Monday, July 22, 2013

Nature' Art

I am back after a week of helping my mother move a condo.  Now I won't have to worry about her climbing up and cleaning out gutters, or falling while clearing snow, etc.  Whoopie! And she will have things easier by not having to worry about maintaining the house! 
    NOW back to THE project!  There was a large blank wall in the sunroom that we wanted to make a focal point for some kind of art, or something to bring nature to that side of the room, as all the other walls bring the outside in.  One idea was a waterfall fountain, but maintenance was more that they wanted to deal with.  Who can blame them for that!  The end decision was to place a beautiful piece of granite on the wall in a cutout as a feature.  Looks great in the room and so unusual!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Trunk for the junk

I thought I'd take a little side trip away from the work project today, and show you a recent hobby project in miniatures.  A dear friend of mine passed away and left behind a large collection of fine miniature's as well as lots of kits and materials to make more.  She was an acomplished miniatrist and had exquisite taste. She stipulated, before she passed, that she wanted to let the club have her trunk kits to put together.  Well, she really had the kits!  Kits, kits, and more kits!  So many that each member was able to choose 3 kits.  There were some left over that will be passed on to be sold for fund raising for one of our favorite miniature organizations.
  I volunteered to teach the rest of the club how to put these kits together, so I did one first to get the method down and have a finished one for everyone to see. I laid everything out before getting started.

 
The first step was wallpapering the inside of the trunk.
 
 
Then you start gluing the piece together, making sure that the pieces are all right side up!  We won't go into why I had to specify that part.
 
Next I sanded to get the curve and sides smooth and even with the fit being just right.
Next I painted my faux leather to be the color I wanted and applied it to all of the outside.
 
Next, shiny tape makes the metal around the trunk, wood slats which I prestained applied and finally the brass finding for the hardware.
 
Voila! After only A FULL DAY'S WORK, I had a finished ladies wedding trunk!
 
 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Fine Dining

The project continues and this idea really worked.  The living and dining rooms were two fairly small spaces, especially the living room. The living room was never used, and with the great family room and the new sun room, and downstairs recreation/family room.......well, how many sitting rooms do you need? So the idea was to turn those two rooms into one room for dining in style. 
    The table was already there, and barely navigatable in the smaller room.  There was no room for a buffet or any other piece of additional furniture, so the space just felt overwhelmed by the table.  I wish I still had the before pictures, but hard drive crashed and well...........
    We took out the arched and pillared opening between the two rooms, centered the table and new light fixture and added beautiful painted panels and texture on the walls.  While we were blowing out walls on the back of the house anyway, the center window was removed and windows moved to the side and an alcove with a built in buffet installed.  Now there is plenty of room for a large gathering and great conversation.  Love the peaceful color, too!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Sun room comfort

The  project I have been writing about had some major expansion work done, as you could probably tell by the photos of the kitchen.  Well, it went even further.  A sun room was added where a deck used to be and then some.  The kitchen actually took up at least half of the old deck.  That also entailed blowing out the basement and adding an additional play room.  I'll show that at a later date.

The sun room is now a place where sitting and reading is a joy and the breakfast area is now in there. 

 
Italian tiles were put on the floor.  So pretty.
The photos don't show the gorgeous cathederal ceiling.
 
The window shades are Hunter Douglas Pirouettes and are motorized.  There were so many that opening and closing them everyday can be quite a chore, so now, with just a touch of a button they can open all or just as many as they want at a time.  Where the sun falls during certain times of year, only a couple need to be closed, while the others are open, to control the light.  When all of them are opened, they are hidden in the upper woodwork and you wouldn't even know that the shades are there. Soooo coool!  They are so quiet when they operate, we must have played with them for a half hour, just watching them work! Awesome installation!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Warm Family Space

This was a wonderful project, that went on and on in a good way.  We were able to take a more traditional room



 and turn it into the contemporary look and feel that the client is much more comfortable with. We also warmed it up and made it much more inviting.
 
As you can see, the beams were removed and the window framed out. Now contains a Hunter Douglas Pirouette for privacy and light control.  New Benjamin Moore paint sure made a difference!Love Ben's  colors as there must be 8000 of them.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Dream Kitchen

It is so much fun to work on a project that makes the client's dreams come true.  One such client had a kitchen that was not sufficient for her needs as a cook that loves to entertain people in her home.  The cabinets were too high up, as she is not very tall and not easy to navigate if more than one or two people were in the space.
                                               Before:
 
Moving around could be rather tight.  Well, to work we went, and with tearing down walls and expanding the space, a new and wonderful space came about.  Places for her to work in the kitchen without others having to get into her work space, but yet still visit. New cabinets she could reach, a new pantry, beverage center and sun room to for the crowd to flow into. Actually, much of the home was redone.
 
 
 
Large, open and inviting. What more can you ask for?   More on this incredible house later.