That is not the corner...

Wow, look at that dust! How long will it take to clean before we can actually move in...I am scared to even think about it. Above and below are some photos of the loft space now that it has a floor. The steps are still not in, so the workers go up and down on ladders. The floor will end up being Ash, along with the rest of the upstairs. For some reason, I can not get a link to work on this at all, but not that it matters, as the samples that came in the mail are not even close to what you see in the photos on the internet. We are ordering the wood for the floor from England, and it ends up being a lot less then buying it from the lumber yard here! Problem is that the Ash planks we like are on back order. They should be in by the beginning of December, so we will place the order and get them as soon as we can. Fine by me, since we leave for Vienna on the 9th, and I am not moving between the 21st and the 25th... we will aim for January. Maybe for my birthday... now I have jinxed it!

Now on to the fireplace. I am a bit angry about this most recent mess up, but am not so angry as to spend an additional 200-300 euro to get them to fix it. When Alex and I discussed the placement of the fireplace we both agreed that it should go in the corner. The reasons were that the fireplace itself is a corner unit with two glass panes, so it looks quite nice placed in a corner. Also, the only wall it can go on is the short wall with no windows at the far end of the room. This wall must also accommodate the television, and any shelves or artwork that we might want to place there. This room is one big space with the kitchen at one end, windows and doors to the garden on one wall, and doors and stairs to other parts of the house on the other wall. The actual sitting area is not that big.

Does this fireplace look like it is placed in the corner? No, it is moved out towards the center of the wall. When talking about the placement with the architect, he convinced Alex that centralizing the unit is visually better for when you are entertaining. Everyone will get a nice view of the fireplace and the heat will disperse better. Why wasn't I there, you might ask. They met on a Saturday morning, again, and Jeny had to be at the shop and I had to watch the girls. No one called me, nor did Alex mention the change. Not until I got there and the damage had been done did I find out about it. And don't even get me started on the chimney.

Ok...I can see his point, but he created more problems this way. The first problem is that visually it shortens that already stubby wall. The second problem is that there is just enough space for the T.V. at the end of the wall, right next to the steps leading outside, to the guest room. The T.V. has to be a meter away from the heat if it is on the same line as the fire itself, which it will be. We are planning to build a bench for sitting and storage that is the same hight as the top step and the glass panels of the fireplace. If the fireplace was in the corner, like we had decided, then the T.V. would have plenty of space and not need to be pushed all the way over to one side. Of course, the architect said, "Just get a new T.V. and hang it on the wall." My response was, and no offense to those of you with T.V.s on your walls, " A T.V. is not art, I have limited wall space for art to begin with. Besides the point, with the built out chimney, a T.V. hanging on the wall is going to look unbalanced and lopsided." What I wanted to say was, " Hey, great idea, I will use your fee to buy one!" I would gladly get rid of the T.V., but hey, I need to cook and get things done, and sometimes that is the only way.

Ok, I am a creative gal, and I know I can make this work. It may take some time, but for now all I have to say is- That Is Not The Corner!