Pure white
Posted on December 6th, 2007 – 10:55 AMBy Jason Hammond
Over the last week we have received somewhere in the range of a dozen inches of snow. If you don’t live in a climate where you get snow, there is something to be said for how incredibly bright and fresh it makes things. The days are growing gradually shorter but now even the slightest bit of day light illuminates everything as it bounces off the snow. So as the white stuff was building up outside we moved forward with adding a little white stuff inside ourselves — in the form of paint.
This sounds strange but white is one of the toughest colors to pick. Choose something to warm and in certain light the whole room looks a bit pink. Choose something with too much of a blue in it and the place feels like the inside of an igloo — a bit cold. So after a good twenty minutes or so of studying colors under various light I maid my choice — Pure White from Sherwin Williams. I had intended to do the painting portion of the work myself but time is not on my side in the this effort, so we decided to hire a professional crew. Corey from Benedict and Associates told us about a good crew he had worked with on a Minneapolis condo project so we had them give us a bid. Although more expensive than doing it ourselves the price to paint and prime the whole house was good so we decided it was worth the time savings.
The painters started on Monday and by Wednesday they were completely finished priming and painting 2 coats upstairs and down. I consider myself pretty precise when it comes to painting (I get this from my mother who uses a small art brush to do edging) but watching these guys work makes you realizes how good they really are. They edged in all the windows and ceilings by hand and I couldn’t find a single spot on the windows where someone had dripped paint let along covered them. What so impressive is that they were doing it with a brush 3 times the size of the one I would have used and doing it in a fraction of the time. I have to say I’m really pleased with the quality of the work and most of all the time and effort it saved me.
The hallway before it was mudded taped and painted felt bright until the paint was added and I looked back at this picture.
Tuesday morning after the primer and first coat were on —shield your eyes.
Willfrado our painter (facing camera) and one of his crew preparing to paint the second coat on the downstairs, Wednesday afternoon.
White walls,hite world. Looking out the downstairs living room windows to the pond.
The view from what will be the kitchen, over the bar and into the living room.
Looking up the stairs to the mid-level landing and the office.
Looking down from the mid-level landing to the front door.
Looking out the second story windows to the pond. Yes that window is broken, they’re coming to replace it early next week.
Seriously this is a shot of the deck. Corey and I worked in shifts this week to get it completed. Me in the morning before work and him during the day. We’re two boards short of completing it and then we can put the fascia board and the railing up early next week.
We got a great price on a composite decking material from Hammond window and Door (no not a relative of mine either). Once I get the snow off and the railing up I’ll post some more shots the material is great Gray color.
The outside hasn’t changed much but that looks to change early next week when the crew comes to start putting up the cement board siding.
21 Responses to "Pure white"
Dark window frames and pure white walls – looks familiar to me. *smile*
It is really wonderful when the snow lightens everything and the low sun shines throughout the house. In a clear full moon night with snow, it is actually so bright in our house that you can read by the windows without switching the light on. You will experience the same.
Your hallway windows look great. I always loved the repetition of things the same size. So different than today’s homes where you usually find all kind of window sizes, styles and shapes in a single house.
Hey Jason,
The place looks great, but I must ask (just out of curiosity), why all white? You and Stacy both have design backgrounds and are artistic, creative people. What was the motivation for doing all white? Are you taking the, “Walls are a canvas to be covered with great art” approach or some thing more simple like it is just easier to start with white until you know the houses’ personality better? Perhaps there is a different reason for going white. I look forward to hearing your reply. Thank you!
Bikeman,
Yes and yes. We could have picked colors but we haven’t purchased the furniture yet since selling ours when we moved. We were thinking that WE would come back and revisit colors once we had a better feel for the look we wanted in each room. Additionally I knew that one color would make the painters job easier and keep things moving along.
We also like the idea of the walls working as a clean slate for some of our art work. We had limited wall space in our last home so much of our art work was stowed away.I also have several friends who’s art work I would love to add to the home as well.
Jason
Jason,
Thanks for the reply regarding your lack of color choice. I could not help but notice that you capitalized both letters of the second WE in the third sentance of the first paragraph. Is this to make known that this house design is a colaborative effort for you and your wife? Perhaps I am simply reading into this. It does bring up a good question for your blog though. Just how much time is spent sorting through the details with your partner in crime so to speak? Granted that may be going a bit too deep for this blog, but I am sure there are a lot of people who have built houses that read this blog that could write a book on the family dynamics of building a home. Thanks for all the great blogging!
Looking great. I wish the outside were going to stay wood.
A p.s. to the trashed posting, I am now remembering when I lived in a different place with curbside recycling, and our street was split, so my side was picked up the day after the other side. Apparently someone on the other side would not get his stuff out in time, so would periodically trot across the street and leave it in front of my house. So all day this big box of beer and wine bottles would be sitting out in front of my house, making me look like the neighborhood lush. I don’t drink at all, to make it worse.
