Monday, October 26, 2009

Progress Update - Oct 25

In the last couple of weeks I have definitely been busy... although, at times, I have strayed from original to do list.

I have:
  • finished the paneling and trim around the interior of the front door
  • completed attaching the paneling on the new bi-fold bathroom door
  • installed a shelf above both kitchen windows
  • found, bought, refinished and reupholstered an antique settee (since the big toolbox wasn't really comfortable to sit on)

  • made a trailer skirt out of old ikea shelf supports and leftover exterior redwood siding
  • bought a few outdoor bushes and a (very) small fern for inside
  • and we finally hooked up the propane since it's been getting colder recently. (For more new interior pictures, click the link that says 'More build pics are here' at the top left of our blog.)
This week, if the rain will give me a break, I'll finish the porch. I have a couple of more floor boards to add as well as a plaque that I made. On a rainy day, I will fix up an old trunk for storage under the settee. I also plan to add the rest of the interior trim and putty the nail holes so that I can paint the cottage interior the second weekend of November.

Currently, when you walk into our cottage ALL you see is wood, which is nice, but we agreed that we'd like a bit more visual contrast. Besides, the rainy season has begun so we'll have a few months of grey days. We'd like it to feel brighter when inside even if it's grey outside. The skylight has been helpful, but grey is grey. I have a no-VOC paint (Freshaire Choice). The ceiling will be 'distant star' and the walls will be 'poetic light'. Both are a creamy white with the ceiling a couple of shades lighter than the walls which, I have read, is supposed to make the ceiling feel higher. Even though it's simply visual 'space', I'll give it a try.

Since I'm winding down on the bigger things that need to get finished in order to feel more settled in our new home in a new city, this coming week I'll be making more of effort to find a job. I get quite antsy if I have nothing to do and I have been losing track of days since I don't have an office to go to. I've been working 7 days a week on finishing up the house so there hasn't been a difference between Wednesday or Saturday. I'm really ready to go back to work...

7 comments:

  1. Stunningly gorgeous! I'm so happy to see that you decorated the space. Most small house interiors I've seen are disjointed and unorganized. But this is absolutely brilliant and inspirational. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. The place looks great...

    I am curious... what are you guys doing about cold weather's influence upon water input? We were considering staying in the cold climate of New England, but decided against it due to the issues of how to have a water intake still hooked up via garden hose in sub-freezing temps.

    How did you handle this?

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  3. Chesapeake,

    Thanks! We really want the cottage interior to look as warm and inviting as possible. In such a small space we don't want to feel cramped, or have it look cluttered, so we downsized as much as possible and have tried to figure out how to organize it efficiently.

    Arlene

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  4. Jacques,

    It has been getting near freezing here at night in the last couple of weeks so we just bought a drinking water safe water hose from nofreezewaterhose.com and hooked it up 3 days ago. They aren't inexpensive but I had read on some RV sites that they work well. The heater wire wrapped around the hose goes on at a certain temperature automatically and stays on until the outside temps rise above freezing. Jeff made sure that we had an electrical outlet under our trailer so we simply plug it in there but it can be plugged in near the water source instead. Assume the hose works for us, as advertised, unless I post otherwise.

    Arlene

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  5. Love the new pics -- I'm so glad you're putting a lot of thought into the interior. I'll be following along.

    -Hillary

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  6. Hello there!
    I admire the work you've accomplished. That is truly amazing. But there is one thing that makes me cautious - window curtains near to gas stove :) Kinda dangerous, don't you think?!

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