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| Not much new on the outside, except that the porch is functional. There is still plenty of of work to be done here to add storm doors and acrylic panels to close off the space into a semi-greenhouse. This will act as an airlock and give some free heat on sunny winder days. Next spring, I'll swap out the acrylic panels for screens. |
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| All furniture is a place-holder for now. The table will be slightly larger and square; the chair will become a love seat (the table and love seat will swap locations); I'll get a proper media cabinet, and replace the green storage tub with a chest. The insulating blinds on those large south side windows keep the warmth in during the winter and with the top-down feature, they keep out solar heat gain on unusually warm September days while leaving a view out the upper part of the window. |
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| I wasn't quite sure I'd be able to fit my computer desk. Luckily, it nestles in nicely under the stairs so I can work comfortably from home. I have a 20"x30" folding table that sets up to the left of the desk if I need more horizontal space. |
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| Detail of the CD shelves that are built into the wall. This also shows off the diagonal tongue-and-groove pine over the door vs. the lightly stained plywood which makes up the large panels. I hate drywall: the plywood makes it easy to securely fasten shelves and paintings anywhere on the wall with fewer studs. |
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| Coming soon: a curtain to cover the pantry shelves to the left of the fridge. A door here would swing against the wall and preclude adding a coat hook/shelf, which is also on the to-do list. It's hard to see in this shot, but there is no cabinet under the sink--it's just open to maximize room for trash, recycling, and cleaning supplies. A curtain is also in the works there. |
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| Ben's perch gives him a commanding view of the diminutive space. The hanging dish drains act as permanent storage for my every-day dishes--it saves time to not put them away and take them out repeatedly. The racks drain into the sink, sort of like a European kitchen. |
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| Imagine a row of shelves above the toilet for towel storage and the stuff that usually belongs in the bathroom. The frame on the left encloses the medicine cabinet. A traditional mirror wouldn't work here since the toilet is located where you would stand to see yourself. But when you are in the middle of the room and open the door, a mirror on the inside of the door swings into the perfect position. |
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| I LOVE this shower, especially in warm weather. Flow control on the left lets me soap up and turn off the water to avoid getting the room all hot and humid before I rinse off. There is no guesswork about finding the perfect temperature because the knob on the right controls that precisely: set it and forget it. It's a little unusual to have towel racks on the door, but it works. |
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| I try to use as much of the wall cavity as possible. This shows the back side of the tongue-and-groove. Same think in the closet, too. That's a home-made shower rod: one 10' piece of copper pipe for $15. Wish I'd been able to bend it smoothly, but I didn't figure that out. The 36" x 40" area inside the shower curtains is cavernous compared to most bathtubs. |
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| This mid-size washer is perfectly sized to fill up my drying rack plus a few shirts hanging on hangers to dry. I haven't used a dryer since college, so this is no hardship. I'm working on a curtain to cover this doorway (or should I go with some hippie beads?) Yet another curtain will hide the two water heaters (for domestic and radiant floor heat). |
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| I have a room-darkening blind ready to hang once the air conditioner comes out (any day now!) The counterweight is designed to provide a soft close for the hatch as well as to hold it open and out of the way. The door will even stay open 45 degrees to funnel air-conditioned air downstairs on a hot day. |
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| The shelves along the side of the attic are designed to hide banker's boxes underneath as my module of storage. Some day, I may build a platform to raise up my foam mattress 8-12 inches. That would provide some more storage, and there is just enough headroom for it. I may not feel it's necessary. Note the room darkening blind on this side--I love the side rails that exclude virtually every once of light! (Photo was taken at 5 PM with full western sun on the window.) |
