Charliechomper Constructo Challenge House-update 2

[CharlieChomper]

It's taking me a bit of time--and I realize I'm a bit behind--but I did manage to get as far as the bathroom, at least.

This is Anise L'Enfant:


and her sister, Simone L'Enfant:
.

Despite being sisters, the two (in many ways) could not be more different--and have been occasionally known to even resent or deny knowing each other.

Anise is adventurous, brave, a "daredevil", eco-friendly, and a virtuoso. According to some (most notably Simone), she is also supposedly irresponsible and has been in and out of work frequently. However, to her credit, her passion in life is definitely travel--and her tastes reflects this (she loves an "exotic style" and loves featuring different cultures as well as little souvenirs and artwork, etc. in design and within the home). She argues that amongst the reasons why she so frequently appears to be out of work is because she's off traveling to one exotic locale or another and prefers to "live life to its fullest" and exploring tombs or taking in local culture (although, fighting the occasional mummy or two never hurt)--unfortunately, she has yet to determine a means to earn a living at it, and so is quite frequently broke as well as unemployed. However, since relocating to Twinbrook, she has been considering either a career as a tattoo artist...or a stylist...or a fire fighter...or possibly a ghostbuster. There has been an ongoing joke it will make newspaper headlines once she finally decides. She also periodically complains about how Simone needs to "lighten up" or "is incapable of having fun" (a charge Simone adamantly denies). Her favorite color is red and her least favorite is white.

Simone, on the other hand, considers herself to be the more "responsible" sister--despite having had to start over as far as a career goes (she's hoping she finally has some success as an interior designer) and in having to relocate to Twinbrook (although, the subject of her past career as well as into what became of her prior home appear not to be up for discussion). She's a perfectionist, a natural cook, has a photographer's eye, is artistic, and has a green thumb. She does not think too highly of what she sees as her sister's "wayward ways" and usually doesn't hesitate to say so. Her tastes tend to run more toward antiques (particularly, European and North American-inspired), and her favorite color is blue. She also admittedly hates minimalism, complaining it all "looks like a bunch of boxes" to her.

Having both had to relocate to Twinbrook for one reason or another--and both being financially unable to purchase anything alone, the two sisters entered into a very reluctant agreement of sorts (which Anise actually came up with as both had recently received an inheritance--although, Anise also spent a great deal of her's on trips to other countries...Whereas Simone was incredibly reluctant about the idea of living with her sister, given her nature):


The pair purchased the ruin of an old house that had experienced a devastating fire and have been working, room by room, on bring it back to life (or in some cases, up from whatever's left of the foundation)--it also happened to be all they could afford.

Using a combination of "found" materials, salvaged materials, or items found being discarded (much to Anise's elation in being "ecologically friendly" as well as just saving money) or in thrift/charity shops or second-hand-shops or garage/yard sales as well as a few items belonging to the sisters, themselves (such as Anise's collections from her travels or Simone's "finds" in antique shops and auctions), it has been nothing short of a wonder they manage to make any progress between Anise complaining that if it were solely up to Simone, the house would appear to be a "living musuem" and "feel stuffy" inside whereas Simone complains that if things were strictly left up to Anise nothing would get done whatsoever (or wake up to finding herself surrounded by a slew of items or "objects d'art" that may have been a bit far removed from her tastes, or to which she was unable to determine if they were functional or just purely decorative).

[CharlieChomper]

The Bathroom: Also known as the first major room filled with conflict between the two sisters...




Amongst the rooms that required being completely redone/rebuilt, it was nothing short of a wonder it was completed. The room reflects a combination of both sisters' favorite colors as well as their respective tastes. The bathtub was a "find" from a neighbor who had previously used it to store cold beverages.

The window and door came from a salvage yard (the door had supposedly previously been used on an old ship, before it was dismantled), the sink came from an old hotel that had been demolished (it was in such poor condition that the stone that had previously been on the upper portion--where the tile is now--had been stolen at some point and the porcelain left badly cracked. Amazingly, both sisters actually agreed to the piece (Simone, due to it being an antique loving the remaining marble; and Anise, claiming it reminded her of places in the Middle East within the brasswork), but very much disagreed as to how to replace the top as Simone had wanted to replace it with marble to match the legs and backsplash and Anise complaining she wanted tile instead as the marble would somehow just make the room appear "dull". Little did Simone realize one day whilst at work that Anise had gotten her hands on the piece and had proceeded to create a wild tile scheme upon it--needless to say, it was not a pretty site between the two when she returned home and saw it.

The room also displays some of Anise's "treasures" which she brought back from her travels, including the bird item, the mirror, everything upon the display shelf above the bench, and the shelving unit (built from salvaged wood) above the magazine rack, as well as the tiger plushie. The bench (which also provides additional storage), towel cabinet, teddy bear, and the round carpet are items belonging to Simone.

Most of the artwork (including the tea kettle and other items on the shelf above the bath) as well as the table and wooden towel rack were mostly garage/yard sale "finds". The "night light", toilet, hamper, towels, and rattan rug were all purchased new.

All the other lighting fixtures and towel racks as well as the toilet paper roll holder and both medicine cabinets (and magazine rack) were either purchased from antique shops, second-hand shops, or antique specialty shops.

The lower tile on the wall is based upon an antique pattern that has both Art Nouveau and Spanish (and by extension, Middle Eastern) influences to it which actually caused both sisters to agree to it (as well as the colors). The upper tile, however, led to another battle as Simone wanted to either paint the wall or put up wallpaper--yet, just as with the sink, whilst she was at work, Anise got to it and attempted to put up the blue tile. While Simone does approve of the color, she did not approve of what her sister had done--nor of what she viewed as "sloppy" workmanship (although, there remains some question into whether or not Anise may have done it in such a way deliberately...). Both sisters did the floor together, using a hodgepodge of vintage and antique ceramic tiles.

[Theachen7]

The two sisters are very interesting, and it sure looks like a recipe for argument when they are going to build a house together

I love the bathroom! It has a very exotic feel to it

[silverlining]

The sisters are cute and that bathroom is very cool. So colourful <3

[Kiri]

I love the back story you have for the sisters - they sound like they're going to be a lot of fun to play That is a truly wonderful bathroom - I love the exotic feel to it, the way you've sourced the items through it. And the bear in the middle of the room is so cute!

Definitely a great backstory

[Felicity]

Oh CC, I loved reading your story about these two girls! They sure have had an interesting life so far!

That bathroom is awesome, and the detail you put into it is marvellous!

Felicity

[CharlieChomper]

Thank you!

I have completed the kitchen and hope to have screenshots of that uploaded to show, hopefully, soon.

[CharlieChomper]

As promised, here's the kitchen. I had a very difficult time trying to think of a style I haven't already done in some way and realized I hadn't really done a sort of "retro""beach"/nautical-style kitchen before (plus, it was a style that neither sister loves nor hates...).



That said, the kitchen is amongst the few (if only?) rooms that were actually already on the property in some capacity (the previous owner of the property loved the ocean...) and opted to (re)build a kitchen in a nautical/beach "theme"--complete with sand and seashells built into the countertops (to avoid both the sand or shells going anywhere, it was covered in a durable transparent material as a "container" to hold it in). They even went so far as to include a navigational wheel off an old ship as a decoration and reused bits of old decking and a dock for cabinetry and woodwork.

When the sisters took possession of the property--following the woman's passing--it wasn't quite their respective cups of tea, but they also lacked the time and money to really devote to it and knew there were other rooms that were more in dire need of attention than the kitchen (which did need a considerable amount of cleaning and straightening up to get it to a point of usability, following years of neglect...), so they decided to leave it alone. At least, for now.

All the wall decorations (as well as some of the decorative items such as the tray), light fixtures, appliances, as well as the furnishings came with the house (as did the area rugs and curtains).

A few of the decorative items, the baskets, and household necessities (dishes, silverware, etc.) were purchased by the sisters.

Simone was not too happy about photos being taken of the room (or rather, she was annoyed with Anise), given that Anise apparently had not cleaned up after herself and left food as well as a tray of stemware on the counters as well as not putting the lid back onto a box of goodies. Anise countered that she intended to get to it...at some point...

[CharlieChomper]

The Entry: Also known as a room filled with compromises and arguments/fights/conflicts...amongst other things...






Both sisters had very different visions of this space. Simone wanted a formal, antique-filled room whereas Anise just wanted a space to display some of her treasures from her travels.

As the two sisters had great difficulty in agreeing with one-another, a sort-of "compromise" was reached in the form of dividing up the room into two halves (they literally drew a chalk line to divide the space), with each sister getting her own "half" to display her items within (and each making sure the other didn't cross into the other's space--the two exceptions are Anise being able to display one of her vases on Simone's "side" and a light fixture Simone had purchased which was hung by the front door).

The two barely agreed upon the downstairs wallpaper--and for very different reasons (Anise liked that it felt almost "exotic" whereas Simone liked that it had an almost "antique" quality to it that went well with the salvaged redwood woodwork (the red vertical strips ("battening") is recycled "anaglypta" (which sometimes mistakenly gets referred to as "lincrusta" and is related to it, but actually historically had been a different product), purchased from a salvage yard and supposedly taken from a demolished older home).

