Kitchen Layout & Bathroom Construction

So before I start to paint, I have to figure out where I want my lights.  And before that I need to figure out the layout.

I mostly had an idea of where everything was going to go.  I just needed to get the particulars down.  So I took all the cabinets I'd made and the stove I bought and got them set up in the kitchen corner.

I actually need to make a fridge and it'll go next to the stove rather than have the little half fridge under the larger window.  But I'm planning on making a little desk to go where the fridge is now.  A nice workspace.

Bathroom walls and you can see how they'll come right up against the fireplace built-in bookshelf.

I'm planning a sliding barnstyle door for the bathroom.  The stairs/ladder to the loft will go next to it, I'm working on a way to have them slide up and down so they don't take up so much floor space.

But in the meantime I had to build out the bathroom.  I'm going with Shannon's suggestion (I think it was Shannon who suggested it anyway) of a room that slides in and out so I can get to everything in the kitchen behind it. 

So basically building a box to go in a box.  And that means making sure the loft floor is level with the ceiling of the bathroom and the bathroom floor is the same height as the rest of the house.  The lighting for the bathroom will have to be powered off its own battery since the room pulls in and out and I don't want to break wires every time I move it. 

But I managed to get it built and a reasonable facsimile of the sink to go with the tub and toilet.

The view from the doorway so far.

And the view from the back opening.  Space saving toilet and a temporary sink.

I thought about using something like this for a sink base but it's too wide I think.

I want something a little narrower so there's room on either side of the sink.

I decided on the beige speckle peel and stick tile floor from Miniatures.com so it won't get too thick.  And for the walls I went with Venus Teal by Behr paint.  I made the shower surround out of tile samples, cutting them into strips so it would look like the wood tile that's so in fashion now. 

I'm not quite sure what color for the ceiling though, maybe the Oyster Beige? I put one coat of paint on the walls so far.  It could probably use another coat.

The bathroom needs some baseboards but so far I don't think it looks bad.

I've been throwing around the idea of some texture on the walls of the rest of the house.  So far the only thing that seems to work is getting some textured scrapbook paper to cover the walls and painting that.  Or using some of the plaster ceiling paper and painting that. 

I had some of the plaster paper so I tested my wall color out on that.  I'm not sure about it.

What do you think?

The color my test sample is on top of is Voyage by Behr paint.  I'm going to paint the ceiling with it.  A pop of color where it's not necessarily expected. 

I've got some can lights coming to use on the ceiling.  They operate off of batteries which I'll hide in the chimney.  And I'm going to make a few sconces to go next to the picture window above the bookshelves. 

I'm planning on using on of these lights in the bathroom.  I have two of them and I'm debating about using one in the entryway as well.  The question is, do I make some lights to go on either side of the bathroom mirror?  Or just have the one light? 

Whatever I use I'll need to hide the battery for it in the sink cupboard since the bathroom lights can't be on the same system as the rest of the house.

Was going through all my lights and found these lamps.  If I turned them upside down and figured some sort of chain to hang them from the ceiling they might work as pendant lights on either side of the bathroom mirror. 

What do you guys think?

The kitchen light is something else I'm working on.  I'm going to try and make a craftsman style light to go on the ceiling. 

Not a bad day's work really. 

Any opinions on the wall texture?  I've tried spackle, texturing it with paper towels, toothbrush bristles and cottonballs but it just seems to crumble when I add paint even though its totally dry.  So the paper on the walls and painting over it seems like my best bet.

Walls Paint Color

We've talked about how I can't do anything the easy way right?

So now that I've got the interior window trim fixed up and stained I started to think about the paint color I want for the walls.  I want something neutral since the house will have quite a few bright colors in the tiles and the fabrics I'm using. 

So I got out my paint and started testing it on the interior wall that comes with the house and put one of the little windows and the fireplace next to my test colors.

I know it might seem like they're all the same but they are different paints.  I was smart this time around and numbered my samples and the matching bottles.

My paint colors are:

1. Pacific Khaki - Behr Ultra
2. Mystery color - Behr Ultra
3. Buttermilk - Americana
4. Warm White - Americana
5. Oyster Beige - Americana
6. Bleached Sand - Americana
7. Coffee Latte - Folk Art
8. Mix of 2 & 5

Here's the window up against the colors:

The khaki seems a little greenish to me, and the mystery color just blends right into the cherry stain.

And the Buttermilk isn't bad but its very yellow looking.

The Warm White is too stark.  The Oyster Beige is the best so far but I'm not in love.

Here the Bleached Sand is just a bit blech and the Coffee Latte is almost the same color as the stain.  No go.

I got my husband's opinion and we both liked the Oyster Beige the best out of all of them, but the mystery color was a close second.

