The Doily won

And it looks fantastic on the polished hard wood floors. Lucy is 9 months old today and she presents to you, the doily rug!

Yeah, its all about the baby; the rug was just an excuse.

Grey and White striped wall inspiration

I'll make it easier for you mom!

A month or so ago, the first thing that caught my eye and got me thinking grey and white stripes was when I was watching Hereafter. Actually I didn't think much about it. I decided right there and then that that is what I would do. (Love her hair style too!)

(photo source/credit: ign.com images)

I follow remodelista and occasionally they have posts w/ grey and white walls.

I followed their sources (here and here) and continued to be inspired by the grey and white palette;  the clean lines and simple decor of Scandinavia. This appeals to me and I want to carry that through into the rest of the living room and the dining room and kitchen.  Did I mention I have a degree in fashion merchandising. I love finding things that make me smile.



(photo sources/credits from here)



I have always flip flopped between liking colour or just white. Pure white sofa vs bright orange sofa. Pristine white walls vs stately blue walls. 

My first house was all white downstairs. I loved the fresh and organic feeling that the white walls vibrated. The rooms upstairs were painted various colours. Some by me, some by the previous owners. When I moved to an apartment I immediately painted 3 pieces of wood furnishings white. Now, in my new home, ...well we will just have to see the outcome.


Another design blog I am scouring through: from Scandinavia with love Design & Style.  Scrumptiously clean.






And, yeah, the original inspiration, the grey and white striped wall, is Parisian.  I can mix Parisian and Scandinavian. Sure I can.

Gray, grey, gray, grey

Whoa! Too much grey reading.

Grey undertones - purple, blue, green.

Grey is the new brown.

Grey vs Gray. (Because my spellchecker keeps telling my grey is wrong. I should change my settings.)

Rule with grey: When deciding on a grey, do not rely on the colour chip alone. Buy the sample and test on the walls.

While devouring my paint book bible, I discovered another paint brand, Pratt and Lambert. I was intrigued by the suggested colour combination of Arrowroot & Phantom (to achieve the desirable dutch white minimalist colour palette). Googled Pratt and Lambert and was happy to discover I can buy this brand at Value Hardware Store.  Had never been to this hardware store nor have I heard of it so wondered what kind of paint this brand would be. Apparently equal to Benjamin Moore and the best of Behr.  I love their colours and names! They also have a useful tool on their website for viewing and matching colours.

Working at my grey and white striped wall. I have two coats of white on the wall so far and will do a third coat but I have a new dilemma - What is the best white to match grey? White white (a la Chantilly Lace) or do I get a different white, a creamy white, such as Milk Sugar. Or even creamier. And if I use a cream white for the white and grey striped wall, can the other walls be bright white.

Pratt and Lambert: Quiet time.  Other possibilities: Gettysburg, Durability, Carolina Gull, Driftwood (colours are listed w/ purple undertones)

My new favourite colour, Wolf, has a blue undertone. I think it looks taupish. Trying to work wolf into my dining room. Along with arrowroot and phantom. My son recently wrote facts on wolves. He was quite proud of how he tasked himself with this job of writing FACTs on wolves. I now throw the word "facts" around, and he instantly perks up. 


I also like Vintage Grey by Eddie Bauer. Vintage Grey seems like a no brainer for the look I am going for. While trying to find a colour swatch I have discovered Eddie Bauer/Valspar also has very handy website for working through colours and inspiration. But they wont let me take a little image of the colour. Oh look, Tempered Gray. Better check that out as well.

Previewing this post, I am leaning towards Wolf. It won't be quite grey and white stripes, but I am really liking it.

Photo: 2008 Istanbul train Station, Anatolia side. The Bosphorus Strait is the water way and beyond that, the faded back range, is the European side of Istanbul.

I am putting together some posts on my travels in Turkey and while doing so, reviewing my photos. This was a slow process (as of the day before yesterday). Insert cd, click through folders, find photos, click through oodles of photos, remove cd, repeat - all on a ten year old broken down slow computer. Last year I bought an external hard drive for my work computer. And snap, a place to upload and store all my photos! All in once place. And even in some sort of order!

photo credit: sara l. davies

A world of white

One thousand whites to choose from, one cannot actually pick by colour alone.

I was using House Beautiful Paint Guide magazine for inspiration. The descriptions of each colour are helpful. Paint chip names are amusing, if not useful.  The categories, paint swabs and room pictures bring it all together.

The write-ups - "if you have a wall with a bow in it or a floor that has settled, this will make an old room feel graceful rather the brand new....." ~STRONG WHITE by Farrow & Ball.  Based on the write up, this was the one for my home. If I were choosing based on the name, Pocket Watch White would have been my pick, although what part of a pocket watch is white; I just think silver or gold.

