Public Toilets as Billboards

If you can't get enough advertising wherever you go (do we really need full-color ads on grocery store floors?), another method has been invented to continue this endless bombardment with the "Wow Toilet". It consists of an inner tank with an exterior clear component into which advertisements are inserted. I wonder who thought it might be a brilliant idea to associate a consumable product other than toilet paper with going to the bathroom, but apparently this is starting to catch on.

To me this raises a few questions:

How intrusive has advertising become?
Should a public toilet double as a billboard?
Can't a toilet just be a toilet?

I fear that this might catch on as a "clever" way to decorate in the residential world. I can see it now...little girl bathrooms with an inserted unicorn. Fratboy toilets with centerfolds. American flags hugging the tank (if you've seen flags masquerading as bandannas on sweaty heads, trust me, you'll see them as a patriotic statement on a toilet tank). You get the picture.

The good news is that the water tank has a dual flush option...score one for the planet.

Drywall is Up

Drywall is finally up, inspected and approved...another milestone in this very long marathon! Corner bead is being added to the window openings and the new drywall is being taped and mudded before its final inspection.

It is always amazing to me the difference drywall makes in the process. Its often difficult to get a feel for a space while it is in the framing stage, but once the drywall is in place the rooms become real and space can be visually recognized. In the room below I created a larger closet and moved back the original wall about 12". In the framing stage visitors weren't able to see much of a difference, but now the room feels much larger now that the drywall is up defining the new space.

With any luck, I can start paint next week. This will be the one "sweat equity" project that I will be attempting and at just the right time. The budget is getting thin and with my labor we should save a substantial sum of money (that has already been spent anyway!)

I was really unhappy to find a crack on the top of the low stucco wall close to the front door. Its been an especially rainy couple of months, and unfortunately, water has leaked into the wall structure swelling the studs, causing the top of the wall to crack. We could re-stucco at an additional cost, but my concern is that it may not be a permanent fix. Plan B is to seal the crack and cap the wall with a simple piece of exterior paint grade wood. Certainly not my first choice, but it is the most practical at this point in the project as well as the budget. You can't always get what you want, but to get to the end sometimes you have to compromise to find a solution that will work with the visuals as well as the budget.

"A Single Man" Home For Sale

An LA modernist gem is for sale...the home that served as a background for Colin Firth's character in "A Single Man". Nestled among the oaks in Glendale at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains, the building, designed by architect John Lautner, was ahead of its time with large expanses of glass and a decidedly indoor/outdoor feel. Constructed of redwood, concrete and glass, the two bedroom, one and a half bath residence can be yours for $1,495,000.