So of course I decided to see what would happen if I mixed them up. 

So of course I like it best.  Creamy and neutral but not boring. At least not to me. 

I painted some other wood samples just to see how it would do, and to have a sample I can bring with me to Home Depot to get it matched.

I still like it.  And I would have just mixed up a bunch of color like I did NOLA House but I don't have a lot of the Oyster Beige and I also don't have all my walls cut out for the bathroom. 

So I think tomorrow after work I'll go to Home Depot with my paints and samples and ask them to mix up something to match it. 

Oh, and here it is with my fabrics. 

It's neutral but its still a color if you know what I mean.

I think it'll look pretty good. 

What do all of you think? 

Fabric Choices

You would think that I'm someone who plans shopping trips carefully.  Everything listed out, things I need to match safely stowed in my purse.

You would be very wrong.  My approach to shopping only rarely meets the above criteria.  Usually its more of a 'I need to run to Hobby Lobby at lunch for stuff'.  And stuff always ends up being a lot of things that I'll use but not a lot I planned for.

This occasion was one where I did have a short list. 'Find Fabric for house'.  But did I bring my beads/tiles to match? No.  Did I bring a sample of the cherry stain? No. 

In short, did I bring anything that would help me make this purchase easier?

No. Of course not. 

But in spite of all that I don't think I did too badly.  Hobby Lobby was having a sale on quilting/calico fabrics so I got 30% off.  That was nice.

And I lucked out in that I think I found some winners.

Here's all four of the fabrics I bought together with the fireplace.

One pale teal with white dots. One off white with multi colored dots/circles.  One plain turquoise.  And one darker teal with white flowers and darker teal centers.

Here they are, one by one, next to the fireplace.

Teal with white dots

Darker teal with white flowers and darker centers

Turquoise... looking a bit washed out for some reason.

Off white with multi colored dots

Of all of them, I think the multi color is something that matches multiple colors of the tiles and will look the best as the window seat cushion. 

I don't think I want to make an upholstered chair with it, mostly because it'll be too much.  But I do think a set of chairs in a plain offwhite or maybe a creamy tan will look good and I can make cushions out of this fabric. 

But I could use the turquoise to make some trim for the cushions and chairs.  Tie it all together that way?  Not sure about that.  Have to see.

The darker teal with the flowers will be nice as a bedspread, with some off white sheets and pillows?

That's the other thing I was thinking of.  The bed in the loft.  I was thinking of doing a Murphy Bed, folding up into the wall.  Then I wouldn't need a huge loft. 

But it would have to be something like this, to have the side of the bed as the axis, not the head or foot, otherwise it wouldn't fit properly. (I think I'm using the word axis properly. Hopefully.)

Obviously I couldn't do anything massive like these pieces of furniture but a simple box with a hinge, a cabinet next to it for the pillows and it'd be all set.

My other question is window treatments.  After all the trouble I went to on the trim and mullions, I'm not sure I want to fuss with curtains or anything. 

What do all of you think?

Windows, Windows, Windows

Guess what the theme of today's post is? 

Doors.

Ha! No, you're right, it's windows.  Although there is a door in here too.

Most of the weekend was dedicated to fixing up the windows so they looked more craftsman in style.  My dremel got a workout because the smaller windows didn't come apart the way the larger ones did. 

And I stained them all a nice cherry once the glue dried and tested them out.

Forgive the bad light on this last one.  I'm thinking of doing another layer of the stain before adding the poly to seal it, just to get the color a little darker.

I added some mullions to the smaller windows.  I think it's just enough to make them fit into the house without getting too fussy.

I also got the window trim cut and painted for the exterior but I haven't wanted to put it up yet until I'm ready to glue the windows in.  Too easy for the trim to get knocked off the house when I'm moving the walls around.

I did adjust the trim around the front door and painted it.  I think it looks a bit better. It'll mirror the trim on the big window.

I like that a bit better.

So now I'm looking around for door handles.  I really want to find (or make if need be) something like this.

Or like this.

That wall lamp is something I'd like to find or recreate for the house as well.  It's the style I want.

The trim for the rest of the house is in progress.  I ran out of the right width of wood so I've ordered more.

I also went shopping for fabric for my chairs, bench cushion and bed.  I forgot to take pictures though so I'll try to do that after I get my stain and sealant done.  That way you can all see what I'm thinking of and let me know how you like it.

Hope all my fellow Americans have a Happy Fourth of July.  And for my lovely readers in other countries, enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

Front Door & Vertical Siding

I spent most of yesterday figuring out how to add some vertical siding to the house.  And exactly where I wanted it to start.

I could not get past the horizontal lap siding over the porch, so that had to go.  And I figured the upper portion of the house would also need vertical siding.

