Sunday, September 20, 2009

KC Modern Runnells Weekend Home Tour Recap

The weekend was the KC Modern David Runnells Homes tour. Everything that was going to get done, got done. Over 100 people came through the houses. On the tour was four houses on Roe Circle, two in Leawood, one in Mission Hills, and one loner just down the road from us. It was neat to see all of the houses designed by the same architect and built around the same time. For all those that didn't make it, or want to look around again, here are the pictures from today.

Our lighting gal came through and got the replacement light parts last minute so the Salvador Dalis were lit.
The chairs are studiobuild, legs are reclaimed from old diner chairs and the seats/backs are scrap mahogany from a window producer.
The Shag in the hallway was a big hit.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the fireglass. It got warm in a hurry, I can't wait to use it this winter.






Thanks everybody for coming. It was fun, but next time I'm coming to your house. We are going to take off a couple weeks and relax.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Mad Dash

We are in the home stretch and still have a thousand things to do. This is from manual labor day weekend. How do you haul 27 bags of mulch, in the element of course.
Another big shipment arrived the other day.
Portland helping unpack, or just enjoying the catnip.
Hmmm a big ball?
Yep, we have transformers patio furniture.
Although I did like burning things in the little grill while sitting on folding chairs, I guess these will do.
The hose numbers only sat in the closet for 6 months before I got them put up. Pretty cool.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Getting Close

The tour is right around the corner and we are finishing up a few odds and ends. While working in the yard this weekend I notice a large spider had strung a net between our and Eric and Elise's house. It had to been 30 feet, bravo Ms. Spider.
The beige floor and pink grout have been driving up crazy since we moved in. The light grout never looks clean so we decided to stain it. You can see the middle where Sam scrubbed it by hand and the dirty edges from the mop.
Applying the stain. It goes on yellow and the acid carries pigment into the grout.
I have a few spots to touch up, but you get the idea.
Alright the marathon begins to get things ready for next weekend.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Happy Manual Labor Day Weekend

We needed this long weekend to get some outdoor items wrangled. While working on inside projects the weeds have taken over. The short version is we ran, worked all day, ate BBQ, drank some beers, and did it all over again. With the homes tour only a couple weeks away, it's crunch time. We made 4 trips to home depot and one to the nursery. Other than outside stuff, Sam managed to get all of the trim touched up and the living room put back together.
Saturday morning the Roe Circle professional mowing team had an impromptu performance. Mow the lawn, check.
This weedy mess of a patio was our major work item. We had already pulled the large grasses and filled in one of the holes early in the year. That useless hole there in the middle had to go.
Our friend Mike came over to help with the manual labor. The hole took 24 bags of sand.
Halfway there. The extra pavers came from the renovation next door. The difficult thing with filling in a 60 year old patio is making everything look old.
Sam thinking hard about where to put the new plants.
In the front beds we put in new metal edging and mulched everywhere. This tree is a weeping blue atlas cedar. I have thousands of tiny cuts from working around the fountain grasses. My arms and legs burned most of the day from sweat and bug spray.
Hey look at that, pretty respectable. I need to continue sweeping up sand and washing the pavers, but all in all we are ready for a party. Now that the grasses are gone and the holes are filled in, the patio looks huge. Plenty of room for a table and a firepit.
The pink elephant ears just have to stay alive until the homes tour.
Now after an exhausting day I am ready for a shower and bed. The supervisors called it a day early.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Already a Good Weekend

I have been slowly working on the bed for the second bedroom. Wednesday night the jute webbing came in and I started attaching the supports. Well, until I blew a couple nails out of the top, SH*T! A couple days worth of repair later and I picked up.
Attaching the webbing.
One half completed
Done but upside down.
The door hinges let me fold it half to get it around the hallway corner and into the bedroom. I reinstalled the legs and the headboard in the room.
Jointing/hinge/leg detail.
All ready for the mattress.
Hey look a bed, the cats haven't been able to crawl under a bed for over a year. Now we will know where to find Nera when she gets scared.
That was more work than I expected, but it looks nice.
This project didn't take much other than a lot of time:
- 2 sheets Baltic birch plywood (with a bunch leftover),
-Glue,
-6 hairpin legs,
-2 headboard supports,
- Polyurethane finish,
A neighbor's table saw, pocket screw jig, and a few screws
My table saw would have never handled those birch sheets so big thanks to Jerad.