LOGS!

Today, we traveled to North Ogden, Utah to buy logs... Our cabin is going to be a hybrid so it's going to have regular walls and logs.  These really are nice logs.   They need to go to a guy that will sandblast them, and then we stain and finish them... They're going to be beautiful!  Jim is thrilled because the price of the logs and the finishing work is fabulous!

One step closer.

The cabin keeps changing!  I guess this is best during the design stage since changing it in the construction stage could get very expensive.

Here I have kicked out the kitchen wall and the dormer in the loft 16 inches so that the cabin gets a little better shape than just a box.  It also makes for an overhang above the sliding doors in the ground level basement.

The site layout looks like this.  You can see how we will have to dig out the side of the mountain and create a flat surface to build on.  I'm thinking that setting the cabin into the mountain by maintaining the slope at the right of the cabin and keeping as many trees as possible will create an integrated and peaceful feeling to the cabin.  OK so much for technical stuff, this is going to look cool when it's done.

Rock

I thought I had added this picture before.  This is the rock we purchased for the bathroom countertop - I think it's going in the loft bathroom, but I can't quite remember.  It's such an interesting piece, but very beautiful.  The vanity that it goes on top of is a dark wood.  I think it will look amazing together.

Moving Forward

Jim has been working tirelessly on the plans for the cabin and yesterday, they were sent to the architect so the plans/ideas can been transformed from a 3D model to flat prints.  Kind of exciting.   We were at the property a couple of weeks ago and got the elevation/layout of the land and sent it also.  Should be interesting on how this is going to look.  The plans, so far, are pretty much what we want... however, having a breakfast nook sure would be nice.  I think I really need to have a little discussion with the architect on this issue.......  Jim caught my vision of a bathroom in the loft, but, I still need to persuade him that a breakfast nook would be moving in the right direction. 

I bought some flooring for the kitchen on Tuesday.  I want a combination of different woods and colors.  So far, I've bought some maple and some hickory in the 5" planks.  I am loving the two woods together.  Got a really good deal from Habitat for Humanity - went to look at tile, and ended up buying flooring!

Cheri

Driveway Lights

Really... aren't these about the coolest ever?  We found these lights at Habitat for Humanity in Salt Lake... The glass was all smashed out and they needed a little repair... We bought new glass and Jim got it put into the slots last night, and they look so antiquey and beautiful.... I love them.  The cost for the two lights was initially $10.00 for the two of them...

We are stoked.

Stuff, stuff and more Stuff!

We continue to buy little bits and pieces of STUFF for the cabin and put it in our storage building.  Last night, we put lumber and the driveway lights, and ceramics into the building.  It's starting to get a little on the packed side of life.  As I said before, we are trying to go very, very green and using and reusing items.  Jim keeps a spreadsheet of what we have purchased and over the last year or so, we have bought about $29,000 worth of building materials... that's if we purchased it all retail...We have actually only paid about $2,300.00 which is about 8% of the retail cost... We have a storage building that is chuck full of sinks, and countertops and light fixtures and a little bit of everything else.  Last fall, we bought all the windows at a substantial savings, and they are sitting in storage also!  And, I think we have all the cabinets for the kitchen also... on that issue, I think we are still missing 3 pieces, but we are patient people.... Giggle.  The quest continues.....

Computer Modelling the Cabin and the Design Evolution.  I have never designed a building from the ground up and this has taken considerable time.  Although it looks like many other cabins, it has many of our specific ideas incorporated which has taken many hours.  Like a bathroom in the loft. . . .  Was it worth it?  Financially no, but from a satisfaction standpoint it has been a lot of fun.  And, now that we've bought the land the computer model must be adapted to the terrain.  But in the end it will be so fulfilling.  View two is the kitchen, View three includes things like the wood burning stove and View four is what I call the Stick House.  This is what I use to create a Bill of Materials. (Construction Jargon)  Bye for now, Jim S.