horizontal wooden planes

We also hired the good folks at Coulbury Design to built and install bathroom shelves and the built-in desktop in the upstairs bedroom. As might be expected, we requested hickory to match sills and floors. Dan, who is fixated on not showing screws or attachment hardware (a good fixation for Modern), was able to install with simply the board showing. One design element we requested was to pull the desk top out from the wall a couple inches so any electrical cords could fall down the back. He claims the desk is strong enough to support baby making... 

wires! be gone.

Any good Modernist will tell you you can't have your wires showing. You just can't. It'd be like showing up to your wedding with your fly brutally open while pitching tent wearing Spongebob Squarepants underwear. That ain't cool.

Since the beam holding up the second cantilever was so tall, the plugs and wire receptacles had to be placed too high to hide them behind the console. That ain't cool (see Spongebob Squarepants comments; ibid). So we had Dan and Jessica, our pals over at Coulbury Designs fab up a cover for the plugs and wires.  

o ye of delicate constitution, avert ye eyes! Avert ye eyes! 

I see wires! I see plugs! I see Spongebob Squarepants!

(I also see a photo of myself playing theremin with a country band...)

We designed the thing to extend out from the wall to the right and across all the plugs and the console. We also extended it down low enough to hide the wires coming up from the sub woofer (that white thing) but not so far down that the wires wouldn't come out at the proper height behind the console.

Dan and Jessica came up with the brackets that not only hold up the wire hider but also hold the wires. Brilliant!

BRILLIANT!

BRILLIANT!

And here's the final result: 

The fly is zipped. Spongebob is in his rightful place. The wedding is saved. And the Modernist is pleased.

we have gas!!!

Hard to believe, but we just, this past weekend, got gas to our cooktop (what the Brits refer to as a "hob"). The hob we bought came from Europe, and they do things differently in Europe than we do, including how they connect their gas appliances. Since we bought the hob and shipped it out of the service area, the manufacturer (Whirlpool) refused to help (fair enough). The local installers were also not able to deal with the hob. So it was up to us.

First, after Googling the Google-space, I tried to contact several European parts providers for help (dealing with different gas fittings is a common problem when U.S. soldiers go to Germany with their gas grills [a common occurrence it seems...]); however, I couldn't get any play out of them.

After searching and searching (and searching...), I finally found Malone Specialty, who sells a variety of fittings, including metric to standard fittings. After researching about different types of fittings and figuring out sizes and whatnot, I ordered the part I thought would work. And it worked except that the metric side was too long resulting in an inadequate seal. For an amazingly reasonable price, Malone machined the part down to the appropriate length. With fingers crossed (and the bride glaring expectantly over a well-used hot plate...) I connected the various bits, and..... Koala! It worked! We have gas! No longer will we have to live like crack addicts in an abandoned flophouse stewing crystal meth on a caramelized hot plate!

So, be aware (beware?) buying non-standard kitchen ware. You might not get great local and manufacturer support. Having said all that, we are pleased as Punch (go look that one up...) with our hob. It's beautiful and works great!

If you look closely you can see the suds to test for leaks.

a Modern Christmas

A true minimalist/modernist would probably seek to deconstruct Christmas (see office Christmas tree last year). We went with a real tree (the first time in our adult lives) and a monochrome theme (white and silver with a lot of owls). We also jumped on a CB2 wreath idea (silver balls with pink wire), a West Elm wreath (lots of woolly balls), and simple LED "icicles" that "snow down". I think we'll leave it at that.

Oh! And we hung some stockings! Since we have no mantle, we hung them from the window (The World Is Our Mantle.).

Hope you are staying warm!

dancing with architecture: Marfa 2013

Yes, I know: We went to Marfa last year for Thanksgiving. But we had such a rip-roaring good time that we went back again (and we still feel we didn't feel as if we got a chance to see all of the town (we like to walk it). For example, we still haven't partaken of the Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese.

We did a vacation home by owner rental again but with a different home. The house was in the style of what I call "Modern Marfa". There isn't much in Marfa in the way of true Modern architecture. It's expensive to build Modern, and Marfa is way out in the middle of nowhere. However, there is a lot of repurposing of existing structures, including houses. Donald Judd led the way with classic Modern Marfa: Paint everything grey (or white), remove all ornamentation (or flatten it with the monochromaticy), and use nothing but gravel and minimalist furniture for landscaping. And is essentially what our house was:

Other examples around and about town:

There are some fully Modern houses in Marfa, including one we just discovered on the hill by the other (newer) water tower:

As well as some multi units going in:

And here's even a mid-century modern structure built as an apartment onto a lot with an existing, older home:

By happenchance, we discovered the dome home of the Food Shark people and found that they now have a brick and mortar restaurant (which we still need to go to...) in addition to the trailers.

The First Christian Church (1926, architect unknown) evokes Irving Gill's work: white, geometric, and little to no ornamentation.

And finally random shots of Marfa, Texas:

This is a reproduction of a Gerrit Reitveld chair at one of our favorite galleries in town, Exhibitions 2d, where the art is deliciously minimal (fitting for Marfa) and the owner, Dennis Dickinson, collects Modernist chairs. Oh jes!

Marfa Ballroom has plans to build a drive-in movie theater in town.

Marathon, Texas.

12 Gage, Marathon, Texas.