Fall 2019 ORC- Week 3

This week was lots of work, but I’m happy to say we made some major progress. As I mentioned before in previous weeks, we have lived with a plywood entryway wall for 10 months, and it was about time we finished it! To recap, here’s what we framed up right before we moved in:

This week we focused on removing some of the plywood and framing to reframe an opening above the doorway. After deciding we were going to brick over the plywood, I got looking at it and felt like there would be a lot of brick above the doorway, so to break it up I thought about adding some kind of a transom window above (I briefly entertained the idea of nixing side sconces for a wall mounted lantern above the doorway instead, but knew it would compete with the light fixture in both the entryway and the living room, so we stuck with the sconces on the sides of the doorway). My wheels started turning with the idea of a steel transom window, but then I came across a company that was in the process of making prototypes for custom breeze blocks, and after seeing one of the designs, I fell in love with it and thought it could be the perfect architectural feature above the doorway, acting almost as a transom. After reaching out to them, I got a response that they had just finished prototypes and were starting production! They were so good to work with me, and I ordered a limestone block in a custom size. Here’s what she’ll look like (only larger in scale):

And here’s my sconces that came! They are SO beautiful in person. When you like something just as much today as you did 3 years ago, I say it’s a good design decision, and that’s the case with these.

We got the opening for the block framed in this week, and were also able to get all of the brick veneer put up! It was about 3 full days of labor, but it feels so good to not see that ugly wood anymore. Here’s the progress thus far:

This week we’ll focus on grouting/painting the brick, getting the sconces up, and start on the woodwork for the beams and doors, so check back next week for some pretty updates! And make sure to check in here for all the other spaces.

Thanks for following along :)
Whitney