Simone designed the flooring, using a combination of antique ceramic and stone tiles they had purchased, combined with bits of hand-painted Moorish tile that Anise had picked up on her travels, but had badly cracked at some point (although, she swears she's innocent of having dropped or damaged it and prefers to blame Simone for it, despite Simone claiming never to have seen the tile prior to Anise mentioning it).

The doorways were another source of contention between the two as Anise had wanted a more "exotic"-looking door (she was particularly hoping for something Asian or Southeast Asian or possibly even Middle Eastern in this), whereas Simone was hoping for something more "traditional" and fit in better with the area as well as with the house, so far. Without consulting Anise about it first (knowing she'd complain), Simone had gone to an architectural salvage yard (claiming she was there scouting out items for a client and just happened upon it...) and had found what she thought to be the perfect set of front doors for their home. She immediately went about purchasing them and used Anise seeing a film (and therefore out of the house) as an excuse/opportunity to install the new doors. When Anise returned and saw them, let's just say the neighbors came close to having to ring the police...

As a sort of "payback" (and keeping in mind it was her "side" of the room, Anise took the opportunity to install an arched doorway. she had purchased on one of her trips to Asia, while Simone was at work. A "compromise" was reached in which Simone could "keep" her front door, if Anise could keep her archway.

The other door in the room (also known as the one not leading to the bathroom) was another compromise piece in which Anise loved its Asian (namely Japanese) influences while Simone loved that it was Arts and Crafts (it was purchased from a salvage yard and had previously been the front door of an old bungalow that had sadly met a demise at the hands of a wrecking ball).

Most of Anise's pieces on display came from her travels through Asia (she admits to not knowing what the calligraphy says, but just liked how it appeared, visually), with the exception of the mirror hanging on her side which came from her travels through Latin America (on the upper level, some pieces from her travels through Egypt can be found).

In contrast, many of the items belonging to Simone largely came from shops (second hand/thrift or charity or antique) or auctions, with most pieces (the artwork, in particular) having come from Europe. Many of the lighting fixtures (with a few exceptions) were purchased by Simone and are mostly American in origin.

The two also compromised on the area rugs, the overhead lighting fixtures, and two of the tables. The table in the middle of the lower level belongs to Simone and was used because of how well it worked with the round, Asian-inspired area rug--they chose to use the "shower" (the term for that type of lighting fixture, even if it's just one example of a style of it) on the lower level because of the scale of the room. The Chinese-style fixture on the upper level belongs to Anise, as does the Asian-style chest (which doubles for additional storage to store pens and paper, etc.), while the "runner" area rug upstairs and doormat belongs to Simone and are antique.

The curtains/window treatments were likewise a compromise--Simone chose the draperies (although, Anise admittedly hates the curtains on the lower level and complains they make the room appear "too stuffy" for her tastes. She has also been periodically spotted about the house looking for a pair of scissors...or just threatening to give them a "trim"...) to match her settee, while Anise chose the bamboo shades upstairs (which Simone doesn't care for, but physically can't get access to, in order to do anything about them...) and curtain rod, as well as having made the shades on the front doors, using fabric she had purchased on her travels (while she'd never openly admit it to Anise, Simone does admit to liking them as she thinks they look a bit like "stained glass" and gives that dimension to them, given the way the light filters through the fabric). Not visible are the portiers (curtains set against a door or archway) along the wall leading into the kitchen, which Anise had actually put up, using fabric purchased during the course of her travels.

On the upper level, the window also came from a salvage yard along with much of the woodwork (the exception being the Chinese-style railings, which were purchased by Anise) and wood flooring. The woodwork on the walls apparently came from the same bungalow that the door had and was met with a similar agreement. The windows were a different story...

The "wallpaper" was made from a roll of fabric brought back by Anise from her travels through France (although, she admittedly did not care for its use as wallpaper, as she complained she didn't like how it looked used in such a way and felt it looked better as a roll--albeit, one she also admitted she wasn't certain of what she would have done with otherwise). The sconce on the left was created by hand and wrought iron and was purchased by Anise somewhere in the Middle East, while the one on the right is English and was purchased by Simone at a second-hand shop.

The two sisters also fought over the railings, with what Anise felt to be an unfair "compromise" in that she "only got" to display two panels of her Chinese railing, while Simone was able to display four panels of "her" railing.

