confidence.creativity.inspiration

Yesterday I was helping a friend move. She had rented a U-haul van and we drove to a nearby town to pick up a few things that her friends were giving her. I thought I was just helping my friend and keeping her company, but in fact I got to tour two really cool in-real-life homes!

The two homes I saw were each owned by 30 or 40 somethings, hippish looking couples. Both with cute kids with boho names; names that are a bit more daring then the names in trendy areas ... think Gulliver, Esther, Holly. Perhaps a bit "Stuff White People Like", poster people.

One home was an old church. Yes, I got to tour a church converted into a home. The back portion was the guys carpentry studio. Impressive. The front portion was their home. Impressive. The wife is a professor at the nearby university specializing in printmaking and he, skillful carpenter. The living space was open, the kitchen was raised ... in the area where the priest would preach. The carpenter had built a children's building inside their home. The wife explained that this was built as a nursery. And the boys had slept in their for about a year. Now its a play room, house with its own front yard indoors.  There was a large rug and a few sofas to set the boundary for the tv area and social area. The parents bed beyond that, separated by a wall divider.  An office area was along the front of the church; the three huge stained glass church windows were half exposed here.  Another office which was defined by Ikeas cube bookcase and a winding metal stair case going up to the boys bedroom....this is the part we were being shown. Up the staircase and one arrives on a balcony. The carpenter husband had made bookshelves. Although one bookshelf was actually a secret door into the bedroom. This room was long and narrow, against the front of the church. The tops of the stained glass windows came up the wall, through the floor. The bottom portion of the windows were in the office space below. Hand made bunk beds, with a slide down. Clean, functional and creative.  On the way down the stairs I glanced around the living space. Randomly and oddly throughout were bikes and chairs.  More bikes then one might think were needed for two adults, but I got it, if one of them were bike commuters. And chairs. The old Eames type chair, or vinyl/leather kitchen type chairs. These were scattered high on top of inside "roof" surfaces. Hard to say if it was intentional or if they were chair collectors and stored them wherever there was available space. This family was actually giving my friend three chairs for her new home. I was in awe, because I only get to see these kinds of places in magazines. It was neither intimidating or ready for a house photo shoot. Definitely lived in and warm and inviting.


The second house was a craftsman bungle bungalow. Lovely garden and stone entrance. And scattered around,  the distinctive Stickley furnishing. Collectors perhaps? Outside, two storage pieces. In the front room, a fireplace and two Stickely chairs. This is where we stayed and waited. It must have been the music that made me feel that this couple had lived here for a while and the house was a home, well put together.




I SOOOOO wish I had a camera for the church space.  And now I want to move to this town, as surely EVERY home is like these two homes I got to see. ha. I feel I lack the skills to put ideas together. But after a bit of envy and inspirational debauchery, I realized that my home is coming along, just very slowly. I could amp it up and do some little things that I think would make the space more me. Other things though, I do lack skills. I do not have any carpentry experience and I am not a PhD in textiles and fabrics. And I do not even have a partner with such skills! But both spaces did give me the confidence to go forth with my ideas and not feel constrained by the walls I have.

Half bath - inspiration

My work computer quietly died last week. I came to work one morning and the thing would not light up. I knew it was coming to its end, but it still died abruptly and without notice. I lost all my inspirational photos and links. All my bookmarks which included a 1000 pages of bathroom vanities, sinks, and medicine cabinets. So much research down the drain.  And Appendix E, some tedious work that I was doing and really do not want to redo. Luckily I have my photos, all the way back to 2002, backed up on an external harddrive.

I will have to eventually take the machine to a techno whiz geek in hopes of dissecting the machine, removing harddrive and getting my files off of it.

Along with the broken computer, I also wait to hear about my broken camera.

And while I wait to here back from my contract-her, who hopefully is not broken, concerning my 3 phase kitchen demo and reno plan I feel any direction this blog was taking has gone helter skelter.

BUT an IDEA arose... An inspiration post for my small bathroom that will be updated during the kitchen reno.


I want a funky but functional sink. I can go a bit larger then these two sinks, but I like their style. I LOVE the recessed shelf and sink idea. I wouldn't mind that except I wanted to avoid demolition in this area and I wasn't going to tile the wall... BUT I LOVE IT, so who knows. I like the extra surface area on the other sink. Both from Signature Hardware.

Some wallpaper on the top half, white paint on the bottom portion. Separated w/ a "chair" rail. Apparently I am leaning towards a blue bathroom. via Anthropologie

A Recessed Medicine Cabinet: The existing one is longer then it is high and has a sliding mirror.  I want one similar to this one, but not as dark (Signature Hardware).




I will replace the toilet w/ the dual flush Aquia II TOTO. I have this sleek toilet upstairs and am very pleased with it, both the design and functionality.

Flooring was going to continue in from the kitchen. I like texture and feeling with my feet so flooring has to be natural. Currently I am considering tumbled limestone. Just found this at Bourget Brothers, will return there shortly for some ideas!

