Back in Milwaukee, and things are looking good!

 The trip was mostly uneventful, which is the way we like it.

We are getting into a routine with this trip - first stop in North Little Rock, Second stop in St Louis, then Milwaukee. It is mot a bad drive.

We've discovered that the halfway point is the Black River Overlook Park in Pocahontas, AR. We stop and get food somewhere in town (Green's BBQ if they are open, but they are not open on weekends. So we try something else. I think we had Taco Bell (really!) this time)

Lulu is ready to be in Milwaukee:

We are well on our way to completion. You can see some of the progress here.

This is the original primary shower. The fur down there made it very difficult for me to stand up and take a shower. The shower head hit me in the chest.

This is the same shot. We took out the tub and the fur down, replace the tile, and raised the shower head. So now I can wash the top of my head.

The tile looks nice.

You can see the new bedroom color (actual, not AI!) below;

Here is  the original:

I like it!

More later, but I have to scoot to meet family for an early dinner.

And we're on our way (tomorrow)

 We do where we're going:

We're taking our time.

First night in North Little Rock (quickly becoming a favorite destination)
Second night in St Louis (already a favorite since we stay with friends)
Third night in Milwaukee

As always, in spite of the fact we've done this several times before there is always a little controversy about what we will be taking with us.

Looking forward to getting back to Milwaukee, but we will miss dearly our Houston friends.

Kitchen Sconces

 We have the original Wright sconces that were in the kitchen.

They look like this:

But we want to put some glass shades on them that mimic the glass in the rest of the house. 

So we are looking at something like this:

Now, the Meyer May house used the similar sconces, but they just put in large frosted bulbs:

(Look at the tile detail, and then look at the tile images from the previous post)

You might recall that the kitchen was redesigned in the 1960s, and the lights lloked like this:

but we want it to look like this:

More or less...

We are getting close.

Tile

 Oh, tile. It causes me much heartburn.

The problem is that there are far too many tiles to choose from, and many more colors within each of those tile families. 

Take a look here for the Pewabic family of tile. 

And look here for the Motawi family of tile.

We, and by "we" I mean Doreen. But I was there in a supportive way, patient and confident that the result would be fantastic.

So we did end up picking the Motawi tile. And I was right, it looks great.

Primary Bath:

There was a minor hiccup with the spacing, but that was resolved over a weekend.

You can't see them that well in the two above photos, but we are using some of the FLW detail tiles that tie into the square motif of the house for accents. They look like this:

and here are some of the hex Motawi tiles grouted in:

and some more grouted tile:

We will be heading north in just over a week, so we will be able to see these in real life, real soon.

Overhead Kitchen Light Fixture

 Remember when I mentioned that we are trying to build a light fixture that Wright originally designed for the house?

It was for the dining room, but a Niedecken fixture was put up there instead. 

Here is the original design:

Here it is, rendered in 3D by TKWA:

Orthogonal view:

We are using some local artisans (more on them later) and will be making some subtle modifications. Mainly, those copper end-caps will be replaced by art-glass that mimics the sconces in the living room:

So, instead of this:

they will look like this:

and without the illumination:

I think they will be fantastic.

We were really wondering how to replace these bulbs, but we figured it out from the original drawing from the Milwaukee Museum of Art, the Elsner Collection:

looking at it in 3D:

So those little wooden keys come out, and you drop down the diffusers. Simple!

More paint on the walls

 Here is the primary bedroom:

Painted:

Media/TV/Parlor:

Office/Computer Room:

Maid's Room/Mad's Room/Guest Bedroom:

Another view of the same room:

And another view:

Twin Bedroom (This is a bad view):

That is about it for now. We have wood in the kitchen, waiting:

I think we're also getting close to the overhead kitchen fixture:

Nothing good comes fast.

Real (not AI) Paint on the walls

 Got the first photos back with wall colors. I am expecting more today, but this the front room, called alternatively the Parlor, the Media Room, or the TV Room.

Here it was:

Here it is:

I think it looks very nice.

another view:

I will have more later.

Paint Colors

 Using Gemini for AI, we are testing different paint colors.

For example, here are two views of the office, with different color choices:

A different view in the same room:

The Media Room, as it is today, and with updated colors. AI also added a dog, that looks a little like Lulu, but is much more vulpine. I also moved the rug from downstairs to this room:

A different view of the room. You can see Lulu and the Vulpine Lulu as well.

Same room, different view:

Kitchen with new colors, but not new appliances or cabinets:

Butler's Pantry. New colors on the left:

Opposite side:

Maid's Room:

Same room, different view:

Living Room:

Twin bedroom:

I found it very useful, but at times very frustrating. This has helped us visualize what the rooms will look like, but colors on the screen are not necessarily true to colors on the walls.