Cabinets Begin...

Big thanks to Dan Erickson and the crew of Dwell Well that started installing cabinets this last week. The boxes are being made out of maple. The fronts will eventually be black stained pine, all flush mounted. They are doing an amazing job and we are very impressed by the quality and precision.

Open white shelving will be installed instead of upper cabinets in the niches on either side of the refrigerator and double oven.

We will be installing butcher block on the perimeter cabinets and pouring a 4" concrete slab for the center island counter.

I have made my way back up into the clerestory again. The side walls of this raised portion are being clad in plywood instead of sheetrock. This is so that as the final white "boxes" or "light cubes" are installed in between these trusses at each skylight and window there is a strong contrast between the white, light filled forms and the wood that surround and carry them. Stay tuned for more on this.

We also had to step away from our painting this past week to unload the truck of our hardwood floor delivery. Unfortunately, it had slid off the pallet in the back of the semi so we had to unload it all by hand. Our kids stepped up and proved a big help. And as soon as we got it off the truck we carried it up to the second floor of the house where it will eventually be installed. Back breaking day...

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.