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Tired of the same old sheetrock and hardwood floors – is that your problem Bunky? How about some Philippine chicken feather fabrics or walls of loose rock held in place by oversize chicken wire – or maybe some floating glass tiles for the floor. Check out the New York Times article on some adventures with new materials, titled Invasion of the Design Lab Mutants, at:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/home/051100corian.html
(The New York Times requires free registration, but it is pretty benign. It would be a really great newspaper if they only had some good comic strips…)
Question of the day:
What is the most unusual material that you have used in construction (or usual material in an unusual manner) or that you have seen used?
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Great article; my litle cousin turned me on to it earlier today. She is a hot shot interior designer first year out of school (designer of the year, 4 years, yes she's very good, I was one of her advisors) and already in Arch digest this month. Anyhow,,,, she and her roommates are about to make a Brooklyn loft habitable. fabric partitions are really popular for subdividing rented space.
I make furniture of hardwoods; but I also make doors. One of my favorite mixes is to introduce press caning, set with spline, in closet doors and cabinet doors. Its a lot more fun than louvers, provides ventilation, and has a warm natural feel.
(by the way I have a question about Oregon: a childhood friend of mine moved into the Columbia River Gorge, he says all his neighbors do is drink beer, chase off coyote, eat fried fish and keep too many dogs- is all this true? he says he's found his niche in the world?)
*Completely untrue. Oregonians, especially up in the gorge, are as likely to broil or BBQ fish as fry them. More micro-breweries than any other State in the Union though. Damn coyotes.JonC
*Well Jon I'm sorry to hear that; we all love our buddy but we hope he doesn't get disillusioned and come back east. Would you accept his trailer as a trade in on a new log home? Come to think of it he might not part with it. Just kidding.. Beautiful State.Back to our topic:I enjoy using trunk parts; leather strap handles as door pulls, and solid wood handles.In our home, none of our doors have knobs; all fixed handles and magnetic catches, (planning for our years of arthritis) Knobs aren't very practical, in Europe, push button knobs and turning handles are common. I use 3/4 oak veneer core plywood for baseboard. natural finish, solid oak 1/4 round at floor and poplar ogee for cap, caulked against drywall, and painted in an accent color.On first sight most people scratch their head, but after you spend a little time you become very comfortable with it and it makes sense.
*Yehh Tony, and room for one more here in OR now that Chris R's in Arizona. Seriously i've got the inside line on the most recent home to hit the Portland metro market, mine. Modest 3br 2bth that is gorgeous, e-mail for details. Others accepted my offer on 4 acre with double wide and barns. Plan is to build the dream house and lose the dblwide. No dogs here, smoked spring chinook is the best.joe d
*Thanks Joe, but I'd rather move in next door to your dream house and be the neighbor from Hxxx. Would you be, could you be.... my neighbor.Just in case you had any doubts, back to our topic:I'm in the process of building our 2yr old daughter an amusement park on the side of our house so that it will not impede our good views. (unfortunately for our neighbor-300ft away to the left- they will have to look at it; wait until I get the lights up)First items completed: boats. pink and purple; yellow and orange. Both with flags and steering wheels, 36x72"@ These were actually castings from an old steel mill fabricated by pattern makers, in exacting detail, of clear pine. I'm told these are the left and right sides of a giant shears that would have been 72" long, used to make cuts in stainless steel. Unfortunately they had been exposed to the elements for too long. I had no choice but to paint them in these garish colors.Next a tractor. My daughter is into green tractors. I have an old barn beam with some beautiful hand chopped mortises that will make a great body/engine. I'm using 2x10 rafter offcuts for the wheels. By the end of this season I'll have to do something more mundane like a sliding board tower, but for now..(what do you say Joe, maybe I'll move this all next to your dream house. Did I mention I have a 3yr old collie who barks at everything. Maybe I should just stay put here in SE PA)
*Joe,So where's this 4 acres of heaven located? Gonna take that rooster with you? My brother the insurance agent says there are only 2 kinds of fires with mobile homes, total and unreported. Let me know anytime you're comimg down this direction.JonC
*I have been using the sprring loaded ball catches!!! All our friends think I'm nuts too!! Glad to hear I am not alone. I first did it on our hinged closet doors, why spend $15 on a knob when you can use damn nice brushed nickle or polished brass handles with a ball catch for $5?-Rob
*I sheathed a castle tower playcentre for my kids out of recycled t&g pine from the interior walls of my house that had been recycled from the foundation forms. .. does this count?? There's even nifty bits of cement still stuck in the worm holes, and cement stains in odd patterns. It stands about 10' high in front of a stand of 40' pine and spruce. Sticks out like a sore castle tower. .. yellow slide and all.I always wanted to be nifty. . . can I join your club... my golden retreiver hardly barks at all but we have lots on the trees around here. My daughter makes a lot of noise and likes to wear garrish colours.. . does this count??Oh. ..and I once used a tree stump to split wood.anxiously-pm
*Patrick, you are most certainly welcome to join the club. (Of course don't forget Groucho Marx would never want to join any club that would have him as a member)Please bear in mind that there are two parallel conversations going on here.1.how can we use different and unique materials.2.how can we use those materials in ways that decrease property values and irritate snotty, uppity neighbors.For example, consider painting your splitting stump purple and mounting your mailbox on it?