JULY 17 UPDATE: Interesting bits from NYT

I worked seven hours at my freelance copy editing job today -- one of the other copy editors is on vacation, so the rest of us picked up extra hours this week -- which doesn't necessarily mean that I was editing for all that time, but I did have to be in the vicinity of the computer quite a lot. So, during breaks when I didn't have stories to edit, I read the New York Times online.

I found a couple stories that were of interest: First the slide show of NYT's regular real estate feature, "What you get for ..." whatever price they have in mind that week -- this week it's $700,000.

Now, we're not building a $700,000 home. Or even a $70,000 one, frankly. But I love looking through the pictures of these houses to see all the cool design ideas.

The best one in this slide show is the house in Virginia, which has a lovely rustic appeal. They obviously thought about passive solar design with the big windows on the south side, and I'd love to do what they did with stone -- I especially admire the soapstone floor. How did they do that, anybody know? Some crazy heavy-duty varnish over the top after they laid the stones?

Of course, putting in stone walls and floors is one of the ideas that makes people around here look at me like I'm insane (one neighbor literally backed slowly out of the room when I brought up asking him for advice on the project) -- and additionally I've had to give up on the idea to preserve marital harmony. But I can admire it in other people's houses in any case.

And speaking of marital harmony, that brings me to the other NYT article, about "emotional architecture" -- basically making sure the home you end up living in reflects how you really want to live. This architect puts potential homeowners through a rigorous process to help them figure out what they really want. (Apparently, people often think they want one thing -- often a home bigger than they need -- and later find out that a smaller home with certain key features is what would really make them happy.)

Now, what the people in the story are doing sounds a little too intense for me, but I did get to thinking about some of the little things I value in a home:

• not feeling like I am stuck in the kitchen when the rest of the family is elsewhere (hence the open kitchen design)
• having all of my shoes belong somewhere near the door I use most often, since that's where they all end up anyway
• an east bedroom (I need all the help I can get with getting up in the morning)
• having storage I can reach easily
• having enough storage space for linens and blankets, so we can pull them out quickly for guests
• a utility sink for washing vegetables before they come in the house, hand-washing laundry, etc.
• good reading lights in the bedroom, and other good spots for reading throughout the house
  
• a root cellar, or other storage space for preserves and potatoes
• a place where I can spread out projects -- a loom, photo albums, sewing machine, etc.
  

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I could think of for now. Thoughts, anyone?

... As far as house progress goes, Dave worked on patching the few cracks in the foundation tonight as he was advised to do. He decided to put off cutting a hole in the roof until a day when he had a little more time to devote to the project.

... Sofia and I picked more currants today. The white currants are perfectly ripe, and we really need to get them harvested. Luckily, Sofia's cousins are coming to visit tomorrow -- we'll set all the girls to picking at some point.