illuminated!

Yeesh - two days after we finally get our financing straightened out, the first dip into our contingency fund. Despite having run over the code before designing the addition, Rose is used to commercial architecture rather than residential, and thus it was that she missed an obscure requirement relating the amount of window space (including "borrowed light," or light that comes via doorways and the like from adjacent spaces) to the amount of floor space. Because our second floor has low ceilings and limited places for fenestration (a word you'll rarely find, that - but useful), when we discovered we needed a measly three square feet of additional window space, we were actually a bit flummoxed. Aesthetically, enlarging the existing windows would have been either a disaster or bad in other ways; a skylight wasn't really an option either.

Fortunately (remember that "borrowed light" concept?) Rose brilliantly realized that, hey, we've got a door to the room...and in the hall space at the top of the stairs, there are windows, and light. So...replace the standard door with a door with glass, and we're okay, right? Indeed, we are (this per the city's plan review person). So it is that the door to the bedroom will now be a "French" door, with frosted glass and leaded panes, the latter to match the windows. It looks cool enough that I almost regret the fact that 99% of the time, the door will be open (it's just the two of us and the cats, so no particular privacy issues here).

And, we found out that the permit costs rather less than we thought - nearly a wash with the increased price of the door (obviously, doors with leaded glass panes are a bit more expensive than plain old wooden ones).

assembling at the starting gate...

We've been a whirlwind of price-cutting action the last week - we haven't been able to get the budget down quite to where we'd hoped, but we do have some very likely options (hi, Dad!) and all things going as presumed, actual action - permitting, contract-signing, and work actually beginning - should be underway in a week or so.

We've decided on almost every detail: sink cabinetry, hardware, lighting fixtures, details concerning trim...about the only thing remaining is to decide on a compatible couple of paint colors (we're pretty sure on the main color - an ivory just slightly heading toward a warmish brown tone...amusingly, fairly close to a lighter version of the background for this very text you're reading - and have three possibilities for accent color, all of which are compatible both with our flooring and the bathroom tile).

it continues...

Stuff's still out to bid - we met with our contractor (also a good friend) the other night for dinner with him and his wife at Alem Ethiopian Village (fabulously yummy!). The flooring we'd ordered arrived over the weekend, so we rented a UHaul (I don't think thirteen 7'x2' boxes would fit in either a Mini Cooper or a Mazda Protege...) and picked it up, as well as dropped off some junk at St. Vinnie's. We went down to BBC Lighting Liquidators to check out some light fixtures Rose had spotted - we're all but decided on wall sconces and ceiling lights for the bedroom and landing, along with being pretty sure about the components of the ceiling fan for the bedroom. The bathroom's still a bit of a mystery - tiling, lighting, and cabinetry are still a bit up in the air. Not in terms of design, but in terms of actual materials. We've got a reasonably good notion of color, but it's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle: when all the pieces are in play, it's very difficult, but once you get a few in place, everything else can follow more readily.

Erik (our contractor) said he's likely to hear from everyone within a week, and we've met with several folks to check things out, from the electrician to the plumber to the drywall guy.

We also had some discussion - probably decided to get rid of one of the ceiling lights as unnecessary, and figured out a few details on the bookshelves we'll be putting up (not built-ins, so it's our work, after all the contractors have done their bit).

Rose is worried about the budget; I'm thinking we've heard nothing to indicate that we're over it (and both the flooring we've purchased and the lighting we've tentatively chosen are below our budget), so I'm not worried. Yet. Once Erik gets back to us, we'll know whether we have to downshift a bit... Fortunately, we have budgetary contingencies: we'll just ditch the solid platinum three-times-scale nude statue of me I was planning for the bathroom and replace it with a simple, life-size, solid gold one instead.