Friday, March 28, 2008

spring not sprung



March, as usual has been the cruelest month. Snow, sleet, rain, and even some sun... we've had it all, and sometimes all at once. Still a bit of snow left on the ground but for the most part it's thawed out. Kind of beautiful though.

the chelsea gap



I've designed the walls with a recessed baseboard like they use in art galleries to give the appearance of a "floating" wall. My friend Nick informs me that this is known in the trade as a Chelsea Gap. No doubt in reference to the proliferation of art galleries in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. I'm using 1-1/2" aluminum flat bar stock to finish it off. I doubled the 1/2" sheetrock on the walls to help insulate and give me a little more thermal mass to absorb heat when the sun hits them. This brings the walls out one inch from the aluminum "baseboard".
I tried to match the color of the concrete floor and came up with a medium gray that the paint store calls "anonymous". I wanted something that wouldn't compete with the view and would be calming for the bedroom. Some might say boring, but they can sleep somewhere else. The only real color in the room is the natural hue of the firebrick where the masonry stove pops through the wall to help with heating. The sliding doors and windows will be painted out with the same gray as the walls and ceiling.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

plumbing



The plumbing is nearing completion in the "everything" room. Blue is for cold and red is for hot (duh). The room is off my bedroom and houses the mechanicals, washing machine and clothes closet. I've been plastering walls and hope to have more to show here soon.