Where to begin…

So after a nearly 10 month absence I’ve decided to re-start my blogging efforts related to The “L” Shaped House.  Since we left off with our friend Janey Westin carving house numbers in the address rock at the end of the driveway…it seems only appropriate to begin anew with her fabulous work on the Rune stone recently installed in the front yard. Here we have our friend Beau standing beside the stone in a photo taken just a couple of weeks ago.

A photo of Janey and Charlie in their Edina workshop as we loaded the finished Rune stone into my trailer for the trip to the “L” Shaped House.

And finally…Paul and Nate working to install the stone on it’s concrete base nearby the pine trees at the bottom of the front yard.

  

Address Rock…Carving and Painting

Our new friend Janey Westin showed up last week to carve our address into the face of the rock at the end of the driveway. We decided to include Pentadic numerals under the Arabic numbers on the address rock in keeping with the Runic theme we plan to spread all around the “L” Shaped House. The photos below show Janey carving and then painting the numbers…using the same paint used on the Golden Gate Bridge!

Anchor Block…Paver photo shoot

Barb Falk from Anchor Block called a few weeks ago asking if we would allow them to photograph the paver driveway at the “L” Shaped House for next year’s catalog. We readily agreed and after a rain delay last week Pat Barry of InsideOut Studios showed up this afternoon to take the two shots Barb wants. The first three photos below show Pat, and his assistant Trev working to get the lighting perfected in the shot as Barb looks on. The photos also show some of the tools of the trade including the camera, lights, tethered computer, ladders, and the all important gas powered leaf blower.

 

The next photo shows Pat and Barb checking out a freshly captured exposure of the driveway and house as they work to get exactly the shot they want for the catalog. The image on the screen in the photo and a beautiful shot of the pavers along the front of the garage will soon grace the pages of Anchor’s promotional materials. It was really interesting (and more than a little humbling) to watch as these professionals worked together to produce a couple of fabulous photographs of the “L” Shaped House. 

The Dog Door…A challenge

This posting answers the question…Is it possible for a 15 year old boy to fit through a dog door?

It does not however answer the question…Is there anything Harris won’t do for $5.00?

Fireplace…Artwork

I couldn't help myself and “Photo-shopped”  yet another painting above the mantel. This is Harry Heim’s Polo Verde Fights against the Desert  painted in 2009.

A retrospective art show of Harry and Lois Heim’s work will be on display in the gallery at Gethsemane Lutheran Church later this fall. The show will be a wonderful way to see their work and maybe even meet these unique local artists.

A rock named…“Ann”

So…what exactly are our friends Andy and Kevin doing back at the “L” Shaped House on a Friday night.

They're fixing the new sod on the edge of the driveway…of course!

Thank You…Andy and Kevin…I appreciate you guys stepping up like this!!!

Why? you ask…

Another “trailblazer”  (don’t know who) decided to back straight down an 18 foot wide drive that has a wonderful gentle curve  half way down the hill leaving a pathetically inadequate “patch” job in their wake.

Really!

 

Andy, Kevin, and I decided a 4000 lb  boulder placed just inside the curve on the right might provide just the kind of incentive necessary to keep our wayward travelers on course. A Photoshop version of this idea is shown in the image below.  I think it will be effective and look good too!

  

A little curious about the name?

Look closely at the right front tire of this driver backing down the hill…The rock has her name on it!

Wildlife…Mosquito control

Here is a welcome sight on Cottage Lane…The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District truck parked right out front and one of their workers wading around in the pond across the street taking samples. Our many trips to North Dakota have taught us how frightening a summer evening without these good around folks can be!

Lighting…Helen’s Chandelier

During our evening walk-through last night Helen encountered the chandelier in her room with light bulbs installed for the very first time.

She likes it!

Mike Kloti…Now on Facebook!

Our friend Mike Kloti has set up a Facebook page to help promote his home design business. He has added a link to the “L” Shaped House blog as well as links and photos to a few other projects. Be sure to check out his new Facebook page and pass on his contact information to anyone considering a remodel project.

The Driveway…Turn Around

A surprisingly persistent question related to the “L” Shaped House has been; “How are you ever going to turn around in that driveway?”

Today’s video should serve to answer this important question even as it raises a few new ones…

Posting…Number 500!

When I started this blog nearly 15 months ago I had no idea it would turn into an effort that includes 500 postings. I suppose this auspicious event deserves a comment or two from the author and few fun facts…

• It’s been fun…Blogs are all about telling stories and this is a really fun story to tell!
• It’s been a lot of work…There are nearly 2,000 photos and 75,000 words included in the blog!
• Nearly 50 people visit the blog each day and view about 3,000 pages a month (Google Analytics)!
• We are getting close to the end of construction (one more month?)…Phew!
• I don’t know!…the answer to the question “what will you do once the house is done?”

