Saturday, March 28, 2009

MEDIA ROOM

I purchased a woven leather and cashmere blanket from Hermes and it was my inspiration for the media room.
My husband had very definite plans for the media room and they sure didn't revolve around a blanket!
This room is his baby; he chose all of the equipment and how it would be set up.
He designed an separate room to house the equipment so it is easily accessed.
He put in a server called "Kaleidescape" that can hold 1000 or more DVD's.    We have been using it at the farm and it is an amazing system.
This room acoustically is as perfect as he could make it.   We will use this room to watch movies of course and listen to music.     It will also house my new turntable, and old vinyl records.

I didn't get to do exactly as I pleased in this room, but I managed to make it work.    The blanket stays in the picture room.

My husband would have had everything in this room black, so I am just happy to have had the limited colour compromises.

We decided to have "Stressless" brand chairs in this room because they are comfortable and easy to move around.     Since we will also enjoy music and conversation in this room we wanted to be able to face each other.    Cinema type chairs were too bulky and we don't always want them side by side.

I am not a fan of heavily pebbled leather and only one red leather was not pebbled.
Lucky for me it works.    I also had only one colour selection for the wall fabric, it had to be the darkest.
Lucky for me it also works.   I will wait to choose the carpet, I plan on doing a loose lay in wool.
We are installing a cork floor first.   I would have loved leather floor tiles; but I can live with cork.

I took pictures with my Hermes lizard agenda in Bordeaux as a colour reference.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

BLUE SKIES

Our regular Wednesday meeting found us all on the same page for the first time.  I am really impressed with our architect Tom Moore, who is becoming quite a designer much to our mutual surprise!  lol
I am not using a decorator/designer (why pay someone else to have all the fun?) and I have a very hard time articulating my vision and esthetics.   Tom has never  had to work so hard to listen, trying to interpret what he heard on to a shop drawing.
I am sure he has driven home shaking his head and rolling his eyes more than once.

The plaster trim is now being applied on the second story.  I was very happy to see it and I think the scale is appropriate for the ceiling height.       I was concerned about the scale until I stood back to view the distance between the ceiling and door height.  Once the door and window trims are installed  I think it will work?
I chose a very simple trim.   I think this house will have enough going on so I restrained myself in the "public" areas.
I am a pearl girl;  always have been.    I never met a pearl I didn't like, even if it was glass.
The trim is a subtle pearl beading, I plan to have a pearlised glaze highlight the pearls.

We are designing some specialty plaster trims for the living, dining, morning rooms, and principal suite that are still in the drawing stage.

We meet every Wednesday and it always seems that it snows, blows, rains, fogs, does anything but shine.
All my pictures more or less look the same when I look at them trying to see the progress.   Some days it's hard to believe that we will be in this house by the end of June?
I did feel a turning of the wheel today, maybe we will be lucky and it will be nothing but blue skies from now on?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS








The drywall is almost in upstairs and the plywood that had covered the opening between upstairs and downstairs has been removed.
It is still hard for me to envision the staircase and railings that will run around the upper floor.
Soon Oleg will come in and finish the ironwork.
The design for the skylight is almost completed and the window will be installed soon. 

MUD ROOM

There is certainly no shortage of mud over on the "hill" and it will only get worse with the spring thaw.
I have lived for years with a tiny space to contain the  boots, shoes, coats, book bags, dirt, and junk that finds its way through the door.
Some days it is like picking your way through a land mine field, trying not to trip over all the shoes left wherever they were  kicked off.

It was very important to me that in this house we have a spacious mud room.   I wanted plenty of storage, coat, and broom closets, a bathroom and a "slop" sink.   I wanted  room for a large capacity washer and dryer to wash any mucky, yucky, messiness I wouldn't want traipsed through the house.
We were going to install a walk in refrigerator but I found some stand alone appliances from True that will work better in the cooler room leaving me space for a prep area and sink.   Most important though was an area to feed and wash the dog.  
We have a very large 130 lb. dog; a female, Black Russian Terrier   She is very messy and I affectionately refer to her as "Boris The Peasant Girl", because there is nothing remotely feminine about her.  When she eats she collapses on the floor and kind of hugs her bowl burying her face in its contents.
When she drinks she holds the water in her mouth leaking it across the floor as she walks, until she shakes her head spraying everything in a three foot radius.
I chose a metallic silver porcelain tile that has a bit of texture, to give the dogs some traction and prevent slipping.
Because she is a guard dog she needs to have access to go outside so we have to install a dog door.
This is such a wonderful breed and we are searching for male BRT now.
Because this breed can reach 170 pounds, we won't regret having devoted so much space to a mud room.

These are pictures of the garage, mud room, mud room porcelain tile, plus a few shots of "Boris."