Sunday, April 19, 2015

Slow Progress at the House

Things are moving on the work site, but the progress is still frustratingly slow. There have been some delays in getting materials, and we are still waiting to get the crane out of the back garden. The last week has been focused on carpentry, installing the doors and windows. They also finished the sky light, which looks great:





From the beginning of the project, we knew we wanted to invest in traditional wood doors and shutters. We knew it would be an expensive investment, but we were even more concerned about finding the right carpenter who could build the doors. The doors were constructed by the same carpenter who built the roof, and his team has done a fantastic job!  I am no expert, but you don't need to be when you look at quality like this.  Every join is perfect, the carved cuts for hinges and locks look like they grew as part of the tree.  Every board used was from the heart of the tree, and there are no visible knots bigger then a pencil head.  It looks like the wood came from a special forest with no branches!



We have done a lot of complaining about the delays on the project, but thankfully, the work that has been done is top rate. The carpentry in the doors is a great example of that.

Off the work site, we have been busy getting things in line for TerraPlana the business. We are negotiating with suppliers, planning the layout of the bar, and selecting decoration and furniture for the space. There are a lot of hard decisions to make, and they come with a constant weight of responsibility. Some choices today will have a big impact on the operation of the business for years to come.

One thing we can tick off the list is the branding. We worked with a great local designer, and she designed a font for us inspired by some art deco typefaces. A good font looks simple, but there is an enormous amount of effort in each of the 7 letters below: