I made a list yesterday of all the lighting fixtures / options that I need to pick out and buy. How it is possible that there are still so many things to select? Yes, I get it. We took absolutely everything out of this house except the stairs... so of course I have to pick all the lighting - but man alive. For this project, I ended up hiring a friend of mine to do the painting. I remember back when I first sat down with Contractor Jim and telling him that I could do the painting myself. Yes, theoretically as a human I could paint this house - but no, not really. The attention to detail and speed is just not something that I'm capable of. Also, the entire inside of the house needs to be painted. I'd be painting for a lifetime. This decision was reenforced when I saw the first colors going up on the walls. So amazing. I'm in love with the details of this house even more. The palate is absolutely a million shades of gray but I like that. It'll encourage me to show col...
I realized this week that thinking about tile work very legitimately raises my heart rate. I was at the dentist last week and the hygienist was like "hi yeah, you need to get this under control. you are 34. did you eat Chinese food last night? or are you under a lot of stress?". The answer is obvious stress. These are all good things. It is such a blessing to have a project like this to work on. But - man alive, the details are nuts. I have to pick out EVERY LITTLE THING in this house. Trim color. Tile direction. Windowsill depth. But, tile is killing me a little bit more than other things. See, I can "easily" repaint a room. I cannot easily change tile. This sucker is staying on the ground for a long time. But, I feel like I'm getting closer. The goal is to be done with it this weekend. Back in week 26, Contractor Jim made this list of things that he wanted me to figure out. Since we are three weeks from that date, felt like a good time for a checkin. Loo...
I've been to the tile store I think like 5 times now. I have rather legitimately changed my mind each time I went to the store. Fundamentally, the design is the "same" but I always come away with something slightly different. I'm an iterative person so this isn't super surprising to me but I really want to feel confident that I'm getting closer to the right path. Tile Shopping History 1 - we wrote a bunch of stuff down and I can't even remember it. When I was there this past weekend, I said make sure you toss anything that is in my file out. It's dead to me. 2- some nice woman. We talked about the downstairs bathroom 3 - with my sister. Talked about the downstairs bathroom and the upstairs hall bathroom. 4- by myself. Tried to think about the master bathroom. 5 - most recent trip. Actually wrote up another order for everything but the master bathroom Yesterday I pulled all the tile samples from the back of the car and hauled them into the h...
Let's do some quick math. 28 divided by 4 is 7. So we are 7 months into this project as of now. A whole lot of that time has been spent on rebuilding this house from it's slightly dilapidated state.... and now it looks brand new. At this point, it feels like there is both a lot and not a lot left to happen. The rooms look like humans could actually live in them - which is a far cry from how they appeared just a couple weeks back. When I was about 2 years old my parents bought their first house and heavily renovated it ... and lived in it the entire time. They are stronger than I am. But, we are getting closer to wrapping up this show. I walked through the house this week with the painter and it's wild to think we are actually picking interior colors. This phase right now feels like a lot of reaching out to people. I've emailed 6 people about shower doors, 5 people about soda-blasting the staircase, and now I'm on to landscaping. I have some rough idea of w...
Yowzers. This was quite the week. It's getting redundant to say that each week feels like the house is becoming more real. First the walls, then the plaster... and now it's all the trim. Things that happened finished plastering started to install 2 sub pumps hung all the doors installed all the trim on the 2nd floor decided on the tile for bathroom 1 and 2 actually talked to the nice kitchen lady got 4 quotes on shower doors Things that didn't happen didn't talk to any landscapers didn't make progress on soda blasting the staircase Things I really need to figure out Master bathroom tile ...
I'm really beginning to love this bathroom. I have always liked the big natural light coming in during the day, but as the design takes shape more... I'm falling in love with it. And - the most recent piece of the puzzle makes me even more confident - for now.... at least. I found a vanity that I don't hate and kind of love. The overall vibe for this bathroom is hard to define. The users could be anyone - literally. It'll be the bathroom that any kids use - so it needs to be durable-ish. It'll also be the bathroom that my best friend Meghan uses when she visits. I don't want it to feel any less serene or put together because at some point toddlers might poop in the tub here. Flooring Going with a 1-inch hexagon tile. It'll be primarily white, but with a decorative black border. The design is a bit TBD but will be nothing super complex. Once we talk to the tile person, it'll probably be based on the manual labor required to do the custom design....
This uneven, crooked old beach house .... is really starting to look like a house people can live in again. This wasn't a huge week for house progress but it was a huge week for me sending emails. Turns out the most responsive people in the world are shower door salespeople. Man, they really want your business. I met with Contractor Jim on Thursday and asked him to give me a prioritized list of the things the cared about. While initially it is overwhelming, I actually feel pretty good. I've got nearly all of these in flight - or have already made the decision. 1. Ceramic Tile I’m 66% of the way done. Just need to think about the master bathroom. 2. Vanities I may have led Jim to believe I was further along than I really am - but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I only need two vanities (hall bath and master bath). 3. Paint Colors I made an appointment for a free paint color consultation. Apparently I need fabric swatches in advance of that… they ar...