Total Color Coordination Required
Things have changed for my approach to interior design over the last 35 years. I remember the first speculation home I built in Hillsboro. I did it myself and used orange shag rug, and whatever color the painter had in the back of his truck for that home. It was okay then as we lived…
Some Assembly Required. . .
I am at the stage where some of the systems that were installed months ago are coming to life. There is almost always a 30 to 40 page instruction manual written in 50 international languages to go with every house I build. Swell. Just give me the basics to get me started so I can…
Gallery – Sheet Rock Stage
These images are by Lorelle VanFossen, a friend and neighbor, documenting the New Cottage in the Woods in the sheet rock stage, drying out and waiting for sanding, finishing work, and paint.
Buttoning Up the House
We finally have permanent power installed to the cottage. With a few job recess lights and plugged in the electric heaters to help dry out the final costs of sheet rock mud on the wall seams, and what a change! There is a feeling of warmth which I’ve never experienced in any of the interior…
A Bomb Exploded In My House!
This particular stage of the build process is absolutely one of the most difficult to tolerate. You can’t even walk around in the home. The floor is covered with debris. Welcome to the nailing of the sheet rock. Couple this disaster with generally an inability to communicate with the nailing crew. This is a tough…
It is Time for the Water Works
Over the years of my constructing homes, one aspect that has been always a secondary thought was plumbing fixtures. My attitude was if it flushed and did not back up it was fine. It took many years and many plumbers and interior designers to get me into a more refined frame of reference when it…
Seal It Up Tight
One of the things I have learned through my “net zero” education is the importance of sealing up the shell of the buildings. I witnessed the haphazard performance of the advanced weather barrier wraps over the years, and it seemed like it was time for an advance in science and methodology of these wraps. And…
Let’s Get Wired!
I am in the process of snaking wire through my home. As I wind the wire through my house, my mind enjoys imagining all of the various scenes that will play out through the year…the heat and celebration of a fourth of July Block Party to the silence of a Christmas Eve celebration with a…
The Skeleton Bones of the New Home Are Complete
After five weeks of nailing boards together, and covering over the framework with sheets of plywood, we have a legitimate building, in three dimensions. Then the fun begins, walking around the inside of the structure and deciding how to coordinate consistently applied details. . . heights of doorways, dropped ceilings, sill levels of windows, posts…
New Cottage In The Woods 