A few months of flipping through this magazine, a half hour in the paint store w/ a handful of paint chips fanned out in front of me and a mind on the brink of bogglement, I declared I am no decorator I do not need to deconstruct and demystify each white in order to choose one. I made a quick gut decision, picked one that was not even written up in the magazine and headed to the counter.

This white had all the right traits. An old feel name that conjured depth and gracefulness. Not as bright as Brilliant White yet clearly superior to Super White. Not as reflective and glaring as Snow White, on a sunny, -40 degree day.  And cleaner then Calcium Carbonate White*. A french name and the right pigment to use both in my bathroom and for the white portion of my grey and white stripped wall in the living room.  And a back up paint chip in case I changed my mind on the way to the counter, Cotton Ball White.  Lucy was with me and she had already eaten the corner of a few paint papers. It was time to move on.

My pick, Chantily Lace by Benjamin Moore. Going with my gut, it was perfect. Until I got home and painted a wall.  A 180. It's no good. It won't work. Another project stopped before completed.  It's white alright. And it's beautiful. The problem, it outshines my clean, fresh and pure white tiles, a consideration that never occurred to me.

I have a bunch of interior doors that need a fresh coat of white paint. And my wall in my living room, the white stripe portion. So I can start a few new projects. And hire someone to finish them all off. I will have to pick another color for my bathroom. A darker wheat colour will work, that will allow my tiles to be the brightest in the bathroom.

* Calcium Carbonate White has never been used as a paint chip name as far as I know. But it's the WHITE that is in my profile picture, the white cliffs and travertines in Pamukkale, Turkey.  Maybe I should forget decorating and start naming paint chips, for the ironic sort.

Livingroom design board

Slowly putting my living room together, and creating an electronic idea board. The purple doily rug won. I bought it and it is in the mail.

photo source: anthropologie

I also bought a wooden chair that I have been eyeing, actually ogling is more like it, for, oh, a year+. It went on sale, half price. That is also in the mail. Free shipping on both, which is a huge incentive when shopping online.   I thought two of these wooden chairs would enhance my breakfast eating experience, but one is lovely too. 









Today I feel like I NEED to finish the painting projects. Actually I have felt like that for weeks, but I rely on my energy level to cue me to do it. That comes and goes and goes and goes. I WILL get the white paint this weekend. And I WILL paint the bathroom and the one wall in the living room.  Whites easy, all my cutting mistakes will go unnoticed.  I won't have an excuse to give up (like my blue peacock room). And apply the tape for grey stripes. Our weekend is free, no plans. Perfect for this kind of project. And end it with a Sunday afternoon family yoga session. I am beginning to convince myself, sounds like a divine weekend.

photo source: crateandbarrel

Once I rid myself of my current sofa (love/hate relationship), I will replace it with the Vaughn Sofa in menswear charcoal wool (great for constant shedding dog) and the lubi Olive daybed:

photo source: CB2

Cafe Coffee

I drank coffee made from this:

And now the coffee maker is high on my Christmas list.

LOVE IT

by Eva Solo

Rugs

My living room is an odd shape; actually not odd at all, its rectangular, but there are many doorways leading into the room. Such an exciting room, one needs to be able to access it QUICKLY and EASILY.  Or leave it quickly. There is the french door set leading to the dining room.  And another doorway leading to the kitchen. And another door leading to a porch. As if three doorways in the room are not hard enough to work around; there is forth.  The most important door in a house and the biggest challenge as it separates the room into two. The front door leading right into the middle of the room. I hate that. But that didn't stop me from buying the house.  There are actually two front doors, separated by a tiny, tiny foyer. So it wasn't quite front doorway leading directly into the living room.

So I am challenged with finding carpets.  A large, huge one, 10 x 20+ - hard to find, hard to pay for - although I like the idea of no furniture and one large carpet and a huge bean bag chair a la UrbanOutfitters.





I like the pattern on this round rug and I think it will work perfectly as an accent rug. In front of the piano and the grey and white striped wall. Yep.

I recently bought a 5x8 brown patch rug, but neither the sparkly floor nor room look better. And the rug lost its appeal. The hardwood floors are gleaming and it requires a carpet that compliments it.  This one pops. Right in front of the fire place. 8x10 is a bit big for the area, and 8x9 doesn't exist:

Love the doily.

I am a bit of a rug fanatic. Maybe I'll post more now that I figured out how to take an image. Actually, these photos are compliments of Anthropologie and they openly share their images.

