making the room feel even more open.
The other idea I have is to place a mirror, the same size as the slate panel, on the opposite wall. This would balance the coloring, but would also give us a mirror in the bedroom. Maybe even with a one-tile border all around it...
Off to SketchUp to see how it would work out.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Bedroom expansion and woodstove tiling done; a new unexpected project is defined
The plan for this visit was to get the MBdrm expansion and tiling around the woodstove done, and everything cleaned up, of course, in time for the big party we were hosting for New Year's. Goal reached.
The Mbdrm expansion meant removing the paneling from two walls, taking three walls down (which included doing away with one large closet) and rearranging the associated wiring, then building the new wall abutting the hallway. This turned the smallest bedroom, 8 x 11, and the adjoining closets and hallway, 4 x 11 into one large bedroom space.
We also got our first look at the wall treatment that will eventually migrate all over the ground floor main living area and hallway.
So, here is a 'before' shot, as best as can be made:
The wall in the right of the photo showing the door is the one we replaced and extended. The woodstove backs onto that new wall from the LR side. The LR can just barely be see in the far right of that photo. The closets, seen at left in that photo, back onto the tiny bedroom seen in the photo on the left. Both of these areas were combined to form the MBdrm, now 12'6" x 15', give or take.
The following two photos show almost the same view, but with the panelling, drywall and closets already gone:
In the top photo, the white wall with the shelving on it is the wall that is common to the next-largest bedroom, the one most often used by guests. To assure privacy via soundproofing, while we will be removing the drywall from that wall, we will be reframing another wall just in front of it, but not touching, the existing framing. In fact, the wall being removed (tilted at an angle in the photo above) was preserved intact, less the sill and top plates and will be reused for that purpose. The tiny closet seen near the window will become an alcove of shelves in the other bedroom. The front door is hiding behind the stack of wood panelling in the photo on the right. It will be filled in this summer coming. The far right of that photo shows the back of the woodstove install and the new wall forming the N end of our new bedroom. Eventually, when the exterior gets redone, the window will be moved to a centred position and enlarged.
These photos show the newly-framed wall, first from the outside corner, then from the old door looking towards the new room's doorway and the hallway beyond.
For now, because of our extended absences, we share the bedroom with the tools and supplies for renos, to keep them out of view. It's cramped, but at least our bedroom and dressers are no longer in the living room! And, once we get a door installed, we'll have privacy. Notice how the foreman is ever-present!
During this last visit, to allow room for the tools in the LR while we were knocking out and rebuilding walls, we occupied the next bedroom down temporarily. Duster, the dog, developed this habit of 'tucking us in': he would stay in the LR on his bed, until he heard the sounds that told him that we were both in bed, then he would come for a visit. He would sometimes lie down and snooze with us for a bit, but always went back to his bed eventually. The first night in the newly-constructed room, we whistled for him to come visit once we were in bed. We heard him trot down the hall, right past the doorway, to the next room where we had been sleeping. It took him a few seconds to figure out we weren't there anymore, and the gales of laughter quickly told him where we were.
Finally, this last photo shows the woodstove tiling all done, and the wall that is the N end of our bedroom, from the LR side. Hard to believe the bottom half is done in the same panelling as that seen in the 'before' photos above, eh? Amazing what a little bit of planing can do. The planing was actually a brilliant idea: it removes the old finish and brings the panelling to the same thickness as drywall, eliminating headaches for window and door trim.
There will be trim at the joint between panelling and drywall and also at the top of the wall, a simple half-beam up top and very plain baseboard and chair rail, very Arts & Crafts in styling and proportion.
The old kettle is the one that came from DS' family home, sandblasted and rustpainted. It needs a coat of matte black, but will be only decorative as it is quite corroded inside.
Photos really don't do the tiles justice, their colors don't come through this far away, but everyone who saw the stove and it's area was quite impressed. The on sale for $50 tilesaw we got at Canadian Tire performed beautifully, and I kept all the off-cuts for some mosiac work on the bedroom side of the wall.
These next photos show the next, unplanned project:
Yup, high winds tore a good chunk of one side of the garage steel roofing panels right off, right to the far end of the slope. DS is about 1/3 the way through the temporary repairs in the photo below.
3 panels got torn off the other side last year during the holiday season, but we replaced them and repaired all the holes with fibreglass and roofing pitch. We had hoped to put off the new roof until the major reno year, but clearly that's out of the question now.
Again, notice the foreman sleeping on the job?
And here, you can see where he is carrying out an up-close-and-personal quality control check:
DS was cutting away the vinyl flooring where the new wall was going in and he just had to come and stick his nose right in it.
The little guy gave us quite the scare. On the evening of the 1st he developed quite a large lump on the top of his head. We thought it was a hematoma from having bumped his head earlier in the evening. After peaking on the 2nd, it showed daily gradual improvement. Until we got up on departure day, the 6th: it was once again huge, and he was lethargic and without appetite (a big thing for him, being part-Lab).
As soon as we got back to the city, we went straight to our vet's office. The history gave them nothing, so they tried aspirating. It turned out to be a huge abscess, and he went from there to the local Animal Hospital Emerg. where he had surgery in the wee hours. The house felt incredibly empty without our furry little friend. He came home the next day, with a drain and looked pretty rough. The drain is now out, and he is doing much better, essentially back to his old self, sans a good patch of hair, though:
Their best guess is that since he loves to chew on sticks and 2 x 4's, etc. he got a splinter that migrated and formed a small abscess. The bump on the head early evening on the 1st caused it to burst, and it quickly (90 minutes or so) developed into a huge abscess that his body fought off successfully for a while, but then could no longer.
He's a bright guy and should be able to learn not to chew on wood; we were able to teach him to leave the firewood alone. Oh, and he's getting a health care plan, too, just in case. He's only 21 months old, and pure 'Dennis-the-Menace', but we love him to pieces.
The Mbdrm expansion meant removing the paneling from two walls, taking three walls down (which included doing away with one large closet) and rearranging the associated wiring, then building the new wall abutting the hallway. This turned the smallest bedroom, 8 x 11, and the adjoining closets and hallway, 4 x 11 into one large bedroom space.
We also got our first look at the wall treatment that will eventually migrate all over the ground floor main living area and hallway.
So, here is a 'before' shot, as best as can be made:
The wall in the right of the photo showing the door is the one we replaced and extended. The woodstove backs onto that new wall from the LR side. The LR can just barely be see in the far right of that photo. The closets, seen at left in that photo, back onto the tiny bedroom seen in the photo on the left. Both of these areas were combined to form the MBdrm, now 12'6" x 15', give or take.The following two photos show almost the same view, but with the panelling, drywall and closets already gone:
In the top photo, the white wall with the shelving on it is the wall that is common to the next-largest bedroom, the one most often used by guests. To assure privacy via soundproofing, while we will be removing the drywall from that wall, we will be reframing another wall just in front of it, but not touching, the existing framing. In fact, the wall being removed (tilted at an angle in the photo above) was preserved intact, less the sill and top plates and will be reused for that purpose. The tiny closet seen near the window will become an alcove of shelves in the other bedroom. The front door is hiding behind the stack of wood panelling in the photo on the right. It will be filled in this summer coming. The far right of that photo shows the back of the woodstove install and the new wall forming the N end of our new bedroom. Eventually, when the exterior gets redone, the window will be moved to a centred position and enlarged.
These photos show the newly-framed wall, first from the outside corner, then from the old door looking towards the new room's doorway and the hallway beyond.
For now, because of our extended absences, we share the bedroom with the tools and supplies for renos, to keep them out of view. It's cramped, but at least our bedroom and dressers are no longer in the living room! And, once we get a door installed, we'll have privacy. Notice how the foreman is ever-present!
During this last visit, to allow room for the tools in the LR while we were knocking out and rebuilding walls, we occupied the next bedroom down temporarily. Duster, the dog, developed this habit of 'tucking us in': he would stay in the LR on his bed, until he heard the sounds that told him that we were both in bed, then he would come for a visit. He would sometimes lie down and snooze with us for a bit, but always went back to his bed eventually. The first night in the newly-constructed room, we whistled for him to come visit once we were in bed. We heard him trot down the hall, right past the doorway, to the next room where we had been sleeping. It took him a few seconds to figure out we weren't there anymore, and the gales of laughter quickly told him where we were.
Finally, this last photo shows the woodstove tiling all done, and the wall that is the N end of our bedroom, from the LR side. Hard to believe the bottom half is done in the same panelling as that seen in the 'before' photos above, eh? Amazing what a little bit of planing can do. The planing was actually a brilliant idea: it removes the old finish and brings the panelling to the same thickness as drywall, eliminating headaches for window and door trim.
There will be trim at the joint between panelling and drywall and also at the top of the wall, a simple half-beam up top and very plain baseboard and chair rail, very Arts & Crafts in styling and proportion.
The old kettle is the one that came from DS' family home, sandblasted and rustpainted. It needs a coat of matte black, but will be only decorative as it is quite corroded inside.
Photos really don't do the tiles justice, their colors don't come through this far away, but everyone who saw the stove and it's area was quite impressed. The on sale for $50 tilesaw we got at Canadian Tire performed beautifully, and I kept all the off-cuts for some mosiac work on the bedroom side of the wall.
These next photos show the next, unplanned project:
Yup, high winds tore a good chunk of one side of the garage steel roofing panels right off, right to the far end of the slope. DS is about 1/3 the way through the temporary repairs in the photo below.3 panels got torn off the other side last year during the holiday season, but we replaced them and repaired all the holes with fibreglass and roofing pitch. We had hoped to put off the new roof until the major reno year, but clearly that's out of the question now.
Again, notice the foreman sleeping on the job?
And here, you can see where he is carrying out an up-close-and-personal quality control check:
DS was cutting away the vinyl flooring where the new wall was going in and he just had to come and stick his nose right in it.
The little guy gave us quite the scare. On the evening of the 1st he developed quite a large lump on the top of his head. We thought it was a hematoma from having bumped his head earlier in the evening. After peaking on the 2nd, it showed daily gradual improvement. Until we got up on departure day, the 6th: it was once again huge, and he was lethargic and without appetite (a big thing for him, being part-Lab).
As soon as we got back to the city, we went straight to our vet's office. The history gave them nothing, so they tried aspirating. It turned out to be a huge abscess, and he went from there to the local Animal Hospital Emerg. where he had surgery in the wee hours. The house felt incredibly empty without our furry little friend. He came home the next day, with a drain and looked pretty rough. The drain is now out, and he is doing much better, essentially back to his old self, sans a good patch of hair, though:
Their best guess is that since he loves to chew on sticks and 2 x 4's, etc. he got a splinter that migrated and formed a small abscess. The bump on the head early evening on the 1st caused it to burst, and it quickly (90 minutes or so) developed into a huge abscess that his body fought off successfully for a while, but then could no longer.
He's a bright guy and should be able to learn not to chew on wood; we were able to teach him to leave the firewood alone. Oh, and he's getting a health care plan, too, just in case. He's only 21 months old, and pure 'Dennis-the-Menace', but we love him to pieces.
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