The Wu

While it might have been cheeky to have a George Nelson chandelier in Mike Nelson's house, the familiar flying saucer shape didn't quite fit our hardware store modernist home. Lighting experts Marie and Robert Shakespeare suggested we speak with Jiangmei Wu, a colleague of Marie's in the IU Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design. 

Coincidentally, Mike, Jiangmei, and I all worked together for Instructional Support Services at IU back in the oughts, and we agreed she would be the perfect person to design a piece for our dining space. 

We bring you The Wu (actually titled  "Anemoi").

The chandelier is made of kozo, Japanese mulberry paper (often used in shoji screens), precisely cut, assembled with bookbinding glue and small plastic snaps, and attached to a lightweight metal frame. You can see Jiangmei's other work at foldedlightart.com.

Jiangmei visiting the house to get a sense of scale for the chandelier.

It was cold.

Jiangmei's workshop

One of several pieces we reviewed while discussing the form our chandelier would take.

Wu arrives with the Wu.

Laura carries the Wu.

Somehow, Sam and Dave figured out how to hang the Wu. You can see the winch on the catwalk that lowers the Wu to table height, and raises it out of the way if we use the dining room as an open space.

The power cord wraps around clothesline, which reaches the winch through a series of pulleys.

The marine winch is rated for 175 pounds; overkill for a paper chandelier, but it has the size and look we wanted.

Mike's Effing Half-pipe

When we were discussing how to finish the gas fireplace planned for the east wall, under the ascension window, I requested a half-pipe, to run from the floor to the ceiling, with cutouts for the fireplace and window. Because it would carry on the steel theme, and because, you, know, it would be really cool.

Evidently drainage pipe is heavy, and therefore difficult to move, set in place, and support—so it doesn't fall through the floor into the garage. Also, someone would have to cut through the steel to fabricate it to fit the space.

Evidently steel drainage pipe is hard to cut through.

In short, Sam and Dave told me I couldn't have my half-pipe, but as a consolation offered to design and build a fireplace surround covered with corrugated steel that would gesture toward the pipe dream.

The consolation feature was also a pain to build, though, so early on in its fabrication, Dave lovingly dubbed it "Mike's fucking half-pipe."

Here is how you make one.

Green Fields and Cold Steel Rails

For continuity, we decided to use the same steel tubing from the goat fence railing in the bathrooms, where it supports the countertops. Sourced from Cincinnati.

Sleeve serving as a shim between the rail and limestone counter (image is upside down). Photos below show it and others in place.

Hall bath

A hotel towel rack and a niche provide storage.

The same steel we used for external siding lines the bathtub enclosure. The steel is backed with rubber and open at the bottom, so any water that gets under the steel can drain. One of Dave's clean-up people called it "a mildew factory," but we haven't had any problems yet.

Limestone counter. The sink wall is painted Hep Green.

Said Dave of the chrome plumbing we requested, "the pipes will rust through pretty quickly, but they look cool."

We used a traditional door on the hall bath, for privacy; it opens into the hall, since the bathroom is small.

Master bath

The accent wall is painted Mandarin Orange.

The galvanized tub and pail serve as storage and wastepaper basket, respectively.

We chose barn doors for the master and loft bathrooms; there is a second door for the closets in each room.

Loft bath

We used the same fixtures in all the bathrooms, at the foot of the stairs, and on the exterior of the house by the entries.

Opting for the speedrail system instead of a vanity meant that there wouldn't be much storage. The medicine chests and a cabinet in the bedroom hold all the bath supplies.

Demonstration painting by Laura's uncle, who was a professor.