OK Trudy,
That last comment made me laugh pretty hard. I can only imagine the horror you felt every week when you saw the collection of wine and beer bottles. We are in a townhouse right now and our newest neighbor places his garbage can in the center of our shared driveway. Except this week my side was shoveled and his was not so he placed it directly behind our car where it was cleared off. I don’t know if he thought I was going to shovel his side for him or if I was going to change the molecular structure of the car and drive right through it but it was pretty clear it wasn’t his issue.
Jason
Bikeman,
Anyone who knows my wife and I knows that she’s the brains of the operation and I am just the voice.
We see eye-to-eye on almost every detail. Their are moments where we do not agree on things but they are usually little details where we both have a creative idea that we want to implement and neither wants to bend to the others will.
Jason
wow! it’s looking great! i haven’t seen pics in a while…you’ve come a long way. are you happy with the “white” you chose? we’ll be selecting paint soon and are also starting with white. you’re such a great resource for me!
laura
Great progress on the house! Your house really has great bones and architectural details.
I agree with your decision to just go with laminate for your countertops. After seeing all these “new kitchens” with granite countertops, I just have this “granite”fatigue. I think homeowners are going for granite just because it is what is expected for a renovated kitchen now but unfortunately some of these slabs and patterns are a bit too “garish” (for lack of a better term) at least for me. The sample may look fine but slab may be too much. Besides, as you mentioned there are downsides to granite countertops and if you ever get back to wishing to switch, it is relatively easy to replace them - so long as you have already optimized your kitchen lay-out during the building phase. And this you have done.
By the way, how do you plan to keep your exposed metal roof trusses (is that the word?) dust free? That also goes for some of the other metal components of your stairs and railing… It seems that it may not be easy to just wipe them out especially your stair railing. I can see how lint can get caught in those small holes.
I know I asked you this before, and now that I am seeing your stairs, I need to ask again…..how will you keep little ones from sliding down between a riser and a stair? That still looks like a pretty big space to me.
Dunn,
It’s funny, the inspector asked the same question about dust and the trusses. I have this great duster that seems to get just about everything, I hope that does the trick.
Jason
Judi,
It’s a fair question and watching my little ones scoot down the stairs on their butts, validates your concern. With that said, the gap right now (between steps) is about 5″ and a bit deceptive as it appears larger. However,we are actually putting a wood tread on the steps that will close that gap down to about 3″ which is narrower than most deck railing and well within the code requirement for a safe riser.
What I wonder, is in so many of the homes I see in Magazines like Dwell and MetHome where there is no riser at all, how did they pass inspection?
Jason
All I can say is WOW! it looks fantastic. And I do sympathize re. the painting. We did almost all the painting (with some fairly elaborate faux finishes) on our current 100 year-old home, but we hired help at our vacation cottage for part of the painting. We liked (but did not love) the contractor. You are lucky indeed to find such meticulous workmen.
Can’t wait to see the deck without the snow. How did the composite material you picked compare with trex in price (more/less? don’t need the percentage). I think we’ll have to migrate to similar eventually at the vacation house, but I want to retain the heavenly gray/blue color (looks like the wide river in front of our house, so it is a nice visual echo). So far I’ve only found a gray–and then again, there is the budget issue.
Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. I really enjoy seeing the fruits of your hard work and thought in this beautiful house!
Jason,
Everything is coming along so nicely! I love seeing photos. The stairs take my breath away, they are so gorgeous. I can’t wait to see the wood on them. I am sure they will be a perfect mix of cold steel and warm wood.
-Teresa
http://teresasuek.blogspot.com/
Thanks. Having other people say how nice it looks reminds me to take a moment and drink it in. A person gets so focused on getting things done that you forget to enjoy the progress you are making.
Jason
It looks fanstastic, really starting to come together. I actually know that SW color Pure White, my parents used it in their place. It is a very clean white, good choice.
Re: codes, I still remember an issue of Dwell where a couple had built on the top floor of a building in Paris (I think) - they had some reflecting pools up there and NO railing, the pools were supposed to keep people away from the edge. I have no idea what the codes are in Paris but I thought it was appalling (although the look was great) and was pilloried on the Dwell board for saying so 
Jason-
Great looking stair. I love the cellular beams used as risers. I wonder what you are doing for handrails-stainless steel? painted metal or wood?
Another comment about magazine photos and codes: As an architect, I see mag photos all the time that don’t meet code or accessibility- especially at stairs. But just because its been done before, doesn’t mean its a good idea or should be repeated again.
For those of you blog-junkies who are addicted to Jason’s blog and are nervous that his house is nearing completion, here is a link to another build blog about a house project that is just starting.
http://www.ecodeep.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to see move-in day for you Jason!
Roxanne
Opps- Sorry, I left the wrong blog address!
It’s actually http://www.ecodeephaus.blogspot.com/
Roxanne
Roxanne,
We are looking at some handrail options but leaning towards wood handrails.
Jason
jason,
my wife and I are guilty of driving to the dead end street and slowly driving by….(stopping for minutes at a time).
we met your family a couple of months ago while on a walk with my parents. my wife and i are very envious of your project. the siding is a great choice in my opinion.
thank you for the inspiration.
michael and marquette
Hi Michael,
I actually like that our house creates some emotional reaction from people good or bad.
Jason
