Looking out the windows

Not really a good take on the idea, but here it is ...

 

 

It's a picture pasted onto a plane, then I put the camera inside the room.   You can see my neighbors car and a bunch of green, which seems like about what would be true in real life.

I am still not finding the awing windows to be inspiring, but maybe they are starting to grow on me ... not sure ...

 

Yet more on windows

What the heck ...

 

I remade the 3x5 windows into 3x3 with a 3x2 awing window on top.   It's interesting how much one can learn by just poking around the program -- I didn't know it could do this until I started messing around with it.

I'm not convinced, but I'll set it sit and see how it feels when I look at it more.

 

 

From the inside, as if one were standing in the room.  The left hand window is actually a little bit shorter.  I looked at the windows I have in my house now -- these are actually slightly wider than the ones in the back.   The ones in the front are usually covered by curtains, because I don't want people looking in & also because they are very big and heat flows out.    At any rate, I think these would be fine for looking through -- it's more window area than I have now by a lot.

 

I could take a picture out the back & put it in sketchup to show what I would actually see out the window if looking out (well, except for the view of my neighbors yard, cause I don't have an angle to get the pic).

 

 

And more on windows

I laid out some window designs ...

A row of 3x5 windows

A set of 4x4 and 4x2 windows, with 2' between them

And a set of 4x4 and 4x2 windows all stuck together into one set

I like the first set, I could live with the second set & I don't like the 3rd set.

The first set would presumably take a lot of cutting of the blocks. That is, since the blocks are 8" high by 2' long, and since 3' isn't a multiple of 2' nor 5' a multiple of 3', 3 sides of the perimeter of each one would need to be cut. I think it costs about $1.5 per foot to cut, so for each window, that is 13' x $1.5/ft = ~$20 per window for the cuts. I count 24 windows with this design, so that is ~$500 for the cuts, plus however much more the windows would cost.

Assuming that the areas between the windows could be made of stacked blocks, the 2nd design has no cuts for the top, and 1/2 the outside perimeter for the sides per set, which is 4' * $1.5 = $6. There would be 7 of these sets, plus 4 single windows = 11, so $66 for the cuts -- a lot less.

The cuts for the 3rd set would be the same.

So the price for the cuts for the 2nd set is about 10% of the price for the first. However, $500 out of $200k is not a large fraction. There would probably be a notable difference in price between the 2nd & 3rd too, since only one window would be installed vs 3 of them.

Still, I really like the way the first one looks. To me, it seems elegant and graceful. The second one is ok. The next thing is to look at the way it works from the inside, coming up next.

Windows, again

Here's another take on windows -- might be better? These are casement windows, with the large ones in the middle being double casement & the ones on the edges single casement.

These are 4'x4' (big) or 2'x4' (small), which means that they are multiples of the block sizes (which are 24" by 8"). However, I would expect that the blocks are offset at the corners (that is, they are interleaved at the corners, so that they don't sit exactly on top of each other). If so, that would mean that any window shape will require cutting blocks, though having the windows and the window spacing be multiples of 2' would perhaps means fewer cuts.

I could put an external awning above the window set that is about 1.5' high, to get my golden rectangle (horizontal, instead of vertical).

Only art means anything

Maybe everything else is the supporting cast?

Sorry the pic is so small, but if you click on it, you can see a larger image on flickr.

Is this it?

I did another take on the addition.   I think this one might be a go -- clean up the drawing & take it on the road.   I hope so anyway.

I put in more windows.   These are a bit lower than I am planning (top at 6'8", should be at 7').    I figured out how to set this value, but then forgot to actually do so.  Changing it is part of the cleanup.

 

 

I also figured out how to change the wall height & how to add a railing.    I changed the garage door to a pair of them, because that way there is a support between them for the upper floor.   I think it looks a little nicer too, but it means the wall inside moved over a little (to make a wider space for the doors).   This may change when I talk with the architect and the contractor.