New York City

 We are leaving on a train tomorrow. Heading to NYC. I have been longing for a train ride. For several  years now. But having a dog and a car, it always made more sense to bring the dog and drive. This time I am treating myself to NOT driving, sitting back and enjoying the ride. I also long for big city stimulation in the fall.
We were there a year and a half ago. We went with a friend to see the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island. It was cold and raining. We stood under a shelter, bundled up, shivering, waiting and waiting and waiting for the first mermaids to parade on by. They did come. I no longer felt cold, not after these lunatics, brave assortment of people dressed in skimpy mermaid attire paraded by. I was too cold to take pictures, but certainly a time to remember.

We also hung out in Central Park and took the free ride past the Statue of Liberty.

Last year I was directed to a lodging site, airbnb.com. Take a look at their Top 40, enjoy the photos, dream a little!. For this trip, I found a carriage house in Brooklyn to rent (at half the price of a hotel). Besides walking the streets we want to visit the National Museum of Civilization, Time Square at night, SoHo, Greenwich Village, Central Park, Anthropologie (any and all), FAO Schwarz, another museum - perhaps MoMA, the new Children's museum in Brooklyn - free on saturday afternoons. If we walk by Ochre, I will pop in. And any other store I have read about and admired their photos online. Ride up some skyscrapers and have dinner w/ Oya (Sat. eve), whom apparently lives on the 27th floor of a skyscraper... Maybe I will take a few more shots of some birds. I would like to see the/a prison ... homage to Law & Order, no more. Lets see what happens.

photo credits: sara l. davies

Nursery

Another work in progress room, LUCY's room. I finally moved the crib into the room. Had to remove door and discover the space was still not wide enough. Dismantled crib and found its new place in her room.
Details for the room are missing, such as a mobile from Etsy, floating shelves, artwork from Etsy, felted balls, a rug, etc. But I am pleased with the progress.

Above, Kate Quinn Organic crib skirt & quilt in Pomegranate; gifted personalized Pottery Barn chamois blanket

Pomegranate by Benjamin Moore (red wall)
African Violet by Glidden (orange walls)

Can a list be motivational?

I dunno, but I am stuck.

I went to a Dharma Kids class yesterday and meditated for three minutes (I said KIDS dharma).  I need to clear my mind of the things I have to do and finish. Write it down and de-clutter my brain. And take up the practice of meditating And get back into yoga. The postulations we did made that very clear.
We were taught about offerings and that one can make offerings to their feelings. Such as, if you wake up angry, make an offering to the obstacle and be done with it.
Of course my kids were with me, it was a KIDS dharma lesson. But as the instructor pointed out, she thinks the adults get more out of the lesson then the kids!


Things to do:

Bathroom:

• Paint bathroom/buy paint/examine white colours
• Hang mirror (need to purchase - Pottery Barn Oval)
• Install vanity shelf
• Buy wheat coloured bathmat

Orange room:

• Apply one more coat of varnish
• Finish painting walls (peacock blue)
• Electrical (for Gary)
• Decide best usage for new room.

Misc:
Paint other rooms. Put together living room. Get wallpaper for half bath & try my hand at wallpapering. Then I'll have to paint the trim around the window, find a medicine cabinet, replace toilet (love my TOTO), tear out vinyl flooring which leads into the kitchen project.

While I take the time to declutter my brain with a list of things to do, my morning duties have piled up. Gotta run.

Living room idea #1

Found it ...  The inspiration for painting my living room w/ grey and white stripes!

With this sofa by Ochre in Pink

And a black piano

And a Red-Crowned Crane painting from the lovely Alice Lo and Donald Lo

[insert photo - still figuring out copyright stock photo stuff]

The photographs of the cranes are amazing; backdrop of snow and bare trees and the enormous white birds with black tails and a red spot on the face.  Alice is a local artist in Central New York. I met her at Syracuse's annual Art festival.  I plan to climb Mount Fuji in the near future and now that I know about these birds, I can visit them as well.

Bathroom Renovation

before (9/23/09 - first day of owning house):

Almost completed (7/2010):

Before stages:

Gutted (12/2010 over Christmas break, took about a month to get done).

Stalled.
Finally got the old dirty vinyl flooring and plywood cut out.

Skim coated 1 wall:

Stalled.
Some plumbing work. Repositioned the toilet and sink.
Stalled....
Found a new plumber and contractor.
ACTION!

Hereafter

I recently saw the movie Hereafter. Enjoyed it. The journalist was doing work in her grey and white striped wall study. It looked really cool and I decided grey and white stripes should be the colour of one wall in my living room. I did a quick google search for more ideas and samples and found this blog.  I liked her pictures and ideas so it will become my first "following" blog. The grey that I want is a bit deeper&darker then the one in her pictures, but her room does look great.

