Wednesday, July 29, 2009

ph: For The Love of Wainscoting


Dad does detail work on the wainscoting.

For whatever reason, I've been/become a fan of wainscoting. It's ultra-traditional and very white (two things I'm not) and I'm just fascinated by it. It's formal and fanciful. Unique yet common. And I found it quite therapeutic to install.

By no means am I a skilled builder. I build because I'm cheap. Because I'm the owner and when things need to get done, the buck stops here. So, regardless of experience or skill, with saw in hand I go. For me, it's the details that make the difference and I sat there and pondered how to finish the raw end of chair railing - finally settling on a detail that I'm quite excited about. It's a detail that's surely elementary to an experienced carpenter, but for me it's wildly exciting. When you visit, I'll point it out to you.

In all truth, it's a very small detail in the space and a detail that I expect most people won't notice or pay attention to. But it's there for those people that are looking at the details. Of course, I'm hoping that these same people won't notice some of the other details where my inexperience rears its' ugly head...

Luckily, Dad came a calling to offer his help. I may be one who tries to think about the details but my father is the one who knows how to execute the details - in excruciatingly detailed detail. While my caulk work is decent, his is smooth and beautiful. Sure, it's something that will be covered by paint but the caulk work is just brilliant and I'm super-excited about it.

More to follow.

3 comments:

Southern Skies Coffee Roasters said...

I like that look.

Anonymous said...

You rock for having wainscoting & a tin ceiling with tin moulding!!!

onocoffee said...

The tin ceilings are such a lovely detail. Though I can't take credit for installation. The tin ceiling was pre-existing and a factor in why we decided to go with this space.

One thing I like to do with a space is allow it to talk to me. Tell me what it wants to be. I know it sounds hokey, but it really is like "communing" with the space. Sitting inside the space looking out reminded me of the small retail shops I found all over Paris and I wanted to maintain some of that detail.

A designer I had retained kept pushing for a ultra-modern design that removed all the details about the space that I loved in favor of sheetrock walls, mocha floors and clean lines. I liked the space because of the old door frames, transom windows and original hardwood floor and just couldn't destroy them with some designer's vision that didn't match my own.

For the interior, we're going with a more traditional feel and light touches of nouveau modernism (whatever that means). I'm thinking neutral colors for the walls and ceiling, moulded cabinetry, stone counters and a dark stained arc church pew in lieu of a banquette.

More to follow...