Our friend in the park this morning: “So, the place is a wreck, you have no money, and you are wondering what you got yourself into, right?”
That’s the voice of 25 years of experience in architecture and construction.
Last week, the crew mutinied (Ben’s word) and asked if they could rip down the drop ceiling over the kitchen. This wasn’t in the plan, but it would actually have cost us more to repair the drop ceiling than to just put in a new one, so we let them. Now there’s a 14′ ceiling over the kitchen and dining counter, instead of a crappy old 8′ drop ceiling, and it feels like a cathedral in there. We’re not sure what exactly we’re going to do (and we have to decide in the next couple of days), but it’s certainly not going to involve rebuilding the drop ceiling.
There’s actually a giant, boarded-up skylight over the kitchen – at least 8′ by 8′ (there’s clearly a theme here). Unfortunately, the cheapest option for turning it back into a skylight costs $7000, so we’re not doing it, but we may put in a smaller one for $600 or so.
The photo, by the way, is by another exceedingly talented friend of ours – Johanna Bobrow.