However, unlike the inside of the house, the outside (leading toward the home) actually proved less of a "battle" (the pathway leading up to the house is actually original to the property).

The cast-iron fence is antique and was purchased by Simone (along with the gate). Anise did not object to it as much of what she sought to do was far more labor-intensive than she was willing to attempt. Just as Simone (ever the plant lover) did not object to Anise planting a few "exotic" trees (Cinnamon, Olive, Asian Plum, and Japanese Cherry to name but a few) to go along with what Simone had planted.

One odd source of contention was on lighting and ornaments, hence the bit of "hodgepodge" choices (the red and blue lamp having been purchased by Anise, one antique former street lamp having been bought by Simone, and a foliage-covered lamp with a bird having been oddly agreed upon by both--the area of the fence by the game offers up some even stranger choices, with both sisters equally represented). The antique, water pump attached to the rocks came with the property, while there is an Asian bamboo and stone "fountain" to be found elsewhere along the path (courtesy of Anise) as well as an antique, English birdbath (courtesy of Simone).

Also visible are the remnants of some of the trees lost in the devastating fire which also damaged or destroyed much of the house...
------------------------------------------
I forgot to mention that are is actually an item from both the bathroom (not shown in these photos as I forgot to upload a screenshot of it, but it's the lighting fixture above the sink in the bathroom) as well as something from the kitchen (the trim on the round area rug, which is the same pattern as the rectangular rug in the kitchen).

[silverlining]

I think both your kitchen and entry look really nice. You did a good job of cluttering the kitchen up. The walkway up to the house is very cool, almost looks sort of Tim Burton-ish to me.

[Theachen7]

Very nice, I love the layout of the kitchen! The entrance is also very nice, and I agree with Emma that the walkway looks a little Burton-ish

[CharlieChomper]

Thanks!

Here's an image of the sconce that was also used in the bathroom, in use in the entry, as well as how that wall just appears in case anyone was curious.

I have no idea of why some parts of the image appear so saturated, but it's definitely not that bad in my game (regardless of which monitor I'm using):

[CharlieChomper]

Sorry for having posted so many photos in this thread, so far (as well as for the lengthy amounts of text in some of my posts)!

I hope I'm finally "caught up" as it were, as I just completed (and hope I got it right) the working space. I actually had some difficulty with this step, which is part of the reason why I said that I hope I got this right. It's not as visible in some of the photos, but underneath that area rug, there is plain, horizontal/"plank", wood flooring.

The overall layout, so far:



Actual photos of the room (and I already see one item that I may change or re-CAST...):






The easel, drafting table, and desk containing the pencils/pens, etc. belongs to Simone and reflects both her profession as well as her love of art (on the floor, beside her desk also sits a bouquet of flowers as well as another hanging from the wall, along with a plant--which reflects her "green thumb" and love of plants).

The desk with all the "clutter" and the guitar belong to Anise, who uses it do research into her travels as well as booking trips and sorting through various items for or from her "adventures" (somewhere buried underneath all that "clutter" is actually a computer) and also loves to play music (although, she's still trying to perfect her guitar-playing skills). The recycling bin in the room was also Anise's idea.

The overall decor reflects a combination of both sisters in different ways, with Anise having contributed the bookshelf and Simone the loveseat (the artwork is also more a reflection of their differences as well--and Simone was not too thrilled in Anise having covered up some of her sketches with one of her tomb maps). Similarly, each sister contributed toward the lighting (with the exception of the overhead lamp, which they purchased together as they couldn't agree on anything else).

The curtains were made from pieces of fabric Anise brought back from India while the stool and easel were two of Simone's garage sale "finds". The globe was a joint purchase, while much of the architectural detailing came from salvage yards.

This room has also been somewhat of a source of contention--albeit, mostly in the sense of Anise not picking up after herself (as evidenced by some of the clutter...). Simone was also not happy about Anise allowing candle wax to drip onto some old books rather than put them atop or into something (just as Anise knocked over the bouquet that's now on the floor when looking at the globe).

[silverlining]

Wow, that is a very cool and creative work room! I must say I'm impressed at your constructo-ing speed! It seems to take me a month to do each step and you just went zoom! lol.

[Jenni Rose]

I love the look and stories to all your rooms.
I especially love all the colors you used.

[CharlieChomper]

Thank you!

I had a bit of time to work on this last week and just went from there, following the guidelines with each room. Even though Step 5 is up, I may have to have hold off on attempting it or may find myself falling behind again, unfortunately.

[Whitnerd]

Everything looks fantastic and so well thought out so far. I think the entrance is my favorite. There's something about the bright blue cushions and curtains against the reds.