Big art

The first piece of art that I bought for the new house is the dining table. This was very clever of me: I took $ from the furniture budget and added it to the art budget and got a one-of-kind art table. Actually, I didn't do that; I'm not a budgeter. What I did was discover Cole through a gallery show in Columbia. He's a metal artist and that table is steel. I couldn't get a good photo of it though. Too much light coming in. The table is very dark, almost black. The messy splotches of yellow and blue paint make it look like the universe. I guess that the orange lines are the UFO contrails. I really, really like it. The only thing that it is missing is a little nook under the tabletop to tuck my dictionary into. I feel at a loss in arguments if I can't whip that baby out.

New staircase and railing

This is going first simply to sate Tamra's curiosity. Plus, I love it. Here is what we had before:
The stairs were a little on the narrow side, winding around the rock wall that the contractor referred to as "The Monolith". The rock wall was decorative and ended in a planter. Cool idea, but heavy and oppressive. And I can't keep plant beings alive. Next to The Monolith was the lovely orange railing, which was a little wobbly.

We knew that we wanted glass, so that we could actually see the view out of the tallest windows. We weren't sure about the rest of it, though. Then I saw a photo at a home show and was inspired.

Maple, glass, and solid steel rods. It's a beauty. The materials were expensive, and it took FOREVER and two months for Carl to build it. It was worth it...although I probably have no right to say that because I don't make the money around here.

And we got the view. The house previously had a wall between the hall and stairway area and the dining room where the photographer was sitting. I'm still not sure who the photog was...my guess is Isabelle.

I cleaned those windows today, and I can only reach about 2/3 of the way up the first window. I need to go find some basketball players to do the high parts for me.