The spacing between the windows is all 3', except for the middle one, which is 4'.    Also, the top floor of the present house isn't drawn in, just because I had started with a new drawing & didn't want to draw all those fiddley bits.

 

North side -- which is pretty close to invisible from the street.

 

 

Another view, looking down the deck cutout.   It will have a railing, but I forgot to put it in.   It's a french door to the porch (meaning it is all glass) and a window in the tower.

 

 

South side.  This is where I had to compromise.   The staircase and the windows I wanted to put in did not work together.   I finally decided to skip the windows on the main & top floor.   I put in small windows on the lower floor, since otherwise there is little natural light that comes down there.   The back door porch will cover over the existing basement window, so I want to have light coming into the hallway and through the basement door.   There is actually a window opening on the north side of the basement, which is presently filled with a board & the dryer vent, but I could replace it with a window that has glass -- and a hole for the dryer vent.

 

 

I may put up tromp l'oil windows, or solar panels, where the windows aren't, just for visual balance.   The basement level windows will be pretty much invisible from the street, so I think it will be ok that they are a different size.

 

Corner view -- the door is actually about 3' above ground level & will have a porch going up to it.

 

 

 

Inside -- lower level:

 

 

Main level:

 

 

Vertical section through the hallway:

 

 

I discovered something else Floor Plan can do, which is to put in what it calls surfaces.   That is, one can have an elevation change without a wall, like a ledge.  This is what you see on the lower level.   The addition floor level is below the present basement level.   Rather than go down to the addition level & then go up to the basement, I put in a ledge that goes to the basement, then steps go down from that.    The addition level will be 16 (or 17) inches below the basement, so there may need to be a railing around the ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows and bathroom

I discovered the section plane tool in sketchup ... in which one can take a slice through an object & see how it looks inside.  Like this:

 

 

These are 4' high windows with the top at 6'8" (head height).  They are a little too tall to fit next to the stair landing, so either it has to drop a little or the window has to come up.   That is a detail that would be hard to arrange in the house drawing program though.

 

The north side with these windows ...

 

 

And the SW corner ...

 

 

Also, it dawned on me that the west wall on the lower floor doesn't have to be solid.   After all, the east wall has a 16' span for the garage door.   If they can build that (and there is every reason to think so, since such walls happen often), I should be able to poke a bunch of holes in the other wall -- which let's me put much of the bathroom & a closet for the bedroom in that space, like this:

 

 

Much nicer, imho.

 

 

Top with tucks

I made a muslin for the top with horizontal tucks from the Butterick pattern ...

 

The back ...

It's ok -- I'm not thrilled, but it's very easy to make.   At least it is if you keep your brain plugged in.   I pressed the darts, then realized they go to the outside & I had pressed them to what would have been the inside, if this were not a muslin.

I'm not thrilled at how far the tucks go into the sleeve, but I think I'll leave them.   Also, I didn't think much of the waist shaping.  I think I'll take it in at the waist & let it out at the hips.  That may fit better & look better.

 

Back ..

New approach

I added sleeves to my muslin ...

 

I decided the first cut on the sleeves had the top too far off the shoulder & brought them in an inch, which helped.  The shirt is too tight across the hips and it pulls ...

 

Also, the fabric I had in mind is too heavy and there isn't enough of it.  I can use a different fabric, but right now, I am not sufficiently inspired to continue.

Here's the fabric.  There is a knit, then I was planning to use the print for bias binding, for contrast.

 

 

It's not exactly $100 yd material, but then, if it were I would be afraid to cut into it.  :-)

 

I have a new idea though ...

 

 

I was thinking surplice, but now I am thinking of cutting off the underlayer & sewing it shut below the inset.   I think that if I leave it free, it will lose the waist shaping.

Another view ... I made it more symmetrical, but now I am thinking it may be more interesting if the neckline is off center.

 

 

In the meantime, I think I'll go make view B of that Butterick pattern, the one with the horizontal tucks, just to show that I can.  Muslin first though ...