How to lay the parquet ? - Please advise & vote !

In our primo piano we are going to lay parquet into two rooms and the corridor.
Angelo already has ordered the amount of parquet, natural oak (rovere naturalizzato). The planks we will use are quiete large and long: 18,9 cm wide and 186 and 190 cm long.

second last: rovere naturalizzato

The only thing we are not yet sure about is the laying direction.

Angelo has send me the following drawings of version A and B:

There are two bedrooms and one corridor in an 'L'-shape. One part of the 'L' is very narrow (about 100cm). There are three balcony doors  from where the light comes in. Before asking my dear readers for advise and comments, I researched a bit the www and found the following about how to lay parquet in a home:

• usually the direction of the wooden panels follow (parallel) the direction of the light incidence. That means it starts in an 45 degree angle from the window (is this clearly described?) - in our case this would be Version A
• some say simply: from the door to the light, which is not often fisable as the window is not always opposite the door.
• others say, if you lay it across the light incidence (parallel to the window) you could make appear the room wider - in our case Version B could do that to the upper bedroom 
• another specialist was saying that you cannot always follow the 'light incidence direction method'. You should consider the dynamic of the room, walking directions and shape of the room.

I understand the last answer. But what is the dynamic of my rooms ? I am thousands of miles away to feel the dynamic. We never lived inside and we have not yet dicided where to put the beds.

And then we became another interesting advise from our archtiect, a Version C, which would be a mix of A and B - and does not make the decision finding easier:

• parquet layout in rooms Version A
• parquet layout in corridor Version B

For a better understanding of the premises, here some pictures:

this is one of the rooms and its balcony door

this is the balcony door in the corridor

When you come up the stairs - and turn left to furhter go up -  it would look better to have the panels parallel to the window, across the light incidence, in the same direction as you walk, I think.

one more part of the corridor in the primo piano

Dear Readers, come along with your suggestions !

Here is a visual summary for you:

Version A - classic - direction follows the incoming light

Version B - parallel to the windows, this layout underlines that both rooms are connected via the corridor

(I think, this is the better solution for the corridor and the upper bedroom as it could look a bit wider in its slimmer part where we cut away space for a bathroom)

Version C - a mixture

So please vote on the blogroll, or leave a comment !! GRAZIE !!!

At the end I found another hint, I am sure, my experienced worker on site, Angelo, knows it already:

When the parquet is delivered, wait 48 hours to let the wood acclimatise. The ideal condition would be a temperature above 17 degree (which we have for sure) and below 70% humidity (which I do not know). Not sure from which latitude this hint came from, but waiting 48 hours seeems to make sense.

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UPDATE May 2012:

This post got a mention in the NYTimes.com and International Herald Tribune!

Unfortunately, I never saved the voting chart, but the winner was Version C !
It got a few more votes, and we were finally convinced to use Version C, the mixture of A and B. - Thanks for all your valuable comments!

And here are some pics of the result, taken in 2011:

A change of laying direction is perfectly fine!

Invitation to visit the attic with me

Come along with me upstairs to the attic, visit la mansarda...

Wait, what is new here :

We have installed a sliding door to be able to close the attic, in case we have a party or maybe guests staying up there. As the entrance before was so much smaler and even the stairs up here were so narrow, that Angelo had this stairs enlarged and this door intalled.

This lamp you have seen in my last post already: it is a simple round shaped wall (or ceiling) lamp of Murano glass. Above the lamp are wooden panels. (We might need to paint them white). They are here because we needed a path, a way to walk between the right and left part of the attic (as on the other side, the roof comes down very steep).

Ah, see, Angelo has already unpacked some of our furniture... well, these Shanghai style rocking deck chairs do not belong here (one floor down would be correct), but never mind. Have a seat.

Oh, look, an old chest from my husbands single household... not sure if it will remain here. But so far no other suggestion (as no other room his ready, ha ha !!!)

A new door ! Where is is leading to ?

To a bathroom ! Tonino is still at work.

Look, the bathroom is already finished !!!

The renovation process is so fast nowadays that I cannot keep pace with them on my blog.

I love these white rectangular tiles! And the turquoise colour that goes with them.

And here by tonight, there will be a tiny extra accent with a bit of Bisazza mosaic. I am even more curious than you, to see how my husband's idea will look (because we have to pay for that extra!!!)

And here ends the tour for today.

progress in the stairway: stucco repair and new lamp

The BEFORE situation

Angelo had set up a scaffold and decided to repair the stucco of the ceiling in the stairway of the first floor (primo piano) by himslef, paint the ceiling and walls and hang the lamp he and his wife have found on a flea market near Venice.

during repair

after Angelo's artistic job !

during repair

(here he bought a similar piece of stucco and adjusted it)

and after Angelo's artistic job !

(actually, I cannot see that something is not original)

the beautiful ceiling after repair and paint - wow !

(who's father or father-in-law is able to do that ?!?!)

and here comes the above mentioned lamp - an antique flea market find 

the only thing, that I have to do with this luster, is that I have chosen the location for it

(not sure if you remember my posts about the small 'original' lamp that I wanted to keep in the main entrance, here and here)

this is the picture I have received today:

the scaffolding is gone and a second lamp is mounted on a wall in the background.

I cannot wait to see the walls and rail painted and the wooden rail handle mounted !

It looks now much more liveable!

This is the other lamp - again not my choice, but a good choice - it's a simple round Murano glass wall lamp. It hangs in the stairway that leads to the attic. The wooden panels above the lamp is from the flooring. It will be used as a small path. More about the attic coming soon.

another door: door frame and fresco

Remember this picture?

I liked the way they protected the fresco with newspaper.

Now the walls are painted and the door frame is placed and it looks like this:

The wall is reinforced. I am glad that it did not collapse together with this fresco. Although it is not very well preserved it shows clearly a woman, fishermen and the vulcano Stromboli in the background. We might have some artist who could restore the fresco. But it has its own charm in that way too.

Don't forget to vote about the large post on the blogroll (window above door / transom).

vote for window over door

Here is another decision to make:

We have here a window over the door (what is the exact expression?)

Inside is a living area and outside is the staiway.

We have three options:

• transparent glass
• opaque glass
• coloured glass (elaborated somehow)

Renovation progress inside the house

Beside the pretty results I have posted lately, basic renovation work progresses on the inside of the house:

Above: reparing a wall by taking off old paint and plaster and adding new plaster

Above: checking seismic bars for corrosion and rust, and repair them if necessary

the wall in the living room is almost finished

the walls in the bedroom are already painted

(I like how they protected the fresco over the door with newspaper)

Above: planning the contruction for the slope of the shower in the master bathroom

Today, Angelo sent me the following information:

L'avanzamento generale lavori è ora 74,85%

That means we are 74,85% done with the renovation !!!

I really like that information - especially the two digits behind the comma.

One must know that my father-in-law used to work as a chief project supervisor on hugh construction fields all over in the world where they built plants and refineries. So, our house must be like a walk in the park for him. This had the effect, that in the beginning, he could not care less for the design of a shower plate ... Over the time however, our decission making process became smooth and effective. Since he gets quick replies from us, he also involves us in all details (I think). Only now and then, he likes to work independently and surprises us - just recently with some artistic blue paint jobs.