Painting Begins...

The moment of painting has been a very highly anticipated event. Especially when it comes to these block walls that became very grungy during the last months of construction. When building a house of daylight there is no color like white.

Even after one coat of paint the block walls started to meld into the the other walls, while still stating their strong and heavy presence as the roots of the house.

After getting both block forms painted, thoughts went immediately to the fireplace that will eventually sit between them. While not block, its shape will still mimic the block forms so that the three will create a sort of harmony together. The wrap around, built-in couch also is laid out in tape on the floor in the background.

Christine tackled the ins and outs of the kitchen as we prepared for cabinets.

I focused on cladding the kitchen island that lies between the fir posts. The 8" boards are a connection to the 8" concrete block size that lies across the room.

Here you can see how those fir posts rise up out of the block walls and kitchen island in a way that establishes both of them as the "roots" or "base" of the structure of the house.

The alignment of the island walls and the block walls also lends to connecting these similar forms. The posts' white base steps up as the height of the roof and columns rise toward the back of the house. These walls also frame the space of the dining table that will eventually lie at the center of this room.

Concrete Polishing

After the last of the mudding and sanding we began the clean up, which involved lifting the protective cardboard covering we had over the concrete floors. This proved well worth it in minimizing the clean up.

Grinding and polishing concrete floors is an amazing process that transforms something ordinary into something beautiful. We chose to keep the natural coloring of the concrete to allow for the natural variations to be visible.

The smooth floor is a great surface to see daylight move around the house.

Our kids are loving the polished concrete and making use of them for their personal dance floor.

We are anxious to eventually get to the final stair treads. The contrast of the wood to the concrete floors give the stairs a very active almost growth like aesthetic.

Sheetrock

The end of January saw the house insulated, and in February the sheetrocking began.

This is always an interesting phase because the rooms really begin to take form. No longer can distant rooms be spied through framed walls, but we begin to see the rooms defined as intended. Light and shadow also begin finding surface to be cast across.

We finally got to see the framed ceilings that will be staying exposed, set against sheetrocked walls, a contrast we are liking.

Sheetrocked returns on all the window jambs minimize the frame of the window and give a clean modern look. The white jambs will also reflect additional light.

This was a big milestone, not only for finally seeing the spaces take shape, but for all the work that is hidden behind the walls.