Lighting - Not sure if I can fit in a pendant light, but I like this galvanized pendant from Barn Light Warehouse. If not this, I can surely use this wall hung light above the cabinet. 

Some fun things like a toilet paper holder, towel rack, first aid kit (I have this little first aid kit seen in the inspiration photo below and it is MUCH smaller then it appears!):

inspiration photos - source Remodelista


Oh ... This is looking sweet. I am inspired.

Warranties, cameras and some sea photos

Recently I had been wondering if my camera was broken or if my picture taking skills had diminished. We used to take better pictures, I am sure of it, so it cannot be lack of skills. As well, there is no warranty on my skills so I needed to find out if I had bought the warranty on the camera.

Luckily I did purchase the warranty. Even luckier that I inquired this past weekend on whether I actually did have a warranty. And if things can get luckier...well, luckily I purchased a 4 year warranty and still have a few more months left on it and didn't wonder about it while w. expired!

I had already wallowed in contemplation for a few months, wondering if it was the camera or me. Wait, it was 10 months ago! Last summer I busted the lens. I had leaned down with the camera dangling from my neck and didn't stop until the thud and crack of a lens. Luckily I had also purchased a reflector lens thingy that protected the actually lens from cracking.

I had made an attempt to find a paper copy of it a few months ago. I looked into my handy folder that contains every important document one can think of filing and putting in a safe place. Two lessons learned here: 1. All those highly important documents are super outdated, but not quite 7 years outdated. So I carry around this bulky folder system that can be reduced to one folder if we were not advised to hold onto such important documents for sooooo many years. 2. No sign of a warranty.

We were in Best Buy Friday evening, looking at fridges and pocket sized cameras. (Love it that my 8 year old has a keen interest in fridges and design.) And it occurred to me (its all in the timing!) to simply ask the attendant if I had a warranty, and lickety clickety split, I do.

I have the warranty and surely enough didn't waste a minute more. I ran home. Got the camera. Took a few token last pictures of my hockey-skating-star in practice then off to Best Buy to use the warranty. (This actually happened the next day as everyone knows little league hockey is forever scheduled before dawn on  Saturday mornings)

Now I wait, with bated breath, to hear the good fortune that the camera doesn't stand a chance of being fixed and that I need to come in and get its equal, but the much newer and better and zoomier model.

In the meantime, in this -15 F weather we have here, who wouldn't want to be here ....

Glimpses of the Mediterranean and Aegean

Bodrum, Sept 2003

Bodrum, Sept 2003

Side, Aug 2006

Side, AUg 2006

Ölüdeniz, Aug 2008

Ölüdeniz, kindof, Aug 2008

post script: If you purchase a camera that cost 250+ dollars, I highly recommend purchasing the warranty. I do not know the fate of my slr rebel xt camera as of yet, but previous to this camera, well maybe previous to a few others, the same situation happened... my broken camera was replaced with its equal which is always newer and better.

post post script: Go here, here and here to read and see more pictures of the sea,

Fly much!!!

Love going through my old photos and finding gems like this!

Side, Turkey, Aug 2008 CHAZ!

Baby needs shoes

 


Lucy has a pair of Baby Jane Lamb shoes by Robeez, but they are too big.  Her Moccasins, too big; her faux fur booties, too small, her velvet dance shoes, too tight.












We have adored wearing her Paidrag slippers!   They have been worn all fall and winter and I am sure they have kept her feet toasty warm. Thick colourful wool, leather soles and lambswool insides. We get compliments on the shoes every day we are out.






When my boy was a baby, I totally got my shoe fix. It started with Robeez, then Zara. Enter a few traditional Turkish slippers. A classic blue runner, so cute we got these throughout several growth spurts. Some cheap fun sandals....  I did keep some of my favourite sons' baby shoes, but they are too wide for my daughters slim foot, even the replica soft shoe of the Blundstone boot. (The green leather Zara sandal shoe were my favourite; he had those in two sizes as well.)






In bittersweet preparation for the inevitable growth of her baby feet, I have been bookmarking spiffy shoes. I predict an  extravaganza shoe shopping spree is coming my her way!





Some sole for your babies feet:


Some lambswool booties from Etsy shop Wooly Baby. These slippers look soooo comfy and would look super cool with tights and a dress. (p.s. bought and waiting in anticipation for their arrival)

Another Etsy find Caramel Diezel , cute Mary Jane knitted slippers in stylish colours:

And adorable spring loafers from Etsy shop Slightly Polished (brought to my attention via 6th Street Design). Love and Kisses pattern to your left & keeping with the burst of sunshine theme ... yellow polka dots to your right.

Some reliable cute classics @ Stride Rite, although I hesitate to buy white.










And lastly (for now) See Kai Run. Many choices here. Green and spring are on my mind: 








As much as I like shoes and shopping, I LOVE baby bare feet. A dilemma ... I suppose I can subside my desire and go with the wooly slippers. It is still winter and the hardwood floors are cold.

My favourite sofa - 1/18/11

A burst of sunshine to end this snow filled period.

via UrbanOutfitters

Need I say more. Actually, I do. I am loving this yellow colour. I have a small yellow basket on my mantel and maybe I can incorporate some yellow pillows and other pieces of sunshine into my living room, to bide by the rest of the cold months.

