Interior Photos of the “L” Shaped House

After a little more than one year of living in the “L” Shaped House I’ve decided to take on a project to photograph all of the interior rooms. As the kitchen is the main gathering point in the house it makes for a fine starting point. The first photo below shows our mixer on the countertop in the back corner with the Cambria island out front.

The next photo shows the view of the island from the doorway leading to the breezeway. Here we see archways leading to both the dining area and the foyer inside the front door.

The last photo shows the kitchen and dining area from the far corner of the dining room table. Here we can see the archways separating all of the first floor rooms in the open style Mike Kloti envisioned in the original plans.

Wheelchair Lift

From the very beginning we have been paying close attention to accessibility issues at the “L” Shaped House. The original design of our home included a ramp from the garage to the mudroom entrance (here).  The elevation issue encountered early in the construction process forced us to change course and turn our attention toward a lift in the garage. After carefully considering many options we have decided to build our own lift mechanism designed by the world class engineering staff at Professional Instruments Co. Dan Oss, and Byron Knapp have come up with the ingenious scissors lift mechanism (that lifts the platform through center) shown in the Solid Works 3D model below. Hydraulic cylinders connected to the off-center vertical linkage (visible in the bottom two sketches) will actuate the the lift and requires only 12” of stoke to raise the platform to it’s full height of 41”.

A refined view of this design showing one of the lifting cylinders in place below…

We plan to start fabricating the lift assembly shortly and hope to have it in place in the garage before the end of the year. The composite sketch below shows the lift mechanism superimposed on a photo of the end wall of the garage with some faint pen and ink additions to the design.

Garage Organization

Ahh … I spent most of the weekend working in the garage at The “L” Shaped House attaching organizing equipment to the walls and ceiling. The photo below shows some of the fruits of this effort. First; both of our “big” ladders hanging from the Racor Bike and Ladder lifts installed to the ceiling in the foreground. Next; a hose reel, electrical cord reel, and an LED worklight all attached to the ceiling just to the left of the jib crane. Finally; the new galvanized pegboard system from Wall Control and a Gladiator GearLoft shelf on the West wall above the “tear-down” bench. All that is left now is the plumbing from the air compressor under the stairs to the cord reel on the ceiling.

Cleaning…Day 1

We’ve engaged Steve Carmichael’s wife Amy and her mom (Jo) to give the “L” Shaped House a complete cleaning. They started in the bonus room Friday night and finished up in the basement late yesterday afternoon. The photo below shows Amy and Jo working to in the kitchen as they cleaned cabinets, walls, countertops, windows, and light fixtures…the place looks fabulous!

Fixtures…Railings and mirrors

From the very beginning of this project we have we have tried to be thoughtful about providing for handicapped accessibility in our new home. The first floor of the “L” Shaped House is specifically designed to accommodate persons who cannot navigate steps. The full bath and “convertible”  music room make first floor living a comfortable possibility. The photo below shows the first floor bath after Paul installed grab bar railings on the wall adjacent the toilet and shower. The inside shower wall will have railings as well.

The next photo shows Helen’s room with her new IKEA mirror mounted on the wall above the dresser. Paul has been mounting mirrors, hooks, and bars all over the inside of the house for the last couple of days.

Appliances…The first floor laundry

Paul and Nate finished up the new dryer venting and finally pushed the washer and dryer back against the wall in the first floor laundry room for good. The first photo shows the new appliances plugged in…turned on…and ready to go!

The next photo was taken with my 17-40mm zoom lens that allows for a wide angle view of the room. Here we can see how nice this washer and dryer look tucked in under the cabinets along the wall. The last photo shows off the unique laundry chute above the top loading washer feature I have been planning since the very beginning of this big adventure. I think this is going to be really cool…despite what (almost) everyone else says about it!

Carpentry…The mudroom lockers (day 2)

Paul continues to work on the lockers in the mudroom (in-between all his other duties). The photo here shows the lockers after he finished attaching the cabinetry to the outside wall and started assembling maple trim on the fronts. I think building them with an open back (allowing the wall paint to show through) was a really good idea. We have decided to have Steve Carmichael finish them with a light stain and varnish.

Carpentry…The mudroom lockers (day 1)

Paul Winters went to work yesterday building the lockers that will be installed on the outside wall of the mudroom. The photo below shows the beginnings of the cabinets partly mounted to the wall on the right. The five open lockers (one each per family member) will have a 4’ main section for jackets and an 18” cubby at the top. A wire basket will be mounted under each locker leaving enough space under the cabinetry for shoes and boots. The idea here is to have a functional mudroom…encouraging  function to win over form.

I think this unique space is going to be great!

The “L” Shaped House…Lights & Laundry

As the carpenters, painters, and clean-up crew make their last pass through a space in the “L” Shaped House it is transformed into what Deb and I have been dreaming about for a year and a half. This series of photos show the first rooms that can be considered “done”. The photo below shows the back wall of the master bath with lights, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures all in place and ready to be used!

The second photo shows the same back wall of the master bath from just outside the hallway leading to the walk-in closets off the master bedroom. This view captures the “feel” of our new home nicely. Deb and Katie's decorating choices combined with the great workmanship throughout the building process have produced a really wonderful space. The last photo shows the washer and dryer installed along the back wall of the first floor laundry room. This space has honestly exceeded our expectations considerably. Neither Deb nor I were convinced it would be large enough, and getting the right laundry machines was frustrating…but in the end the room looks like it is going to be perfect!

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…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…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!

400!

This is posting number 400 on the “L” Shaped House Blog. I never imagined the blog would come this far. I remember telling someone in the beginning that I thought there might be as many 250 entries. What started as a vague plan to document the building of our new home has grown into a rather elaborate and lengthy documentary (some have even used the word obsession). Its way too late to stop now and I have both had fun and learned along the way. I sincerely hope that you have also enjoyed it as much as I have!

No posting is complete without a couple of photos…The first is a panoramic view just inside the front door to the house. This seems an appropriate milestone photo.

The second is a panoramic shot of the back side of the house from a spot near the outlet for drains coming from the paver patio outside the basement walk-out doors…The drains have worked perfectly…phew!

Cambria Countertops…Evening report

The Cambria countertop installation this afternoon is the sort of event that deserves a second look. Deb and I stopped by after work to admire the countertops and found Paul Winters cleaning up behind the Quartz Surfaces guys.…making for a perfect photo opportunity. The photos below pretty much speak for themselves. In them we see the Oakhampton perimeter, and Oxford island countertops in place on the cabinets above the natural cork floor. We are thrilled with the results!

Cabinets…Knobs & Pulls

Deb and my sister Martha spent a couple hours yesterday carefully going through each room selecting knobs and pulls for every cabinet drawer and door in the “L” Shaped House.

The drawing below shows the fruits of this effort. They have marked up cabinet wall elevation drawings identifying the type and position of hardware for each cabinet element.  They plan to double check the drawings and produce a color coded set to be used in the installation process.

 

The photo below shows samples Deb picked up at Lowes to use as she and Martha worked through this process. The bin-pulls and knobs are very close to the ones we will will use from Twin City Hardware. The handles are going to be a little different (they will have the little fake screw heads at each end). See them on the Amerock website here…

• Bin Pull
• Handle Pull
• Knob

Painting…Day 13 (Doors)

Today’s posting is all about doors at the “L” Shaped House…In the first photo below we get our first look at one of the Simpson exterior doors without the packaging materials. These doors are all full glass and are made from hemlock. The next photo was taken in the bonus room just a few moments after Rick sprayed the second coat of polyurethane varnish on three of the interior doors. Rick and Martin are busy staging the remaining doors for their production spraying operations.

 

The last photo shows the dog door in the mudroom being held in place by our camera shy construction supervisor…Paul Winters. The door is a double flap Endura pet door from Patio Pacific and includes the interior locking panel seen in the photo.

Ceramic Tile…The Mudroom wash-down area

Matt Sletten has the Wash-down area in the mudroom coming along nicely. While some of the construction details in this area have evolved along the way the basic plan remains the same…we want to build “real” mudroom. The photos below show the underlying elements of the space just before the tile will be applied. In the first we see the platform for the dog kennels and the recessed shower base & drain in front of the dog door and water supply along the back wall.

The next photo shows the sample floor grate sitting on 3” ceramic tile Matt will use in the floor of the shower base. We plan to bring the top surface of the grate just below the curb and platform providing a flush surface across the entire wash-down area. The grate will be purchased in at least two (possibly three) sections to make it easy to remove and clean. While we originally planned a built-in bench across the wall opposite the dog kennels we have since decided to simplify the construction and use a free standing bench instead.

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.

Exterior Doors…Day 0

Scherer Brothers delivered the Simpson Mastermark exterior doors to the “L” Shaped House Wednesday morning. Included in the mix are the five first floor wood doors as well as the steel doors for the garage. The second photo below shows the finish we have chosen for the door hardware on one of the garage door knobs.

Plumbing Fixtures…Day 0

The Steinkraus Plumbing guys stopped by this morning to drop off a few of the plumbing fixtures. The folks at Quartz Surfaces need the kitchen sink as they start to fabricate the Corian countertops and we want to have some faucets available as we pick cabinet hardware. The photos below show one of the bathroom faucets, and the second floor laundry sink & faucet. The fixtures and finishes are going to add nicely to the “farmhouse” ambiance.