Our stairs have been one of the pieces of our house from the very beginning that we wanted to be a center point of the design. Even some of the original designs that we didn’t select had very bold design staircase, however the one we settled on was the one that was the most striking.

Our staircase would be an open design, and the central focal point of our entry. An open riser design constructed of steel, the stairs cantilevered off a main center beam and panels of perforated steel. To contrast the heavy industrial feel of the structure, the treads are made out of a beautiful birch and the entire structure rests against a wall of exposed concrete. The combination of these materials seems to almost complete encapsulate our house, the only thing missing is some glass.

The landing at the mid-level had been covered in sheets of scrap plywood until this week when the components of our glass landing arrived. A structurally configured aluminum frame, black gasket tape and 3 sheets of 1.5″ glass, each weighing roughly 150lbs. a piece. We lined the frame with the gasket tape then removed the plywood from the landing to expose the open steel frame. This was now the tricky part. We fastened the aluminum frame to the steel structure then placed pieces of plywood over top it to give us a place to walk and stand. With my dad’s assistance we carried the glass to the landing where I then handed it across to Stacy. From there I went below to a ladder to get a better position to lower the glass into place. Because the fit of the glass was almost exact to the frame (and it’s weight so heavy) there was no way to gently lower the glass into place from above. Stacy and my dad helped me to position each sheet from above and then I lowered it into position from below. It took about 15 minutes to place all three sheets but the results were spectacular.

I’m sure it will take a little time for all of us to get used to walking out onto the glass landing and I am sure that it will certainly cause some uneasiness for some of our guests as it really is a truly remarkable feeling.

A close up of our steel stairs with he birch treads.

The hand-off.

my 5 year old captures the act as we set the glass into place.

It’s set in place.

The final piece goes into place.

The view from below.

OK, maybe it doesn’t take a 2 year old that long to get comfortable with the idea of a glass landing.

For some reason (among many people that I know) admitting that you watch TV or even own one, is in some way taboo. These people act almost appalled when I ask them if they have seen a specific show and usually follow it up with some ridiculous disclaimer like ” I don’t even own a TV” or “I’m just too busy to watch TV.” I can’t say that I believe all of these people and would bet that many of them are secretly huge fans of television but for some reason feel compelled to deny it.

I however do not share the same stigma for TV, as a matter of fact I love it. I love watching sports, movies, the History Channel, anything on nature and you guessed it, even some reality TV. So when or old TV died shortly before we left our old house and the opportunity to purchase a new flat screen presented itself, I was more than excited to do so. Not only would this give me the opportunity get a sleek space saving flat screen but it also allowed us to sell of the bulky TV cabinet that housed our old TV. However this quickly presented a new problem. How and where to put our new?

We looked at some small low profile buffet style cabinets to use as a TV cabinet. We even considered building in some small cabinets or shelves to set the TV on but all these options had limitations and draw backs. Then searching the internet one evening I found a great looking and space saving option from a local company called SANUS Systems. You can find their products all around the world but I liked the idea that these guys were local and on top of that they made some super sleek heavy duty universal fitting wall mounts for flat screen TVs. I picked out the full motion VMAA26 wall mount for my TV in black. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive and once it did it only took me a matter of about 20 minutes to connect it to my new flat screen and get it mounted to the wall. I have to say that it lives up to all the hype. It’s the perfect fit for a modern home as it quickly and easily allows me to push the TV against the wall and out of site keeping our clean lined aesthetic in tact. Yet in just a moments notice I can pull it out into the room adjust the angle to enjoy a movie theater like experience. After watching some NFL playoff games this weekend with family and friends, I can see that the wall mount and flat screen are going to make our house the place to watch the game from now on. I’m now considering buying some of the sleek side mount speakers that SANUS system just released a couple of weeks ago at the Consumer Electronic Show. I’m sure that this would make the whole TV watching experience that much more complete, and I love watching TV —although sometimes I feel like the only one.

The flat screen full motion wall mount from Sanus Systems
lets me get the TV out of the way and preserve my clean line look.

The mount swings out into the room roughly 2 feet and contracts back to within a few inches of the wall.

The mount full extended, it also rotates to adjust for various viewing angles.

The newly released side mount speakers offered by Sanus systems attach to the full motion wall mount and may be my next electronics purchase to complete my TV watching experience.

Tonight we had my mother-in-law and niece in town to visit. After everyone enjoyed dinner seated at the breakfast bar, I started cleaning up and was expressing the desire for a small hand vac, that actually looked cool. Stacy quickly informed me that she was already on it and there were a few options out there that she liked.

The Kurv from Dirt Devil looks more like a modern sculpture than a vacuum and is certainly worthy of being left out for guests to see. The second option called KONE is also from Dirt Devil and is designed by world renowned designer Karim Rashid. Then there is the KRUZ stick vac another sleek looking design that may not earn a place on the coffee table as a sculptural element but certainly will turn some heads when it gets pulled out of the closet.

I love it that large companies like Dirt Devil are recognizing the demand by mainstream Americans to have everyday products look cool. Heck we not only want cool stuff, we’re starting to expect it and these companies are delivering.

