Glorious SUN!

05 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, home decor, lighting, photography, sparkling, sunlight

Tags

adding windows, dining room, gratitude, home remodel, remodel, renovation, sun, sunlight, windows

That had to be all caps because it’s remarkable. Ever since moving into this house 13 years ago, our dining room didn’t have sun in it. Until now. We are nearly done with the remodel so last night we moved the dining room table out of the living room and back into the dining room. And this afternoon… Afternoon, mind you!!! … I sat at the table to plan an impromptu Wine & Cheese tasting party. IN. THE. SUN. Honestly, I had trouble concentrating on my notes because of the sun. Glorious sun!
There are no windows on the west side of our house and the roof has a big overhang so our home gets very little direct sun in it. The solution was two arch windows extending as high as possible in the west wall. I’ll make a blog post with more details soon.
Just look at this!

First sitting at the table in the sun!

To anyone else, that photo would be completely unremarkable. But I’m an artist, photographer and lover of sunshine. To not have sun is like Michelangelo having no paint. There are no accessories or furniture in the world as glorious as sun. I can’t believe I actually get to live here!

I hope I never get to the point of taking something so basic for granted. I basked in sun today.

Marble window sills

18 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in home decor, lighting, projects

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

construction, DIY, home, marble, marble window sill, marble window sills, windows

I’m so glad I insisted on marble window sills for the new dining room windows! They look amazing. I had my heart set on marble but we had to go cheap. So we bought two door sills for $10 each. And then came the sawing. We didn’t have the necessary equipment or blades to saw marble. But I don’t give up easy. So I walked into the workshop and eyed up the straightest blade I could find.
He didn’t believe it could be done but I picked up that old rusty saw and asked God to bless that blade. And then I sat down and began.

Here I am later. Wow, great progress, huh?

Still sawing…

How about even later?

It took three full hours of constant sawing to make that single vertical cut! I used my right hand. Then my left hand. Then my left hand held my right hand… Just short of involving my feet, I completed the cut.
Dedicated? Determined. Obsessed? Maybe a little insane?
After 3 entire hours of non-stop cutting I had to rest a day. But my husband said I inspired him so he turned on the tv and made the other 7 cuts. Where there is a will, there is always a way!

Our beautiful, hand-cut, marble window sills.

To install, we used a strong construction adhesive, Loctite Power Grab.

Squeezing out the heavy-duty construction adhesive to place the sills.

and then pressed the sill in place.

Isn’t this beautiful?

The marble sill pressed in place.

A completely unexpected effect – seeing reflection of the sky above in the sills! Wow, I would have chosen marble if I had known that would happen. But this was completely serendipitous. When the sun hits the sill, it casts light on the ceiling too, just one more way we have introduced light to the formerly dark room. I love how the trees can be seen in the marble too.

Light where you are

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in home decor, Inspirational, lighting

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

chandelier, flower bouquet, inspirational, lighting, windows

The windows are in and the walls are primed. What an amazing transformation it is to put a window in a wall that had none, a wall facing the west.

The walls are primed. One of the new windows is covered with plastic but it still lets in spectacular light.

The project isn’t even finished yet but there was a pause so I gathered a small bouquet of honeysuckle, thyme, butterfly bush and ivy and placed it in the window. It was a holy moment. I used to sit in that corner at my computer. But even next to the sliding glass door, there was never enough light. And now look at this!!!

First bouquet in the new window, even before it’s done.

Now my computer is in an even more dark space. I’ve decided to not block the new window with my computer so I’ll probably be on my computer less. But just to make my new office space cheerier, this is how I light where I am.

Chandelier ornaments and a bracelet hang from an artificial tree to light my new office space.

Where are you? Are you in a dark place? Don’t keep saying you’ll be happy when you finally get to some other place. People who are happy inside are light on the inside, no matter where they are. It is a choice.
I remember when we were homeless I carefully gathered a little bouquet of flowers and placed it on a picnic table. My dining room then was under a canopy of trees in the day and a chandelier of stars at night. There is NO place on earth where you can’t find light.