So with some cursing, sanding, prying and a lot more cursing I managed to replace the horizontal lap siding with vertical siding in the appropriate places.  Then I painted. 

I also painted window trim and the exterior portions of the windows.

That was Saturday.  Lots of work.

So today I started out with something that I knew I'd like.  I painted the front door.  I love how the Cascade color pops against the Nautical and Warm White.

And I did a test run of the trim and the windows before I began to paint the trim. 

Here's a couple of shots of the whole shebang.

I'm so happy with that front door I can't tell you.

Granted, it is hard to get the full effect of the trim with the painters tape everywhere but I didn't want to mess something up.

I'm debating some roof braces/corbels, maybe one at each side of the roof extended from the corner trim?   Or would that be too much?

So far I've only got the trim for the front cut, I need to do the back and sides. 

But I did cut out my bathroom window glass so I could test it.

I'm debating with myself on these small side windows.  Do I add some mullions and divide them up?  The ones next to the chimney...I could possibly divide in two, similar to the bathroom window and then divide the upper portion into three panes.

I'm worried they'll look too busy.  But without some sort of detail they look very plain to me.

The horizontal sitting loft windows would actually be easier, just divide the existing pane into three with a couple mullions added.

I actually painted the exterior window trim and then had to stop from gluing it on because I need to add some wood so the window depth matches the wall depth.  With the siding on the windows don't extend to the exterior.

And while I was thinking about that I realized that the window trim really doesn't look very 'Craftsman'.  All the trim that comes with the windows are cut at forty five degree angles to make a nice little frame around the window.  A picture frame style trim.  That's fine for a regular house.

Craftsman windows tend to feature a slightly wider head to the casing with straight lines, very few diagonals at all.  They'll often have a crown to the head as well.  Like so.

It's not huge but it does make a difference to the eye.

Since I'm busting my butt to make this house look more Craftsman not less, part of the painting I'd done was wasted.  So I've got my work cut out for me. 

At least I hadn't glued anything on before I came to this realization.

I also realized that I do need some type of under the eaves trim as well.  Definitely need a frieze board and I want some rafters to show for certain. 

I'd love some opinions on the windows and the idea of corbels or braces for the roof.  I don't want it to look fussy.  Clean and classic is the idea.

Ah well.  Back to measuring and cutting.

Trim Test Run

So I've managed to goof up a few things. The door opening, the wainscoting sill on the corners... things that are fixable but its still annoying.

And rather than go crazy with different siding/texture mockups I thought I'd check out how some trim would look.  Obviously it'll be a bit lighter in color, but you get a sense of what I'm trying to do.

I also spent some time today adding trim to the windows so they look more craftsman.

What do you think?

Just a quick pic on my cell phone.  But with the door, the window and the trim you get an idea of what I'm trying to do.

If I change the texture it would be above the trim line on the front wall.

Opinions?

I've got all the window trim sorted and I'm planning on painting it up after I take care of a few chores.

Dry Fit With Roof

Okay!

Today has been...odd.

Let me explain... No...there is too much. Lemme sum up.

HVAC pulls moisture from the air.  North TX has a lot of humidity so far this summer.  Drain pipes get stopped up, overloaded, whatever.  This stops the AC so the water doesn't overflow.  If that safeguard is bypassed water overflows. 

Into the bedroom closet.

I spent the first few hours of my day rug vacuuming water up.  Four buckets later it's...reasonably dry.  Not dry. But better.

And we've put a call in to have the pipes blown out with compressed air.

Hard work done, I then got to play with the dollhouse.

I've done a dry fit with the new slanted roof. 

I had to extend the main roof so I had overhang past the chimney wall.

Once I add finishes it won't even show.

I'm a bit concerned with the area over the front porch.  I liked it in theory but looking at it altogether... it looks a bit heavy to me.  Though with the posts and porch floor its better.

I'm wondering if white trim around the bottom, where the flat roof meets the siding, will lighten it up? 

What do all of you think?  I've got to start painting trim and I'll try to paint a few pieces and see how it looks before I take the whole house apart again.

I think part of the issue might be that the porch is small compared to the roof.  I think I want it to be a bit wider since I want to do the half stone and tapered columns on it that are so characteristic of the Craftsman style.

See how these are slightly tapered going upwards?

The other option to make it look less heavy would be to use shingles or something besides the blue siding.

Here's a quick test run of the shingle look.  Obviously not colored or stained.

They're only taped on but having something besides the siding seems to lighten up the area a bit. 

The other thought is doing something similar to the top half of the house to break up the blue.  It's a lot of blue now that the house is together.  Its really BLUE.

I love the color but now it seems a little overwhelming.

Opinions? 

I'm going to start painting trim.