Site Moved: 308westmain.com

If you have been reading along.....I thank you.

I've moved the site off blogger and onto my own website. You can access it by going to www.308westmain.com and selecting "thebarryblog" at the top. Or you can go straight to www.308westmain.com/thebarryblog

Thanks for your support and encouragement these last 18 months.

The Master Bath Takes Shape

The stone was also delivered for the Master Bath.

The floor of the shower is a single piece of Cosmic Black Wave. The same material is on the bath countertop and goes up the wall on either side of what will be a mirror. The stone rocks! What you can't see is that it has texture. Instead of being smooth it has some waviness. I like it more than I thought I would. Now a back-story....

I got a call a couple of weeks ago that the stone I had chosen was not available. They had stone, but it wasn't in sizes to allow installation without seams. It could be found, but would put the time-line to completion in jeopardy. But I loved the stone chosen, it was called "Black Wave". So, Jeff Troch as Design Surfaces says they have a similar stone in stock called "Cosmic Black Wave". I could come out and see it to decide if it would work. Well, scrambling around between work meetings, 2 trips to Raleigh, and the above is the result. I think I might like this stone better. But, it's one of those decisions that without each piece side-by-side, I don't have a clue.

Kitchen Countertops

This is ridiculous! Really! The countertop in the kitchen make a HUGE island. The counter is normal depth, but the slab on top hangs over by 24". Notice the perspective size of the sink. It appears small but it is not. The sink is approximately 40" long.

My kitchen is the coolest kitchen......

Backsplash and Cabinets

Things are moving fast. I'll try to catch you up on the progress......

Here David is standing in front of the kitchen cabinets. Above are spaces that open up. I'll need a stool to get to them; they'll be useful for seldom used kitchen items. On the right is the "pantry" where I'll keep some food and dishes. I don't have cabinets like most homes with places for plates, cups, bowl and etc. Since when am I a traditional person?

Rich in the middle, being held up with boards is the back splash. One giant piece of metal. Weathered. Finished. Just metal. I'll call it the "Conrad Reyes Feature".

Plaster repair begins

I lost. I had hoped to keep the walls with partial plaster in places where it had come off. I thought the look of plaster exposing brick was cool.

Not according to State Preservation. Walls where plaster is largely in tack needs repairing to "original look". Places where the plaster had completely been stripped from the brick can remain.

So, here you see the plaster guy repairing the northwest corner, and you see a brick wall that can stay just as it is. A coat of brick glaze will be applied to prevent brick dust. I suppose that in time I won't remember partial walls....but this is a sad day.

Kitchen Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets are taking shape. Here is the installation to-date. The color and shape are becoming evident.

Along the bottom are drawers for pots and pans. Above is storage for seldom used appliances. The opening on the right will be a large pantry. The middle will be the cooktop and hood. Under the tarp on the left is an opening similar to the pantry, but which will frame the refrigerator.

In the background, folks are stripping the old plaster in preparation for a new coat. More on that soon.....

Painting has begun

The ceilings were painted this week. White. The ceilings were painted to allow installation of lights (scheduled for this week).

This photo is a good view of the ceilings. You can no longer see individual pieces of drywall or drywall mud. Now the ceiling looks smooth across the entire space as if it's been there forever. Notice the holes, those will be where the lights are installed over the counters and island.