Closet Designs And Office Nicchia Shelves

To do some custom shelving and doors, Kevin has brought Johnny on to the project team. He’s from England, now living nearby.

Primarily, we wanted him to execute the wooden shelves for the built-in wall niches in the office and in the bathrooms and to handle the two closets, downstairs coat closet and upstairs linen closet, by supplying doors and shelving.

We had sent along some ideas for the niches a number of months ago, but hadn’t really addressed the closets until today.

Closets

We received a draft layout for the linen closet.

Linen Closet Proposed Layout
Linen Closet Proposed Layout
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Our only surprise was that there was shelving shown above the closet, built into the wall. We had assumed this would just be flat wall. This we needed to think about, as having the shelves extend all the way to the ceiling beams, at nearly 9ft, seemed like it might look a little strange.

Kevin’s main questions to us focused on the shelves inside the closet: how many and with what spacing.

I played around with some options, wanting to leave enough space at the bottom to store one or two portable air conditioning units, and to have useable spaces above for bedding and towels.

Eventually, I started to wonder if we wouldn’t be better off using adjustable shelves sitting on shelf pegs. I wasn’t sure if this was done it Italy, but it seemed to be the best solution.

Ultimately, we decided on just one shelf, or two openings, above the door, maybe for decorative items, and movable shelves inside.

Doors? Johnny recommended using some old doors in a style similar to the rest of the interior doors. That seemed right. The only open question is the finish for the doors.

Office Nicchia

Here, our real decision is two shelves, meaning three levels for books, or three shelves, meaning four openings.

This one is a little maddening. Given the overall height of the nicchia, if we have four openings, they will be 22.7cm high. Guess what? A typical book is 23cm tall. If we’d just built the overall opening a few, maybe 10cm (4in) bigger, we would have been all set for four levels.

office nicchia layout
Possible Shelf Positions
Click image to enlarge

Since we can only do three levels, rather than make each 32cm high, we elected to make the bottom level taller, which gives us space for bigger books below and regular books above.

An Update

Luckily, Johnny and Kevin came back to us with a revised layout. When we said just one shelf/two openings above the linen closet door, we expected the area above to be flat wall. They were a bit unclear, and thought it made more sense to have a tall, open space above, so they asked what we wanted. We clarified our desire to close off the top space and make a flat wall.

Linen Closet Layout Options
Linen Closet Layout Options
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We’re all set on the simple layout for the downstairs coat closet.

For the doors, Johnny has found some old oak doors, now painted ivory. He recommended that we strip them, leaving a few flecks of paint in place to give a bit of a weathered look. That’s sounds good, so we’re now set on closets.

Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Window Screens in Place Zanzieri for the Zanzare

Over a year ago, we made the decision to have window and door screens, which are somewhat uncommon in Italy. Today the window screens were installed. They are on the outside of the windows, since the windows open inward. and they roll up and down.

The Italian word for these screens is zanziere, very related to the word for mosquito, zanzara.

Screen Being Rolled Down
Screen Being Rolled Down
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Screen In-Place and Closed
Screen In-Place and Closed
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Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Portone Being Built

Back in June, we decided on the general design of the portone. Now it is being manufactured, and Kevin sent us pictures of the work in progress for our approval.

We like the look of the arch and details, so we gave the OK for work to continue. As of now, it’s the only door or window that hasn’t been installed.

Portone in Progress
Portone
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Source:
Door photo: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Tiling and a Whole Lot More With Some Great Photos of the View

It’s been about 3 weeks since we received any photos. Anne asked Kevin if work was progressing, and he responded with a bundle of photos showing a lot of different projects underway.

The front of the house is looking very nice. Work is continuing on the retaining wall up the hill.

Front from Kitchen Side
Front from Kitchen Side
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Base of the Retaining Wall
Base of the Retaining Wall
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Tile is going in the kitchen area of the main room and on the marciapiede that surrounds the house.

Kitchen Tile
Kitchen Tile
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Tile Along the Back
Tile Along the Back
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The terrazza tile is done, and the views from the terrazza looking southwest are wonderful.

From Terrazza Looking Uphill
Terrazza and Roof Tile
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Southwest from the Terrazza
Southwest from the Terrazza
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Inside, the stone wall is grouted and the heating control box is connected to the underfloor tubes.

Interior Stone Wall Grouted
Interior Stone Wall Grouted
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Heating Pipe Connections
Underfloor Heating Pipe Connections
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Also, the interior is being prepped for painting, some of the bathroom fixtures are in, and utility connection boxes have been set in the ground outside.

Here are all the photos of the various projects underway.

Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

Windows and Doors Installed Portico Finished

All of a sudden, the windows and door are installed. We saw pictures of them being delivered just a couple of days ago, and now it looks like they are all in place. With the roof sections done and the windows in, it really looks like a house.

Kitchen Window
Kitchen Window
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Rear with Doors Installed
Rear with Doors Installed
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Also, the portico is finished and looks good.

Portico Complete
Portico Complete
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Door to the Portico
Door to the Portico
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Now it’s time to get some insurance on the house. Kevin is working to arrange it.

The photo gallery:

Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure