Renovations...continued

We are starting to put in some accent pieces in the living spaces in an effort to make that part of the house more livable. The kitchen/dining room will be an ongoing project and will be shielded off from the rest of the house when we need to make a mess.

A few pictures of the latest developments:

Above: the new doorway from the fireplace room into the kitchen. there was a wall where the ladder is sitting. A very short wall (approx. 8") will be added from the opposite side.

Above: new trim/moulding and corner pieces around the windows. this really dresses up the windows very nicely.

Above: the same trim/moudling as we used on the windows. this is used around the doorways, windows and major thresholds from the living room side.

Above: on both sides of the foyer (the other side has yet to be installed, need to wait until we install a new door with framework), some nice looking MDF with a molded top is going in to break up the immensity of the wall. Its all primed and ready for paint. There is a color scheme in the works, but the flooring (tile) needs to be chosen yet.

New doors to the backyard have been ordered and will replace the windows that are currently on the east wall of the dining room. We are having someone install the doors and must wait until he is available. Some custom mason work will be done to the brick exterior. The windows will move from the east wall to the north wall which will bring a lot more light into the room.

Hopefully we can start priming the walls in the living space this week, move the furniture back and start living in there again...

Louis CK on Conan - Amazingness Spoils Us.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Excerpt: A Quote Worth Sharing

In the weekly guest blog on Scott Kelby's blog, Jay Maisel, speaks of a student he once taught during a workshop.

"In one of the first workshops here at the bank building I had a student named Al Vinjamur. He brought in some amazing pictures at the outset. At the end of the class he said to me – “I’ve gone swimming with sharks and alligators, crept up on grizzly bears and risked everything for photos, but I’ve never been as profoundly uncomfortable and scared until I took your class and you made me shoot people – thanks.” "

For portrait photographers this is nothing short of profound. Capturing, truly, a person in a single moment can be entirely unnerving. It is one of the concepts i love the most about photography. Life is naturally a video, thousands of fleeting moments passing on to thousands more. Its when a single crucial singular moment is captured that you really start to SEE what's happening inside a person.

Tuppins for sale!

i mean houses. err...house.

My sister and her husband have been trying to sell their house for quite some time and it looks like its their lucky day. After some vicious hand to hand combat countering from both parties, they have struck an accord.

They will be moving here

Just kidding. They have their eyes on a really cute little neighborhood just up the road from where they are now and they plan on building a new house there.

Hooray!

2007 Pullitzer Prize Winner - Renee C. Byer

Just came across this again while going through some old bookmarks. A seriously moving photojournalistic story.

The written story.

The resulting charity foundation.

Calvin and Hobbes is Fight Club's Precursor?

Read me

Except for the conclusion which is wallowing in an overbearing "this world is cruel, get used to it" attitude, this interesting little comparison makes way to much sense. From my point of view, Bill Watterson is clearly a more talented writer/storyteller than Chuck Palahniuk, thus proving the basic concept of Fight Club was ripped from one of the best stories of recent time.

Did i mention i almost cried when the great Mr. Watterson announced his retirement from the Calvin and Hobbes comic?

Hope for the Silliest of Us.

a story proving that garden dancing can lead to international fame. i know you've all been wondering.





the original video


economic recession or not, advertising still needs to happen, businesses still need to grow and produce and people still need to live. change with the times. yesterday's thoughts and processes are extinct. adapt and prosper. there are still creative people out there. be one of them.

Yeah, it wasn't done.

After the first "mudding". =]

First application of drywall compound is on the walls. The prepping of edges and seams took more time than applying the mud. In the center of image #2 you can see where the 3 rooms come together. At a last minute meeting of the minds, we decided to make this a column, of sorts, rather than a flat wall as originally intended. Cornerbeads were used to keep the edges straight, but aligning them top to bottom proved to be a bit challenging. Then getting the mud on to create a visually-squared vertical edge took some finesse. Never fear though, your intrepid handymen ventured onward and succeeded with flying colors.



Sanding and a second application are planned for tomorrow. Also planned is moving the TV and components to the South wall of the living room. Hopefully, after a thorough cleaning, we can have our living spaces back.

Its done! well, sort of...

OK, so its not so much done as its finally mostly started. Maybe...

The framing is complete, the drywall is hung (97%). The new counter tops, cabinetry, appliances, windows, doors, etc. are all to come.

Hey, it was a monstrous task and I'm not entirely sure how we completed so much in such little time (cumulatively) , but we did it. Cleaned up most some less than half of the mess last night.

Just an idea of the mess we created in this process. (no, its not all of it, not by a long shot).

Renovations pt.2

Spent about 9 hours working on the renovations yesterday. 4:30-1:30 (yeah, we keep odd hours).

Still plenty to do before the finishing work begins, including but not limited to: electrical, flooring, window and door installation.

Here are a few more shots to show the newest changes.

The first span in place between the dining room and the living room.

Same as above shot from the west entrance to the kitchen.

After removing the small wall between the kitchen and dining room. Vertical studs are support so the roof doesn't fall down. =]

Second span is in place between the kitchen and dining room. That span is about 165" long (almost 14'). Both spans are sandwiched LVL (laminated veneer lumber) 9.5" wide by 1.5" deep. They are heavy and it took quite a bit of ingenuity to get these with only two people.

Same as above, from the NW corner of the kitchen.

More to come.