Design Within Reach (of Whom?)

I'm sure that these two products are worlds apart when viewed in person.

DWR vs. IKEA


$760.00

$59.99

Klawin House

We went down to Manhattan Beach to see this house that Leanarch have almost finished building (small details, like staining, painting, and cleanup left to do). It's beautiful, stylish, and clever. It's on a 20' x 60' lot, yet feels large on the inside. Man, those beach dwellers have some nice breezes flowing though their homes! Congratulations to James, J.D. and everyone else for creating such a wonderful home for the Klawins.

Of special interest to us were the materials and finishes; we're using many of them on our house -- the smooth stucco, siding, railings, and windows. Some of the shapes and forms are similar to ours, so it was inspiring to see them realized.

They've used a beautiful, old-growth, reclaimed Douglas Fir throughout. It looks like James may be grabbing up some of their excess wood to use for our stair runners at a discount. It's vertical cut and sumptuous.

Looking for radiant floor heating advice

We are planning on some kind of stone for the master bathroom floor (slate?), which leads to concern about freezing our tootsies off. I've just started reading up on electric radiant floor heating mats/rolls; essentially a very thin electric blanket installed in quickset under the stone. Has anyone got recommendations/experience/advice to share?

Skylight thoughts

The other day, I was sitting on the couch, gazing up at the hole in the ceiling, and thought to myself: "Wow, the hole where the chimney used to be would make a great spot for a skylight".

I envision it being cheap and easy somehow, since there would be no need to cut out a space in the rafters or anything. There's even a hole in the roof there already!



Has anyone out there had experiences with skylights they'd like to share?

Pano tour of rough electrical

I've gone mad. Click on the image to check out a panoramic QTVR tour of the current state of the house. In it, please be sure to look up and note the many can lights.

The rough electrical and plumbing installations seem to be going well. I never knew they hammered little metal plates onto each 2x4 to guard the high voltage wire from homeowner studfinders & nails.

By the way, if you have any problems viewing the QTVR pano movie, please email me.

A quick air travel story

I was waiting in the security line at LAX last Friday, on my way to Cincinnati. There was an older gentleman in front of me whose turn it was to deposit his shoes and metal objects into the Xray/sniffing machine tray. In went his shoes. Next, he patted down his pockets, he jiggled the various devices clipped to his belt, and he assessed what needed to be offloaded. He made his decision.
With a deft, practiced motion he unbuckled his belt and stepped right out of his trousers. He plopped the whole pants/belt/gadgets bundle into the tray and sauntered through the remainder of the security area in his underwear. I speak for everyone around me when I say we were relieved that they were boxer shorts.