649 6th

mod danes

Before moving in we got rid of all but a bit of our furniture. So furnishing is mostly a clean slate. Since we're working this Dutch, boat, mod, hand crafted, life of science and learning, wabi sabi sort of aesthetic we needed to think about how that would translate into furniture. At Christmas we got a book of Danish chairs. There's a particular mid century teak style that was sort  ubiquitous in the 70's that we thought fit exceedingly well. Thus we began, like we do everything, reading more about it and tracking auctions on eBay.

After meeting with the tax man the other day and finally calculating the benefits of buying a house we decided now might be the time to actually see what we could find. So, we headed back to eBay. First we had a couple of items sniped from in the last seconds of the auction. Just as well, we finally found and won a couple pieces that are pretty swell.

It's funny, on eBay the best way to find 20th century Danish furniture is to search for Eames, even if it's not Eames you are looking for it usually is tagged "Eames era". I've been looking at auctions for the better part of a year now. I've seen a lot of stuff come and go and have a pretty good sense for what to look for in details and how that translates into price. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that the chair we locked on didn't go nearly as high as I expected, but who am I to complain.

The first purchase was this Geroge Nelson expanding slat bench 18" by 4"7" closed 8' fully expanded. This will be a coffee table/bench on the second floor. I think the moving parts in a clever design were at the root of the appeal.

The true find was this second piece a Poul Jensen "Z" chair.The amount of wood shaping in this piece is awe inspiring. I wish I had the patience to craft something like this myself. Every piece tapers neatly into the next,there are no hard edges or 90 degree joints to be found, yet it's nothing but angular in design. I think it's the one chair (and we have looked at hundreds) that when we both saw it we immediately thought, "that's the chair."

In other news I am pleased to announce that ALL drywall work is done on the 3rd floor. The remaining amount that covers the soffits on the second floor can be cut on the first and installed. So... all of the drywall that had been leaning against walls all over the second and third floors is used up or gone. It's really starting to look like a house up there.

user interface

we wanted to a put a timer switch on the front exterior light. we kept finding the same model everywhere we went. I was a bit hesitant to commit as I thought it was little tricked up for a light switch.

in the end I was persuaded by once it was set you wouldn't need to touch it again. it's a good thing.

below are the instructions for this single switch (as always, click to enlarge).

it's like work

I don't know if anyone noticed but the last few weeks have been a little less tool wielding than the run up to the birthday party. A couple of reasons:

1)We had to decide on and buy all of the lighting fixtures for the first floor tip: Home Depot while good for some things wasn't doing it here. It's SO worth it to go to a specialist. AND never underestimate how long this process can take

2) We needed to think and sketch a bit-- akin to measure twice and cut once. In this case " refine design, avoid the behemoth".

3) We just needed some rest. Nothing like a nap on a cold snowy day.

Expect to see a flurry of physical work this weekend. After all we're only at 18% complete on our "get to April" plan and most of that work came from the electrician!

3% complete

We've got a plan-- a new plan that does two things, gets us to "clean white box" on all floors, and hopefully is capped by an excellent spring vacation hiking in Utah. In April we are going hiking in Escalante Canyon with my sister and her family. Until then this is the list we'd like to get done.

The legend: things in red are materials and suppliers, work other people do is blue, everything else is us (oh, green, um, the kindness of strangers?). They are pretty much straight up in the order that makes most sense.

Of course all of this will change once we get into it, but for now at least we have some direction... again.

Have we mentioned that the stairs on the first floor are now open riser?

static charge

we're currently (pun slightly intended) shopping for an electrician to rewire the first floor. tempting to take on the job ourselves, but as several people have said "you guys know just enough to be dangerous." good thing about this round of service selection is we actually took the time to get bids from several people. so far we've met with four electricians, and the estimates couldn't be more varied:

#1 = $3500 for 4 days
#2 = $800 for 2 days
#3 = $1100 for less than one day
#4 = $3500 for 4 days

hands down we'd get the best result from first guy. he spent about an hour with us and corrected labeling of the circuit panel. i would fully expect his work to be so good i'd have regrets about covering it up.

second guy was almost exact opposite. took no notes and implied he was simply going to build off the dangerously shoddy wiring that's already here.

after first two we were seriously hoping either of the other two would show up just to help contextualize the estimates. third guy hit just the right mark: took good notes, listened to what we were saying and asked smart questions, probed a bit for details, and then provided a surprisingly low estimate in both cost and time.

last guy had stiff competition, and i'll admit i was just going through the motions with him as a post work-out cool-down. here's a tip: don't hire the guy who asks how much the other guys bid, especially not after you set him up with the high bid and he responds "for you, yeah, i can do that." favors like that i don't need.

the job, you ask? disconnect the old hot wires to 2nd floor so circuits can be re-used, then install a three-switch panel to control various ceiling lights in hall and dining room, the ceiling lights themselves, four receptacles around the room, a two-way switch and wall lights for the stairway, and a light and switch for the front door and entryway.

if all goes well, we'll be fully wired by end of week.

snow daze

It seems that everything led up to the big party last weekend. I was thinkning that we took it sort of easy this week untilI I relized we had actally done a lot of planning, including a substantial clarification of pending design & construction items as well as getting estimates for remaining electrical work on first floor.

The big snow storm this weekend gave us the opportunity to extend the contemplative sloth for another couple days.

After spending the better portion of today slow cooking dinner and baking treats I think we now have another solid plan that should get us through to the spring.

The new design changes have mainly to do with figuring out a few ways of exposing the old and reintegrating it to the new. More of that will follow in the next few days.

kitties

Last Tuesday night some kitties came to live with us. They are litter mates -- the only two. They're mostly Burmese and they are almost three months old.

We still haven't given them names. The furthest we've gotten is ask "if this is boy kitty, then where's girl kitty?" they look near enough alike that it can be difficult to tell for sure which is which when they're not together.

We play with them by the hour. It's addictive. Never imagined myself as a cat person, but there it is. With all the stairs in this vertical dwelling it seemed a shame not having someone who enjoys racing up and down