To bridge the gap between the fridge and the stove, I made a little extra workspace/storage shelve from, you guessed it, excess cedar wood. For the top, I used the piece I cut out of the kitchen countertop on the other side. It also creates a spot for the rice cooker that will still vent out through the vent hood.
Until today, the ceiling the hallway was some pieces of cardboard. But now it’s all drywalled and painted, so it has a more finished look. A second layer of paint will be put soon.
(Ahead warning; this post will bore the pants off non techies. For the non techies: It works now, so the answer is Trådfri.)
I’ve been adding more and more IKEA trådfri smart lighting gadgets, but also have had frequent issues; trådfri or not trådfri was often the question. At first, I blamed the gateway and thought it had died on me. The flickering lights would indicate no internet connection, yet all my other devices were connected sharing the same WiFi. Resetting Router or Gateway did sometimes help, but not always and in the end not at all anymore. So I googled it, and found hints that the IKEA gateway does not like all routers. Mine in particular, is an LTE/3G router, and one of the features is that it resets itself daily. So daily, the Ikea gateway would lose internet connection. Ikea suggests you assign a permanent IP address to the gateway, but my LTE router has no such option. To counter the IKEA gateway losing connection and not regaining after the router was back up, I added a timer switch, that would switch off the Ikea gateway every night for 15 minutes, and then power it back up again. That worked for a while. But as I arrived this time, I could not get the gateway to connect at all; it simply would reset itself after trying to connect. So more drastic measures were required; I bought a second router (also giving me the advantage of being able to use both 2.4 and 5GHz and connect more devices using Ethernet) and disabled the LTE Router’s WiFi. The new router hooks up to the LTE router with a UTP cable, and the new router does NAT from the 192.168.0.X to the 10.0.0.X range. My Ikea Tradfri gateway now connects to the new router, that acts as a DHCP server for the gateway (and all other devices in the home using either WiFi or ethernet.)
Ikea and the new router get along well so far; I’ve had no issues for the last 4 days. (other than Siri not always understanding me, but maybe we should blame my accent for that).
Two days ago, during a thunderstorm, we lost power for 15 minutes, but as power came back on, so did the gateway. So now, most things works with voice control, or iOS App or physical remotes in Ozuye Lodge. I can unlock the door with my Applewatch or by Phone, and invite users with access from a certain day/time to another certain day/time. Yelling “Hey Siri, open the door” from outside won’t work; only on approved personal devices, Siri can be used to unlock the door. Remember the three beer bottles that make the lights over the bar? They are Pecan Porter, Devil’s Backbone and Blood&Honey. Siri now understands commands like “Hey Siri, bar lights 50%” but you can also single them out by name; “Hey Siri, Blood and Honey 5%” dims only the Blood & Honey light to 5%. So next time someone at the bar has had too much to drink, you can just switch off their light. I will try add instructions to the smart mirror, so everyone that visits can learn which commands are possible.
Oh, and I managed to get all remotes and dimmers operational again. Ikea just doesn’t always deliver fresh batteries so I had to replace 3 that were pretty new.
As the Master bedroom is about finished and cleaned up, it was time to make a picture that shows the room in it’s current state:
Although I have been getting up pretty much when it gets light, not everyone likes seeing the early dawn. At first I had put in white venetian blinds, but it made the wall all white, and the white vinyl blinds did not block light very well. So now, these 84″ tall curtains will keep the daylight out when wanted, and break the white wall during the day.
They are on for 5 minutes only, so the fabric still has to settle.
Anyone who reads is, is likely welcome. But now this confirmed by a doormat, with a horse theme, which seems fitting considering the Subdivision is called Stallion Springs, and the street Appaloosa drive.
I thought about putting it outside, but changed my mind as a thunderstorm soaked the doormat. That would make the deck underneath rot.
My brother Karel gave me a set of special lightbulbs for my birthday; they are 99 LED lights, that flicker in a vertical pattern, making it look like there is an actual fire in it. So I mounted a fixture and put one in. As a picture would not do to justice, here’s a tiny video
They are good for making dark corners into cosy corners.
“Ik ruik niet alleen sterk” (“I don’t just smell strong”) is what I might say in Dutch, after singlehandedly getting both a washer and dryer off the truck, up the hill, up the stairs, and into the technical room.
Originally I had planned to make the technical room two feet less wide, but I’m glad I decided to make it wider, making the bathroom a little smaller. If I had not done that, the washer and dryer would have had to be placed in the bathroom, which does not look nice.
They are not hooked up yet, I need to get the right outlet for the dryer, some flexible pipe, and some plumbing stuff. And yes, the door still closes 🙂
Nobody likes living out of a suitcase. But the only cupboard space I had until today, was the nightstands in the master bedroom. Thanks to Caroline (an long time friend of my sister, who lives in New Braunfels, just 30 minutes from here) I now have 6 spacious drawers for guests (and myself) to put clothes in.
It matches the color scheme quite well and will last a lifetime.
Everybody has stuff they want to keep, but don’t want to showcase in their living or bedroom. I’m no exception. But I planned storage space in the shape of an attic, above the technical room. It’s a large enough space to store even the longest cedar 2×4’s I still have, and will be covered by a door that is screwed into place.