Outside: A blustery morning.

1/16/11

Inside: Wintery blooms.

1/13/11

Sweater cuff re-purposed

This sweet homemade candle holder warms my insides every time I see the photo. I wonder if I can find the time to make one...

Source: Sweater cuff candle holder

Traffic and weather

In Central New York we seem to get a good dumping of snow for a week each month. And then for the rest of the month it warms up. The snow melts. And then we get a deep freeze preparing us for the next months week of snow. At least this is the pattern thus far, this year.

We are on day 5 of snow in January. Not as much snow landing on the ground as December's Day 5 of snow. Nonetheless, lots of snow and the kids are having fun, (despite no "snow day").

I do not have any snow pictures to share; at least no CURRENT snow pictures.  But while searching through my photos (and reminiscing), I came up with this little collection.

Galata Tower

Traffic in Istanbul, looking down from Galata Tower. Imagine what happens when it snows here! Actually, similar to what happens in Washington D.C. or more currently, Alabama. Things shut down. Everything. Istanbul is very hilly and occasionally they get a snow storm. And naturally, they do not have any snow plows. Take note of the parking in my photo. Love it!

Traffic in my home, looking down in dining room. When my son was 2 - 3, he spent hours playing with his cars. We sat together and created a village and traffic.  There is a line up going through a McDonald's drive-thru. A round-about. A farm and a city. Fond memories. (Too bad I tossed that carpet...it stunk, but now I think I should have kept it) If it snowed in this traffic, all would remain harmonious. He had a collection of snowplows to take care of the elements.

My son fondly remembers traffic in Istanbul. As we departed the airport and into a taxi, he would happily watch the cars ...  inhale exhaust (cough, cough), horns, screeching tires...cacophony at its best.

While walking on the sidewalks in Istanbul, he was firstly amazed, then shocked and then highly offended that motorcycles, when delayed by traffic, would just drive up on the sidewalk regardless of humans and continue their journey. Traffic, a minor inconvenience for them.

Whites

Winter white

Antique white

 Pearly whites (zoom in :))

kitchen - before

Photos often put things into perspective. No wonder I have been cranky. Look at this nastiness and clutter!

"I am a patient person, I have high tolerance. I am a patient person, I have high tolerance." I tell myself after looking at these pictures. Admittedly, I just moved in last September. I was 6 months pregnant. I did chimney work, blew in insulation, gutted and remodel the upstairs bathroom. Had a baby. Replaced some windows. Painted two rooms. Play with my 8 year old, run my out of home business .... it is ok, its coming down NOW!

Some water damage and nastiness:

Some ugly vinyl floor that does not come clean. This was also in the upstairs bathroom where we cut out the vinyl and plywood, down to the boards.

A small bit of solace. 

That is all I can bare to reveal. I have deleted the layout photos. Besides the dingy atmosphere, the apparent lack of storage (re: cluttered counters), it was too depressing to look at.

I will be meeting with my Contract-Her this week and discussing my three phase plan!

My current elements, likes and needs: Pantry, white, ceramic, tile, stone. Wood. Floating shelves. Minimalism. Eating/gathering area. Light. Airy.

My favourite sofa - 1/7/11!

Plum pickings! Love the mulberry colour and the linen two tone fabric pieced together.

via, none other then, anthropologie

I think I will start a weekly sofa post, my favourite sofa, until I actually replace mine!

Sweet piece of inspiration

Stumbled across this sweet piece of inspiration via Emmas Blog via Studio Sankt Paul

I so have a fun project this weekend! I was working on filling in the alcove beside the fireplace w/ wood anyway and now this!

Kitchen reno to begin

This year I will attack the kitchen.

Everything is muddled now, well, everything about the layout of the kitchen! So firstly, I need to gut it.  Clear the space so I can visualize its potential.   Clearing the kitchen is as good as clearing my  mind; a clean slate. As well, working in gutted kitchen may naturally lead to the layout.

Phase 1
1. Gut the kitchen and half bath. Remove counters, cupboards, drawers. Tear off vinyl floor, down to boards
2. Lay temporary floor or cement board down. There is an eco-friendly substitute I need to look into
3. Make a temporary sink area along south/east back wall to see if I would prefer the sink to be in this location.
4. Set up prep table and shelves.
5. Paint round table I have stored at work.

Phase II
Live and work in gutted kitchen and figure out best design/layout for it.

Install tile floor...but not too soon, lest I change my mind!

Do bathroom - replace toilet and sink, paint and wallpaper, new mirror/cabinet. I have experience here so this is all in order!

Phase III
Build kitchen.
Ah, that'll take a good portion of the year!

The clearing has begun,

In bewteen the phases I can purchase needed items - new toto toilet for half bath, stove, fridge, sink. ... Check out the re-store. All is good.

I have a trusted and keen contractor!

I am currently loving Scandinavian design; clean lines. white, wood, steel. But I also like terra cotta tiles and warm colours.

Let the work begin....