walls and floors

the house is really coming along now or at least it appears to be.  drywall, unlike all the structural, mechanical, and technical things we've been dealing with up till now, has a very satisfying conclusion and that is WALLS.  the first floor has walls!





the walls and ceilings have been going up so fast that we almost forgot that we have to turn our attention the other way literally and start thinking about the floors.

the tile below comes to us from a job that our contractor has just completed.  let's just say that this other job is a very swanky condo, with european-imported everything, and million dollar views.  leftover materials from this place at a fraction of the price suits us just fine.




while were able to save nearly all the original hardwood floors on the second story, the first floor is a totally different case.  i guess one hundred years and thousands of pounds of raw meat, lumber, tools, and whatnot take its toll on a wood floor.  and while we'd love to install wood on the entire first floor, its size (at 1800 sq. ft.) makes this cost prohibitive for us.  instead, the studio portion (1/2 of the first floor) will get a new surface made up of MDF, medium-density fiberboard.  we figure a beautiful wood floor has no place in a true workroom anyway.  we'll paint it with some glossy, white paint and be perfectly happy.

here's one possibility for a replacement floor in the great room - which i've been calling the "big room."    we're far from a conclusion on this.  the choices, in order of costliness, are douglas fir (which would match the upstairs), maple, white oak,  and red oak.  anyone out there have any opinions on this?  we're stumped.