Recently I completed one of the homework assignments that my designer Heidi gave me: trying on bathtubs. When we were talking about design elements and what I liked and didn't like, bathtubs came up. It went something like this: H: What about bathtubs? Free-standing or built-in? Me: I think free-standing?  <lacking confidence, sounding very questioning> H: Have you used one before? Me: No.... H: You have to go and try them on. Me: You mean sit in them in a showroom. H: Yes, exactly. So, that is how I found myself at a bathtub showroom on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Just to paint you a little picture, I looked like a wet grad student. I was wearing blue running capris, a rain jacket, wet hair, baseball hat, and running shoes. Just the type of person you want to try out all your bathtubs. But oddly enough, when people really want to sell you a bathtub they don't care what you look like. They just ask you to take your shoes off. Done and done. I normally prefer ...
via I'm not sure when I started to fall in love with oriental rugs. I think it was a gradual transition from the over dyed rug trend - then wham... oriental rug love. Wham is clearly a technical decor trending word.  I think what I love most about the rugs is there is so much detail and there is a story behind them. That rug lived in someone else's house before it lived in my cozy reading room. And perhaps someone else already spilled coffee on it so it won't be as big of a deal when I inevitably do it one morning.  After recognizing this as something that I was drawn to, I scoured Pinterest for an hour looking at other uses of oriental rugs. It seems like there are two primary takeaways: 99% of the time they are red and people love to put them in kitchens. I'm quite confident that I am too spill prone to put a lovable rug in the kitchen but I'm sure I'll find some quite cozy place. BTW - the cover image is from this shop that I stumbled on...
A few weeks ago I fell in love. To be clear, I fell in love with an oven. It had french doors and I couldn't imagine my life without it ever again. All of a sudden it was like everything that was ever "wrong" about my experiences with ovens was resolved by simply cutting the door in half. The oven / range decision really has three factors: (1) how much do I  need  for cooking purposes (2) what  helps  me (3) what am I  attracted  to There are other implications of course - like kitchen arrangement, cost, and product offerings. But I've tried to isolate this down to what would make my life better and what can I imagine standing in front of loving crafting my next seasonal tomato dish or poorly melting chocolate. ...
I'm a huge lover of front doors. I love to look at them, decorate around them, and walk through them. That last part? Yeah, I think that's where I'm perhaps a little different than most people. I find it so fascinating that people have these "objects" in their house that they don't use. This can be a fancy sitting area, an appliance, a dining room, etc. I really want to avoid this principle. I want to walk through my front door ... daily. ...
Photo by Jill Howard Design Studio  -  Discover beach style kitchen design ideas If I was to keep a food diary (which I'll never do), people would probably be confused. I really love cooking but also really love having toast for dinner. I consider Kraft Mac & Cheese a delicacy. My go-to snacks are pretzels and goldfish. I have very strong opinions on both. I recently came upon the knowledge that the nutritional facts for whole wheat goldfish and cheddar blasted goldfish were nearly identical. In all of this though, I like to cook. I like to play Spotify slightly loud while I chop vegetables. Sometimes I'll watch Netflix but either way, I'm happy in the kitchen. I like feeling as though the cabinets have order, pulling ingredients out, and lining them up like soldiers near the cutting board. ...
Things are happening. I met with my architect Heidi on Friday for drinks (and eating of course). She told me she will probably have plans in two weeks. TWO MOTHER FLIPPING WEEKS. I am going back and forth between being excited and terrified all at once. But in the meantime, Heidi gave me a few homework items: Kitchen = Figure out what size appliances I want Master Bath = Sit in a standalone tub ...
In general, I like to be really prepared for things. For example when I travel, I maintain printed  and digital  copies of any and all documentation that might even be required. Do you need to see that confirmation for the hotel in Bergen , Norway? Got it. Do you need to know how to potentially cross navigate an Italian train strike ? Got it. So going into my first architect meeting, I came to the conclusion that I was shocking ill-prepared. About an hour before my meeting I googled "how to hire an architect" and learned that the best way to kickoff this dating process was with a project brief. This made perfect sense, I knew in principle what I wanted but really hadn't written anything down. ...