Hitting the ceiling

Things continue to move ahead.
Now that the walls are in place, they're in the process of being plastered, skim coated, and prepped for painting...which I'm told is to happen this week. Most of the work was done on the ceilings as this is where the soffits were adjusted and/or created and where they meet the walls.
The other thing that's heartening is that the inset ceiling lighting is in place so you can get a sense of how much brighter the whole place will be (not that I'd keep the lights up this high, but it's a vast improvement over the cave-like feeling of the apartment when I first saw it).
Incidentally, all the appliances (stove/oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, washer/dryer, AC units) have been ordered...when they come in they'll be put in storage ready for the high sign from Guillermo and Steve for delivery date :)

Bed wall: the inset for headboard and bedside shelf

Entry hallway ceilling

Entry hallway ceiling, view of other side

Entry hallway, large closet and dining niche on righthand side

Kitchen ceiling

Kitchen, interior view into entry hallway

Living room, view into dining niche

Ceiling above bed wall, bathroom door

Feature wall for mantel and built-in shelves

A home office for the weekend house

Okay, Okay.
I know this blog is supposed to be about my city apartment renovation, but if you recall I also undertook a project at my weekend house, one much smaller in scale than the apartment, that I think would psychologically make me feel like I was accomplishing SOMETHING.
So I decided to turn one of the guest bedrooms into a home office, and lo and behold, it's FINISHED! Hooray. I'm feeling very good.
I'm so happy with the way this room turned out.
I've been wanting to add shelves like this in that space for almost 15 years, now it's a vision realized.
I'm still adding more stuff to the shelves as I find it throughout the house, but you get the idea.

There's plenty of space for all my arts and craft supplies, plus scads of room for CD's (yes, I still buy them, so shoot me), DVD's, books, totchkes, and board games.
The daybed is a real success. I can't wait to take a nap there once the weather turns cooler and it's too cold to sleep on the porch.

An extra nice thing is the big comfy easy chair, perfect place to curl up with a good book. I used to sit in that chair all the time when I first bought the house, it was in the dining room. But when I remodeled and extended the length of the kitchen the dining area got smaller so that chair had to go. It was relegated to the upstairs guest room, I never sat in it anymore. Now things will change, I'll use this room more often.

One funny story: if you remember, I had taken pains to choose a new set of colors for the room, all white on the trim and a buttery yellow on the walls...happy and sunny was to be the mood.
Well, "best laid plans" as they say. Somehow my contractor overlooked the email that stipulated the color choices and he re-painted the room in the exact colors I had before! That meant the shelves are a muted green and the wall are an acid yellow, "Prada green" as a friend once dubbed it.
And you know what?
I LOVE it. I mean, I DID choose those colors once upon a time, and I loved them then...and they still work. I never would have had the courage to paint the shelves all green like that, but somehow it totally fits the vibe of what I was going for: a homey, crafty place to create, write, relax. I think the green is more masculine and it feels right for the period of the house, a late '40s Cape. I had these old doorknobs stashed away in the basement, I can't remember where I salvaged them from. They're slightly worn and tarnished, the brass finish a little deckled with age. And they work like a charm, they make the shelves look like they've been there for 60 years.
I'm already plotting my next craft project...stay tuned, it's gonna be GREAT!

If these walls could talk

Things are taking shape.
The sheetrock walls have started to go up and you can really get a sense of how the space is laying out...and I'm really liking the feel of it.
Steve also corrected the depth of some of the walls so you can see where they've been extended and firred out to create better sight lines. For example the small wall behind the bed area and the 'feature' wall as I call it, the one that will contain the fireplace/mantel and built-in bookshelves.
It's all very exciting.
Here are the latest pictures of the progress...this first set is of the main hallway after you enter the apartment.

View into hallway from living room and bed wall

Hallway closet and dining niche

Hallway looking into main living room

View of hallway closet from inside kitchen

Hallway ceiling where curved corner wall will be

The bathroom is still a disaster but the main plumbing is almost completed. You can see in here that the cement floor has been poured.

Bathroom

Looking into bathroom

The kitchen is also being formed out...

Kitchen, right side

Kitchen, left side

And finally here's the 'feature' wall, you can see where it's being built out all around the edges...

Feature wall for fireplace, mantel, and built-in bookshelves

Dribs 'n drabs

Another week, another chance to see the apartment is still a beautiful wreck.
It still looks like Bhangazi the morning after.
The good news is that you can still see progress.
Little by little things are moving forward (if not as fast as I'd like!)
Here's a new batch of pictures.

The bathroom

Bathroom walls

The fireplace wall

Kitchen wall

Living room wall, radiator removed

Here's my favorite one of the bunch. It's the punch through the exterior wall below the living room windows where the AC unit will be placed.

Living room wall for AC placement 

Living room wall

Taking shape

Here's a bunch of new progress pictures from last week.
Because everything is still so 'raw', it's hard to discern exactly what all of these photos are, I've tried to label them...but even I don't know what some are!
The main thing is that the electrical and plumbing 'innards' are mostly done and the walls have been framed out. I'm told that the walls proper are going in this week so that the actual shape of the apartment will be felt from here on out.

Bathroom entry

Bathroom floor

The wall in the main room where bed headboard will go

I think this is the washer/dryer nook

Main gallery hallway

Main gallery hallway

Main gallery hallway

Gallery ceiling

Gallery ceiling

Gallery hallway

Kitchen entry

Kitchen

Kitchen

Ceiling

Kitchen entry

Kitchen

Kitchen

Entry closet

Progress, progress

Well, it's all still a mess...but you can tell things are moving along, albeit slowly.
This week the major internal plumbing went in.
This picture is so scary but it's the inside guts of the plumbing work that will never be seen, the stuff below the floor.

The hidden plumbing

Here's the electrical panel that will be in the entryway as soon as you enter the apartment, there was really no other place to locate it. Steve and I decided that I'll have to cover it with a picture or a painting, no worries. Easy solution.

Electrical control panel in entryway

At lot of work was done on the electrical wiring that snakes through the ceiling spaces. You can also see in these shots where the ceiling lighting fixtures are being located.

Finally, here's a shot from the main room looking back into what was formally the gallery space and what I'm now calling a hallway.

It's good to see things moving along, just wish it could all happen faster! Patience, Ron, patience...