Another blog I click into daily is Remodelista. This site was a great resource when I was designing my bathroom. I even found my mirror and sink shelf via Remodelista. And today they have posted Tiny Kitchen Roundup, which is my next big project. I have an odd shaped kitchen which is in dire need of help.

The Golden Rule

Maybe this blog should be called Random Thoughts Documented, While 100 Year Old House Gets Renovated.

I broke the golden rule today. I am so ashamed.

I have several funky corduroy jackets; my long time favourite fitted orange jacket. A burgundy one, similar to a jean jacket. And two, yes count 'em, two very similar brownish cord fleece lined jackets. One from the Abercrombie line circa 2001. I had to write to customer service to locate the jacket once I discovered it was sold out in stores. I pleaded with them, told them this was the BEST design and I hadnt bought it earlier as I was 10 months pregnant, but yes, I wanted it now. And they did find it for me and I did get to wear it home from the hospital after giving birth to my baby boy. I forget what his coming home outfit was, but I remember my jacket. And then there is the 2nd one, the male version, bomber style jacket from American Eagle circa 2004. Very cool too.

How I managed to leave the house with corduroy pants AND a corduroy jacket on today, I have no idea. And I didn't even notice until I was half way to work, 10 blocks away from home. Maybe it is because I am limited to 3 pair of pants right now, one being the black pair of cords, the culprit. I had to go home to meet the firewood guy at noon. First thing I did was go upstairs and change.

Wood pile

Hmmm, Now that I have my blog about renovating my house I am reminded of this book I read a couple of years ago. In fact the book was based on a blog, Stuff White People Like. Will have to return to that site and see what he is up to.

Gotta run and meet the firewood guy. Bought myself a face cord.

I bought my house last year.

Sept 23, 2009 was the day the papers were signed and I received the keys from the prior owner, the elderly Ms. Owens. "Today is my birthday!", I declared. What a nice present to myself.


Built in 1910. Cottage / center colonial type of building.  1750 sq, small urban city / university area.

That fall I had insulation blown in the attic floor / bedroom ceilings and porch overhangs. (Rsi - John Curran) There is no insulation in the walls yet, but what I have done seems to have helped immensely. Great experience with the general contractor.
I also had chimney work done last fall. (ZZZ Chimney) Another great experience with contractor (John Zorro).
The wiring in my house is a problem. Many three prong covers over top of old wiring / non-grounded wiring. Instead of rewiring the whole house at once I am doing a few plugs at a time (thanks to my hand BIL Gary) or in the case of my bathroom, which was completely renovated, the electrical was entirely updated. I also have to gut and renovate the kitchen so the wiring for the kitchen will get done at that time.
My bathroom has been gutted and fixed. ITs a tiny bathroom and besides wanting to move it next door to a bigger room, I just had to switch the position of toilet and sink and update the walls. Initially I hired a handyman person (Dec 09, over the christmas break, while we were away) that I knew, but we were not on the same page. 7 months later I found a bathroom reno company (The Punctual Plumber and Benjamin Franklin bathroom renovators) to finish it off.
I didn't relocate the bathroom as that was beyond my scope and $$$; I do not have revamping intentions for this house. A good learning experience of wants, guilty pleasures and needs.  I designed the bathroom after looking through a gazzillion magazines and online sites. Bought the material: Subway tiles for the walls (Modern Dimension), octagon tiling for the floor (Daltile); lighting (Rejuvenation), toilet (TOTO dual flush), sink (Kohler) etc. I exchanged two sinks in the process!
I still need to paint it and hang the mirror and shelf. But I love it!
Bathroom reno:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9536696...7623419249792/

I am also working on a small room where I tore out an old dirty orange rug, had a friend of a friend sand the hardwood floor and I stained it and varnished it. The person who sanded wasn't very experience I suppose,  as there are lots of ruts in the corners. But its a give and take ... getting certain things done at a certain price.
This fall (2010) I need to complete the small room ... paint the walls (peacock blue) and another coat of varnish on the floor. Complete the bathroom - paint the walls (maybe Benjamin Moore Cloud White), hang mirror and shelf. 
I have a acquaintance-friend contractor (Contract-HER) doing three windows for me; the large broken glass window in the living room and the two attic windows which are barely functional.

Me, not so handy, but I really enjoyed staining the floors. Do not like painting. BLAH. Too bad as a lot could be improved by painting. Just had a baby too, 8 month old Lucy and my gorgeous 8 year old boy Chaz ... (a segway introducing my sweet kids)