Painting…Helen’s Room

After an…Emergency!!!…Extra Special!!!…Three Day!!!…meeting with Helen we are finally back on track with the colors for her room. It turns out that Helen was not completely “in the loop” on the color selection and has some strong feelings about what she wants. Fortunately her dad (a communication and visualization specialist) jumped in and saved the day!

The front corner should end up looking something like this…

What’s in Your Walls?

So…when you go to hang stuff on the walls in your house how do you decide where to drive the nails? Can you remember where you put the blocking? Are you sure there isn’t some important wire or a water line running right where you want your hanger?

At the “L” Shaped House we are going to use our X-Ray photos to solve this age old dilemma. If you recall I have carefully taken photos of every wall in the house at each stage of the construction. Using Adobe Photoshop I can now combine these photos to create a composite image that allows us to once again “look beyond what we can see” !!!

These two photos are combined using layers, the opacity slider, and the warping tool in Photoshop.

Cabinets…An Update

The girls and I wandered all around the house over the weekend trying out some of the new spaces. Helen thinks the window seat in the living room will be her favorite reading spot…especially after we add a comfy cushion and pillows. Anna just can’t stay out of  “colossus” in the basement kitchen!

Cabinets…The Basement Kitchen (2)

Just how big is that upper corner cabinet in the basement kitchen?

No Photoshop here…really!

Cabinets…The Basement Kitchen

After carefully considering a few basement bar options we settled on installing a modest kitchenette in the back corner of the basement family room. We want the basement of the “L” Shaped House to serve as a family room, home theatre, and game room… as well as provide a private retreat for out of town guests. The refrigerator, microwave, and free standing induction cook-top will allow our basement guests an independence that may well encourage longer visits.

In a layout considered earlier we projected an island bar into the room from the front wall of the house. Although a bar arrangement like this provides an efficient seating area this layout works best with the (full size) refrigerator placed on the outside wall…especially if you want to preserve family room space. Furthermore the volumetric (and cost) efficiency of an “L” shaped set of cabinets is compelling.

And this house is all about the letter “L”…Remember Bogr?

The basement of the “L” Shaped House may well end up looking something like the sketch below and “game-night” at the Arneson house will live on in high style!

The Fireplace…Final Artwork!

April 1, 2010

After nearly a month of careful deliberation Deb and I finally came to an agreement on the artwork for the space above the fireplace. Initially I felt it might be a little too strong but Deb insists that the piece works so well she unwilling to compromise…who am I to argue!

The Fireplace…Choices

As we move toward finishing the “L” Shaped House we have to finalize some important choices. The choice in front of us right now is selecting the stone to be used in the living room fireplace. Adobe Photoshop is a wonderfully useful tool in an situation like this. The two Photoshop creations below show the fireplace area adorned with two cultured stone color selections from Owens Corning.

The first is  Drystack Ledgestone in Mist…

the second in Chardonnay.

The screenshot below shows the Adobe Photoshop file open on my computer. I started with a carefully framed photo of the fireplace and added individual bits of the decor on separate layers. This allows me to not only position things like artwork above the mantel but also “paint” the walls and “carpet” the floor. Each layer may be toggled on or off making it easy to switch between different elements with the click of a mouse. Items like the bricks, hearth, & mantels are copied from the manufacturers website and then pasted into the “photo”. It is surprisingly easy and provides a fabulous way to…“look beyond what you can see”.

A special thank you goes out to my nephew Matthew Ecklund…without his patient counsel I could never have come this far!

The “L” Shaped House…Spring 2010

The temperature outside jumped to 65 degrees this afternoon. Helen, Anna, and I visited the house and dreamed a little as we wandered around. The photos below seemed appropriate given the change in the  season and state of construction. The first shows our familiar old friend…The MUD…in the front yard in the early morning fog on Friday. 

The next photo…shot from the front wall of the dining room…shows the living room, foyer, and kitchen with the newly installed cork flooring extending throughout the space.

The third is composite sketch showing the basement kitchen area with the Great Woods Cabinetry perspective drawing superimposed on top of the photo. It gives us a pretty good idea of how this area is going to look after the cabinets are in place (it’s also a fun Adobe Photoshop exercise).

The video shows Helen reacting to the new floor in the dining room…as only she can!

Cabinets…The Kitchen

With most of the cabinetry in place at the “L” Shaped House we have been exploring the spaces and talking about how we will use them. Finalizing the island counter top in particular caused us to experiment with the cabinets in and around the kitchen and forced us to find creative ways to visualize how we will use the space. In the photos below you will see some of the elements we have been thinking about. The deep drawers in the corner caused us to carefully consider the aisle width between the cook top and Island.

The drawers in the island…especially the Sharp (drawer-style) microwave…will also impinge on the aisle between the island and kitchen sink cabinet.

We used the next two images to help visualize the the area in front of the refrigerator and kitchen desk.

 

The last image shows what the oven wall will look like after the appliances are installed.