3D Landscape Review

Since we have so much of our project already modeled in 3D, it was nice to build a few of Ransom’s landscape ideas into our model and test them out for scale and composition.  As we talked about earlier, it really comes down to vetting ideas as much as possible in 3D, building a real world mockup as often as possible, and only then setting the crews loose on a particular part of the project.

        It’s a luxury that not every project can afford, but since it’s only time and energy for us, we want to make sure it is right from the start (then not complain or make revisions as it’s getting built).

Built-in Mockup

Nancy and I spent some time over the holiday weekend mocking up the built-in along our living and foyer walls.  Scale is so important - until you build a full size mockup, sometimes it’s so hard to get a true feeling of what something on the computer is going to be like in real life.

We made quite a few adjustments, and will now document this for the trim carpenter.

Bamboo Flooring

Our Duro Design bamboo flooring arrived two weeks ago and has been acclimating to the dry weather we have here in Denver.  We are still waiting for the treads and risers to wrap the stairs, but the crew started installing it in the bedrooms upstairs. The durability of the finish is pretty amazing. Good thing, because other than ceramic tile in the two bathrooms, our entire house is filled with this stuff! The color is “off-white”, giving it a more bleached look than natural finish would offer. 

    We haven’t been able to find floor registers to match the finish, so we’ll have to sand down ones purchased from Four Winds in Boulder and use some extra finish from Duro to finish them off.

Railings Arrive

Jerimo came over to install the railings the other day.  The powder coating took a little longer than we anticipated, but it looks good.  We installed the railings before the flooring because of a fastening detail - the balusters attach to the stringers underneath the stairs so that all the connections and fasteners are hidden.

We found some solid bamboo accessories from Four Winds Bamboo up in Boulder - a nicely crafted horizontal handrail precut and pre-finger-jointed.  This will be cut out as a cap for the top handrail.  We also purchased flat floor registers from them.

www.4windsbamboo.com

Consultants and Vendors

Nancy and I put up the rest of the signage this past weekend.  We know it’s a bit overboard, but it’s a way to thank and give credit to all those people who over last two years have helped make this project a success.

So many companies and individuals have taken the time to work with us on price and getting things just right.  We appreciate it very much.

THANKS!

Tech Lighting

We received the final two Tech lighting fixtures the other day.  They are the same as the track fixtures, but in stainless instead of white.  These will hang from a single bar in the stairway for any artwork we might get in the future.

The fit and finish of these well-priced fixtures is great.  Now, if we could just get some great art at affordable prices...

Tech Lighting

Landscape Design

Ransom of R-Design put together a great presentation for the landscape.His initial ideas seem to follow what we are looking for:  A simple modern plan that will be easy to maintain and incorporate playful areas for the kids. The outdoor spaces we are working with are so small that fitting everything in can be a challenge (while at the same time striving to keep it simple).  We have also  been checking out some of the species Ransom is recommending to get a better feel of how they would fit into the outdoor “rooms” within our site.

Drywall

Todd and Steve are hanging drywall now.  The transformation of the spaces is dramatic.  The main floor living space is feeling even better.  The mudroom and bedrooms feel smaller every day! 

The metal trim reveals and drywall returns haven’t been installed yet - it will be interesting to see this final detail take shape.

Railings

Jerimo and his wife, Carmen, came over and temporarily set the railing for us yesterday.  They made some adjustments and we got to review it before it goes out for the powder coat painting.  We’re really happy with how it is turning out. There will be a top wood cap for the handrail function after the installation is done.

Landscape

We are happy to have found a local landscape architecture firm that has worked on many modern residential projects in the Denver/Boulder region. 

Ransom Beegles with R-Design is on board to help us nail down some good landscape ideas.  We’ve been so focused on the architecture, and now we’re excited to come up with a landscape plan that will tie into the house design and merge it more gracefully with the site.

Check out R-Design’s projects here:  http://rdesignstudios.com