32 Fun designing the details

We are now into the stage where everything that is done will be what we see, so we are finding it more intense, more exciting, and certainly more demanding. 

The areas that we have been resolving just recently have been the junctions between walls and floors, walls and doors, and wherever one plane meets another.  For us, the junctions have got to be as clean and simple as possible, with the fewest lines.  This is quite testing, and is the reason why such things as covings, architraves, skirting boards were originally invented – they cover up all the usual mess that occurs at these very junctions.  Don’t expect any of these add on trims here!  But then you will also be the judge – will we have we managed to create the clean perpendicular, right angle, parallel lines that we crave?

I have always been keen to have a very linear feel to the house, strong horizontality in some of the features.  So we have been designing the hearth under the wood burning stove to extend it in a linear manner into the living room.  There is also the unit that divides the two levels, and this could provide a strong linear focus as well as an area where we could display some of our pieces of sculpture and ceramics.  I get very excited at how it might look, but find it very difficult to bring it to fruition through sketches.  I am not someone who finds it particularly easy to draw in perspective, or to scale in order to help others, or myself for that matter, understand what I have in my head.  Max is much better, and it's been a Godsend that he can do it.

The bathrooms we have kept quite small and purposeful, so there is not a lot that can be done to make them anything very special.  However, we do have ideas for making them practical, and I also know that I will be very fussed if the tiling lines don’t fit comfortably with the shapes that the walls, shelves and recesses make.  So quite meticulous times are spent planning exactly what should align with what.  However I know I will be quite heavily relying on our tiler to make a tidy job.   

I have spent hours on the internet looking for a towel rail that has sufficient space between the wall and the back of the rails to comfortably hang the towels.  My experience is that they are always far too close.  On the front of one of the bathroom catalogues there was a perfect answer – a towel rail with brackets at the side, mounted into a recess, so that the rail could be positioned at whatever distance from the wall you choose.  When I rang them to ask for details I was told it was just a photo montage – not a real towel rail at all.  Back to the catalogues.  Not found anything more than 85mm between wall and rail yet!

We are pretty meticulous about anything that is needed for the house.  I can't think of anything that has just 'happened' without a level of consideration.  For instance, the rainwater pipes – with the house being angular – rather than curvaceous, have been chosen as rectangular in section.  This means they can be partly recessed into the timber cladding so that they fit comfortably, are not so conspicuous, and their colour has been chosen to match the window frames and blend with the timber cladding – especially when the timber has become weathered.  Max has also designed special hoppers to take the water from the roof into the pipes.  

Part of the fun of creating one’s own house is this intense attention to detail.  In many ways one wishes one had far more imagination, but I suppose also one would need to have a limitless budget to be able to take each item to a much greater degree of refinement.  My ideal structure would be one that seamlessly moves from one perfect detail to another without really noticing that it was actually changing.   We will just dip our little toe into creating this utopia.  The main point for me is that it is fun being involved in the process of taking up the challenge.

This week we have been under pressure to prepare for the plasterer as he is due to start tomorrow (Monday 3^rd June).  However due to the windows still being a major problem we have had to delay him until later in the week.  I did finally loose my cool with the window fabricators last week after they had promised again to deliver the windows by a certain date, and yet again failed to do so.  I believe they really do mean it this time, and that delivery and installation of the critical windows will be achieved.  This means we will only be two days behind with the plastering.  It has actually taken the pressure off us slightly so we are not exactly complaining.

Some of the things that have been happening this week.

The lengths of rainwater pipes being joined and brackets fitted so that they can be attached to the building prior to the timber cladding going on

The rainwater pipes in place. The timber cladding will be  fixed to the horizontal battens.  Probably starting in the next fortnight.

Sliding door gear fitted, inset into the ceiling prior to the plastering.

The first fix plumbing getting finalised before it is all covered with special tile backer board on which the tiler will glue the stone tiles.

The shower tray in position.

The special backing boards that need to line the bathroom before the tiler can start.

Max and our joiner checking that everything is plumb and square so that the lines of the tiles on the floor will be parallel with the walls!

The wall substructure prior to the plasterboard going on.  We've added this to give plenty of meat to the walls where we want to hang pictures.

The plasterboard gradually making an appearance and making the spaces look more like rooms.

Window frames appearing also - bit by bit, but no room complete with all its windows!  This is the frustrating thing as no room is yet ready for the plasterer to come and do the ceilings.  It SHOULD all happen this week.

The kitchen ceiling and kitchen window.
The ceilings will present quite a challenge to the plasterers as they are quite large expanses and we want them perfect, of course.
Plasterers like to do a full expanse in one session, so they will have two or three plasterers working on these downstairs ceilings at the same time.
We have special trims for the bottom of the walls which are yet to be fitted.
I hope to have photos of these next week, as well as the door frame details.

More windows

The mecano set we have yet to construct to form the cladding structure for the chimney.
A joy in store.

So a lot happening - the weather has improved which is good.

We had a really good tidy up on the site again this weekend so all is looking very presentable.  Neighbours keep passing by saying they can't wait for the unveiling - they're not the only ones.  Next month we should be getting close to taking off the scaffolding and showing the world what it might look like.