It's very tall! (and has a bathroom!)

Hi everyone. A quick midweek update as Yuko and I went to the house on Sunday and there have been a few developments. I had my annual health check at work today and so have a stomach full of delicious barium. Yummy.

Anyway, mid-morning on Sunday we decided to head over to the house in the car and see what was new. This time, before going inside, we decided to wander around the outside of the house since the blue sheet has been taken away and there is more space to walk. The first thing we were struck by is how tall the house is! On paper we knew it was 8 meters high, give-or-take, but standing at the base and looking up from the outside was really impressive! "たけ！！！", Yuko said. "It's tall!!".

On the side of the house each window now also has a kind of protruding "mini roof" at the top to protect it from the rain. It's these little details that we didn't really think about at any stage or didn't pick up in the plans that just appear on the house and give us a kind of nice surprise. I nearly stabbed myself in the eye on the corner of the one at the back of the house next to the bathroom so that will be something to bear in mind should I decide to start running around the house in future (unlikely).

It was also nice to see the deck space properly from the outside, the dark-stained roof of which we particularly love. Whereas the inside of the house looks modern with lots of light-toned natural wood, the roof over the deck looks like it could have been there for hundreds of years. I think it will be a cosy place to shelter when it's raining outside but we want some fresh air and I can imagine sitting and reading a book here with a cup of coffee while the rain falls over the garden.

Inside there has been more insulation going in everywhere and a few more of the vertical studs that will eventually be walls have gone in too. Downstairs, the biggest change is that the bathroom has been installed. Since the window and door glass panes are protected with cardboard, we couldn't see inside the bathroom without opening the door. I'll be honest, it was pretty exciting to see inside it for the first time.

Unfortunately, that excitement was quickly tempered as we were greeted with one of the most horrendous smells I have ever had the misfortune to experience. The various glues and pastes used to fix the shower and bath unit together appear to have been trapped inside the bathroom and opening the door unleashed hell on the both of us. I hope it can be ventilated before we move in!

Holding our noses, we were at least able to see the blue wall that we had both liked and the position of the LED downlights and rainfall shower (which looks brilliant). Although the bathroom is small, we've ended up with something that looks pretty decent I think. The colour scheme is good and it has everything we need. Perhaps we should have gone for a slightly bigger window? Maybe we could have made another room a bit smaller and had a slightly bigger space here? I'm not convinced it would have been worth it, to be honest. I think overall we're pretty happy.

Upstairs there has also been some progress in that the floors have been overboarded with a thicker, smoother layer. Surprisingly, this change (even though the floors will eventually have wooden boards on top) has made quite a visual difference. Because it is smooth and uniform, you get a better flow from area to area and it feels more solid underfoot. I have said before that the whole place is starting to feel like a house but upstairs feels like it's a sofa and two chairs away from being ready! Of course this is ridiculous as there is no kitchen and not even all the walls are finished but we couldn't help but have the feeling that we are onto the final stretch.

Anyway. that's all for this entry as it has already ended up being longer than I had expected. Oops. We will probably head over to the house on Sunday and see what has changed this week. Speak soon!