Blog from the Loft

I was all excited when I found Insteon products made by Smarthome. It is basically X-10 improved. It is a powerline system that has two way communication (and other technical improvement). What that means is that when a controller sends a command to a device, it will make sure that the device got it, and [...]

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Shoe storage is very important to keeping the house tidy. Us Asian especially like to take our shoes off at the door. Any normal shoe storage solution is likely to be too small. What to do?
We bought two IKEA MAGIKER short shelves with doors for our entry hall. Out of all the series at IKEA, [...]

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I often hear these from friends — “you live in the city, right?”, “loft? How about those nice luxury condo buildings?”, “No? Why not? I thought that’s real city living….”. Don’t get me wrong. I grew up in Hong Kong, and lived in many high rise buildings. I was/am used to them. But given the [...]

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Only took us four years, but I finally decided to get some solar shades for the lofts. The new loft is high enough that the sunshine pours into the space all thru the day, which I love. However it is also blindingly bright. Since time is money we decided to get them ordered and installed. [...]

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I have waited and waited, finally we have a local Ikea store !! It’s here just in time for us to outfit the new loft with selected items from Ikea. When I was measuring the various space in the loft to fit cabinets etc from Ikea, I always find that the Ikea items have strange [...]

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Seems like the loft building topic of this blog has been quiet for awhile — but no more ! I am onto the next loft project. Unfortunately the first round of business is the boring stuff — financing. Good thing is that my bank is great. I am trying to close on the new loft [...]

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I bought a washer and dryer this week. Originally I was waiting to finish rennovating the loft and then get a pair of machines that fit perfectly into the new space. However our rennovation plan is going to be delayed, and I am getting tired of coins managemnt. Our building has common room washers and [...]

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BOSTON — The powerful weekend snowstorm that piled more than 3 feet of snow on parts of the Northeast moved out to sea Monday but its effects lingered as hundreds of schools closed and thousands of air travelers remained stranded. Am I glad that I moved to the city and no more snow shovelling for [...]

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Some resources for my loft design
Appliances

ventless washer dryer

ASKO manufacturer

LG manufacturer

Russound whole house audio and video distribution.

B&W speakers

Rotating AV Racks

Vimco, Lutron Controllable Shades

Lutron lighting control

Snake Tray for wiring, probably too industrial

Art work hanging systems

Art work hanging system 2

Avanti systems specifically from the UK

Furniture:

Topdeq office furniture
Bamboo Floorings
OCHO concrete furniture
Not quite home loft, but and article onoffice design, [...]

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May seems strange to you, but when I walked into the loft this afternoon, I was lost for a second, as to where to put my wet umbrella. City Living. I don’t remember the last time I had to do this. Used to be : click the garage door opener, drive in, leave the wet [...]

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