Today's Rendering of the House

This is what I will be submitting on Weds!

The full set of plans is done. Many, many thanks to my contractor for working through all the details with me in a big 90% design review meeting today. We accomplished a lot and he thinks we're ready to submit on Weds.

Let's do the math, shall we?

First saw the lot: 7/3/10 (22 days ago)
Offer accepted: 7/14/10 (11 days ago)
Plans will be submitted for the architectural review: 7/28/10 (25 days from first seeing the property)

Paul hopes to break ground by October 1.....
If he meets his 4 month construction schedule I could be in by Danny's birthday (2/4/11)!

Help From Claire on Photos

Thank you Claire for the help with the photos. I was so busy this weekend with memorial services, meeting with contractors and then final details on the house plans, that I didn't get out and take photos. I used some beautiful ones taken by Claire, with some post-processing I did using Lightroom.

See them here.

80% Design Set

In my corporate job, we do new design in a process called 30-60-90. Each stage (30%) represents a design milestone - 30% is overall concept, 60% is major design details, 90% is nearly done.

For my lil' home project here is the 80% design set of plans. I'll meet with the contractor tomorrow to get to 95%. Then submit to the City to iron out any 95-100% wrinkles. Whoo hooo!

New Rendering

Many thanks to everyone who had great suggestions about the colors, layouts, etc. Most people who've seen the design like the functionality I've designed in. And they had good input about bathrooms (yes - you need a powder room for company), colors (try darker cedar shingle-look) and the roof pitch (single pitch on the one side is great, but do something to tie that side of the house into the flex room on the west).

So, here is the product of all that input. The surveyor does his magic this week so I'll have elevations, etc. and then I can finish the plans for submittal to the City. Yikes. This is moving right along!

Creating Something Really Big

I'm officially in escrow on the little plot of land that will become my modest dream home. I've done the room layouts and conceptual plans. Now waiting for the official land surveyor information so I can finalize the layout. 

Today, I did the drawing set sheets with big white open spaces for the details as they get completed. This is such a fun project. I decided to do the plans myself because then if there are changes I can quickly make them myself rather than running down to the drafting person who does them manually. He's in Palo Alto and I don't want to be beholden to that time frame.

And, it's fun to check up on the building code requirements, do the calculations etc. A good blend of the engineer and artist skills! Seeing the first couple of pages of the drawing set makes it all the more real.

Take a look!

Too...Tired....To.....Write....Too.....Much

Little tiny Rebecca Rounke got married this weekend. She was 1 when I first met her and now she is 26...and I did the invites for one of my daughter's wedding over this weekend. Plus, I designed my new house, mostly, and put in an offer for the lot. Whew. I'm pretty tired.

I paid bills, got my hair done, and took some photos too. Here are a couple of them. I'm pretty wiped out. Good night. 

Another Way of Being Creative

I've been creative and making "art" in a different way this past week.  Today I did my daughter's wedding invitations.  She was so sweet to indulge me in wanting to use glassine envelopes, which you know I'm obsessed with. Each invitation was custom cut and folded after it was printed. Then, I put them each in a glassine envelope and addressed the side with the plain back.  She was very happy with them, and so was I.

I also spent every spare moment this week drawing up the concept plans for my new house. It was quite the roller coaster as I worked to understand the City's requirements for setbacks, working out one floorplan after another. Friday morning, I went with the contractor to the City and heard first hand about the code requirements. That helped solidify which orientation of the home on the lot I wanted and by Friday afternoon I was at Lowe's looking at the endless variety of sinks, countertops, cabinets, doors, windows and finish materials. What fun! Tomorrow, I meet again with the contractor to hash out more of the pricing and hopefully get an offer accepted on the lot early this week. Yikes! It's such a fun adventure to design your own living space.

Happy Independence Day

Some shots from my friend Eva's back yard during the 4th of July BBQ.

Consider The Art Spa for Your Next Get Together with Your Besties!

Sign up now for the next Art Spa - Sat Sept 11th - in Half Moon Bay. Sign up here.

Today's Art Salon

Today I taught a mixed media collage class. Thankfully, the weather cleared up and it was beautiful, though a bit on the warm side. There was a photo class taught by Beth Moon going on at the same time, so I kept sneaking peeks at what they were doing. So torn, being in one wonderful place and wanting at the same time to be in another.

Here are some images from the day's activities. Thank you Pam!

Beautiful Day at UC Berkeley Today

Today, I attended the ELEMENT: Eco Arts conference at the really beautiful David Brower Center on Addison Street in Berkeley. David Brower was instrumental in creating the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, as well as lobbying for many federal protections of open spaces and national parks. After leaving the Sierra Club, he founded the Earth Island Institute. The space they created in Berkeley is a wonderful homage to his work and spirit of eco-activism.

We walked around the campus a little bit and I took this photo of a sculpture near the Oxford/University entrance.

It was nice to be back on campus. And yes (por supuesto!), I did have Arinelle's Pizza! 

More Photos from Bellingham

Photos I Took Today in Bellingham

BP Art in Bellingham

Saw this art (pointed out by Claire) in Bellingham today. If anyone can provide the artist(s)' name(s), it would be most appreciated. The piece was in an otherwise vacant storefront on Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham.

According to the Seattle Times, the BP Refinery in Bellingham experienced a fataility in 2005.

Billowy

     Here are some photos I took that are in the "billowy" theme.

Idea for New Photo Project

And I'm counting on the sun to shine to be able to do it, plus I may have to use my best bed sheet that is super amazingly comfy but also transparent. It wasn't inexpensive (Williams Sonoma Home Store)...and may be worth the sacrifice.

News!

Nothing Like a Good Sunny Day to Hang Laundry on the Clothesline

I've been waiting for a day like today to wash my bed covers. The dogs got muddy paw prints all over my comforter and sheets about 2 days after I last washed everything! I love that sunny fresh smell to my sheets, so I've been waiting - now a couple of weeks since then - to do them again. Last week every day was quite foggy and sloggy. This weekend has been wonderful here on the coast, and hellishly hot everywhere else, from what I hear. 

I put the sheets and pillowcases through the washer with lavender scent (thank you Melanie, for turning me on to this), then I hang them on my "no homeowner's association here thank you" line to dry. I put the pillows and duvet out on the lawn in the sun for a little bit of organic microbicide treatment (sun's UV rays).

Bed is now all made up fresh and clean, and I got a good photo out of the whole thing too. I always sleep like a bay-buh on these nights.

Now I'm going to make some biscuits for the strawberry shortcake dessert to go with the ribs, corn on the cob and baked beans I'm making for my second oldest for dinner tonight.

Garage Sales

I am loving taking photos of items at garage sales. Here's one from today - a friend's aperitif glasses reflecting on the white plastic table. The hot sunny day made for some good photos.

And here are a few more from a sale I had in 2008.

 

A Photo for Today