The Kruv from Dirt Devil is sleek and worthy of showroom display

The KONE from Dirt Devil is from renowned designer Karim Rasid.

The KRUZ  is certainly the sleekest looking stick vacuum on the market.

The saying goes “now we’re cooking with gas” is meant to imply the speed and efficiency of using that fuel source over what I can only guess was original wood and now just about anything else. However, I am starting a write-in campaign to change the phrase.
Our Electrolux Icon Series Induction cook-top, is hands down my favorite kitchen appliance. The dishwasher is whisper quiet, the full size side by side fridge and freezer are a dream, the wall oven heats quickly and cooks evenly and the microwave doubles as a second oven with its ability to work as a convection oven. However the induction cook-top is truly remarkable in so many ways.

Induction cooking is something relatively new to the United States but somewhat common in Europe and Japan. By using an electromagnet charge to create heat in the cooking vessel, rather than transferring that heat from an element of flame to the vessel. This method results in an incredibly efficient and fast method of cooking. The US Department of Energy has come up with some standardized calculations that show induction is roughly 84% efficient as a method of cooking while gas is about 40% efficient. Additionally Induction offers the safety benefit that although the surface gets hot the moment the electromagnetic field is broken between the cooking vessel and surface there is no more heat being generated. Induction has been growing rapidly in popularity over the last few years among professional chefs who love the convenience and control that Induction offers. So what does all this mean?

Our Electrolux cooktop doesn’t really look any different than any other high-end, clean-lined solid surface electric cooktop but it certainly performs better. When I placed roughly 3 cups of water on the cooktop with the intent of boiling it, I returned only 2 minutes later to find that it was actually at a rolling boil. We had a nice solid surface cooktop in our previous home and I can’t recall a single instance where I was able to boil water anywhere close to that quickly. If there is one draw back to induction cooktops, is that they require cookware that is ferrous (magentic material). In our case our relatively new, very nice cookware was not a ferrous material, so we need to acquire a new set that will work with the cooktop. However the cooktop did come with one very nice promotional piece of cookware that we have been using, along with some very inexpensive pieces that we had picked up at IKEA. This seems like a small price to pay for the energy saving and convenience that is a benefit of Induction cooking. So as I see it the phrase needs to be changed to  “now we’re cooking with induction.” OK, OK, I know it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it but give a try and in a little while I think it’ll start to catch on.

The Icon Series Induction Cooktop from Elexctrolux is a great time, money and energy saver and best of all it offers the heat control that anyone serious about cooking is looking for.

After two coats of high gloss sealer on the floors they have taken on a great sheen. This is no more clear than in the later afternoon, as the sunlight sets low across the horizon the depth and color of the floors really seem to come to life as the light dances across the glass like finish. There were certainly some concerns as we were polishing the floors that they would be anything like we had imagined in our heads. However I think the actual results were exactly what we had envisioned and that was a great relief.

Simultaneously the last pieces of siding went up on the exterior of the house. The beauty of the Unaclad siding wasn’t truly captured until the main facade of the house was completed this afternoon. The silver is the perfect complement to the “Z” channel and really makes a great statement. I can’t say enough how please I am with the way the exterior turns out. The only thing I am not looking forward to is putting the another coat of paint on the hardiboard siding. We are doing a two tone scheme and only got a chance to get the first color on most of the boards. We ended up needing one extra board as well, so we have one piece that will need both a first and second coat come spring time. But for now I am focusing on how good it feels to have the exterior looking finished and the excitement of being able to pull the interior design of the space together.

The floors after the first coat of sealer.

2 coats of sealer and later afternoon light.

The exterior with the siding complete.

Our oldest son raced outside to get a picture of the crew driving away because he was going to miss them. If I’m correct I think it looks like they stopped to take photo of the house at the same time. No matter what they said I knew the liked it, and this is proof.

We’ve all seen it, it’s like a staple of American sitcoms, the shows character has rented a large sander or floor cleaner and as they attempt to use the machine it spins out of control resulting in a series of “hilarious” moments as it damaging everything in sight. Saturday morning I found myself renting the vary machine that has resulted in so many hours of laughter.

The preflight instructions from the rental placed seemed pretty clear. You pull up on this button, squeeze this handle and rest the machine up against your hip — it sounds pretty easy.

As you turn the machine on the spinning motion pulls it hard in one direction. This causes an instinctual reaction to grip tighter and fight against the machine, resulting in a violent counter assault, usually won by the machine.

After a few attempts you quickly learn that to successfully control the machine you need touch, not torque. By holding the machine firmly and slightly adjusting the pressure you place on each handle the machine gently glides across the floor. After I got the hang of running the machine we put a system together to clean and polish our concrete floors. Today we plan to seal one side of the floors with a high gloss water based sealer so we can actually begin to move our furniture in this week. I can’t tell you how good it will feel to put our stuff into the house and start “living” here.

Whoa!

Trying to use my hip.

Gaining a little control.

Finally, I am master of the floor cleaner.