One of those rare mornings.

A lot has happened in the last little while. For starters, we have a new member on the architectural review committee. We are expecting the arrival of a little one this fall to join our kooky family. The new member demanded that changes be made to accommodate his/her fussy needs before s/he takes residence at our abode.

The architect and I are best friends again. He stopped by yesterday to check the progress and revise some details. I said I would have to think about the changes. He replied half-jokingly, "You don't need to think, just agree! I'm here now!" He is a funny guy. His latest project is on the cover of some architectural digest journal. He must be feeling pretty good about himself these days.

I woke up this morning feeling relaxed and settled about the design changes. For me, waking up at ease is a low probability event. There were some details I was never entirely convinced, however with the revisions everything comes together. Simplifying the design facilitated the transition between living areas and building materials.

Enough jibba jabba, here are the pictures.


In the kitchen, we are going to use the orange stone on the back splash. By eliminating tile, we eliminate introducing an extra material that would have required an awkward transition with the dry wall and counter top (This would have required the introduction of yet another material, likely a Fry Reglet product. You can see the reglet to the left of the countertop leaning against the wall.). We are also running the bamboo up the vertical face of the counter to provide symmetry.







Here is the handrail in progress. We are not using cable rail anymore since little people have a tendency to use them as ladders. Plus, I personally feel that cable rails are overused and are a lazy solution to provide a "modernist flair" to an otherwise uninspired drab build. We are doing something different to preserve the openness of the stair case. Stay tuned ...



This is the serpentine trim detail from the bottom staircase. I found out this is not typically done, you either love it or hate it. We repeated this detail on the other side of the staircase that runs along the drywall. Some members of my family probably recognize this detail.