Hear the Bells Ringing

Priorities, folks! No, we don't have the toilets, much less the faucets, ordered, but what do you think about this doorbell? Do you think it is a suitable tribute to my Canadian, salmon-loving Wonder Husband?

(Image from www.craftsmandoorbells.com)

Romantic Notes....

The subject line of the first e-mail I received from Wonder Husband this week read:
"Link to Toilet seat on Lowes".

Sweet romance. Sigh.

Design Teaser II:

Master bath lighting: Restoration Hardware Devon Sconce in Chrome (on clearance, baby!).

Secret: sometimes I say "scones" instead of "sconce".

Image from Restoration Hardware

Design Teaser:

Powder room sink and unmentionable (Carreen told me I can't say that word at the dinner table). They are from the Archer line by Kohler. If you zoom in on the prices I can promise we aren't paying that much. This photo (by moi) was made at Fergusons, the Showroom with Cookies, and ours will come from Ye Olde Lowes or Home Depot (which sometimes has popcorn and our local one has an Italian sub trailer out front).

I just put the Hound on there again because he still cracks me up! "Your t.p., madame."

How much can a woman bear?

In the midst of a major house renovation, when a woman is plagued with thoughts of faucets, duct work, and sudden (urgent! with no warning!) requirements to select door hinges, should she also be plagued, each time she looks in the mirror or her hair brushes her chin, with the nagging reminder that Melba cut one side of her hair at least 1/2 an inch (if not more) shorter than the other side? How much is one woman expected to bear?

I hereby task Wonder Husband and my Brownie with the duty of not allowing me to return to Melba. Yes, Brownie, because I know you will ask - this is the 2nd time Melba has apparently taken this approach to haircutting.

I now return to monitoring the e-bay auction for an antique door knob.

Many, many updates...

There are many updates. Exciting updates. Mundane updates. But I am too tired.

It is a busy time at Hill House. As you know, Super Dad and Miracle Mom were visiting last week and did perform what seemed like miracles in the current abode: a clean, evenly painted radiator! bookcases that are not crammed with books, but instead have enough books to make us look tastefully literary, but stylish in our placement of interesting objets d'art; clean laundry!; dinner ready when I came home from the office! Sigh.

Wonder Husband has safely returned from abroad. With the sniffles. I think I caught jet lag from him. Can that happen?

Hill House progresses! I promise I have lots of photo updates. And one decision has been made. The Elizabeth Classics Exposed Pipe Rainshower (with optional handheld shower) in Chrome will grace our master bath. Once it clears back order (don't tell John the Builder--he's holding his breath waiting for it.)

I'm definitely not going to tell him the other faucet is on back order till mid-December.

Image from Shop4Classics who has THE MOST RESPONSIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE e-mailers ever. And they are patient. I may have needed to ask 6 questions before placing my order. And then 2 afterwards.

Hardwood Floors II and House Progress

Here are some photos of the hardwood floor samples with the satin finish poly coats...Thoughts? I'm still leaning toward the middle color on the 4" plank. I also included a shot of Sally & Lucy on the couch viewing the hardwood floor samples. I need to make a pronto decision on the hardwoods as the nice guys from Cherokee called me today to let me know they are placing an order tomorrow for a shipment and after that they won't get more of the flooring I am considering till 'after the holidays' = yikes!

House progress - big news on the basement front, well, the basement floor! I haven't shared too much about the basement because there hasn't been much to share other than dirt, new underpinning and darkness. Doesn't that entry photo look ominous? But it shouldn't! I'm feeling good about the basement! I visited it Monday morning and was impressed with how much light comes into the front half moon window and then found out that the back bedroom windows are going to be really wide. I envision it with the nice Berber carpet and the glow of the recessed lights...It's going to be a really nice apartment. On the progress front, today they poured the concrete for the floor!

I didn't visit, but Super Dad went over yesterday and today to check things out. He was impressed with the basement floor progress and observed them pouring the concrete (no photos due to serious rain). He also found out the plan for pouring the concrete for the parking pads. Since the big truck won't fit into the alley, the concrete truck will park out front and they will run the hose OVER the house. OVER the two story row house. Should be a good scene.

Super Dad also inspected and approved the bathtubs for the apartment and the hall bath. He was impressed with them, so that bodes well! Hopefully they remember to repair the little hole that is currently in the bathroom wall before they install the tub...

Lucy & Sally meet the House

Please welcome our guest bloggers, Lucy and Sally! The photo shows them visiting the new house for the first time.

(I apologize for the technical difficulties! I have never had this odd thing happen to a digital picture! Their beauty merits other photos which I will publish when I locate the camera cord.)

Lucy & Sally haven't yet been inside, since the construction zone is a little hazardous for such tiny visitors, but they still have some opinions on decor to share with you!

First of all, let's address furniture placement. They suggest that you always place your most comfortable furniture in front of windows that receive good sunlight. Ideally, these windows should overlook trees where squirrels and chipmunks might roam or a street view where one might watch people and others coming and going. At their own home Lucy and Sally have a leopard-print upholstered bench in front of their front window so they can monitor the perimeter of the front yard and the neighbors' comings and goings. It's important to have such a furniture arrangement near all windows so you can leisurely sit and enjoy the sun at different times during the day.

Furniture style and upholstery selections are also very important. Sally has had back trouble so she appreciates furniture that is designed at a height that allows for easy entrance and exit. Lucy feels that it is important that your leather or fabric choice be a type and color of fabric that doesn't show dirt or any shedding left by your guests. You would never want to make your guests feel uncomfortable by not allowing them to sit on certain furniture or where they would feel embarrassed to see their hair left behind as they depart. It is also nice to have comfortable throws or blankets nearby your furniture so guests can make themselves comfortable. Lucy recommends cashmere.

I hope these ideas have been helpful! Do you have any questions for our guest bloggers?

The other photo is just of a beautiful tree in our current neighborhood. Aren't the leaves a gorgeous yellow? This tree teaches me how different leaves from the same tree can be during different autumns! At this same time 7 years ago the leaves from this tree were a beautiful rich deep red color. I remember so specifically because I picked that exact color as the paint color for the bathroom in our current home! Yes, that exact shade: Super Dad took one of the leaves to the paint store at Frager's and they created the shade based on it! That's (one of the reasons) why we call him Super Dad! (He wants me to add that this selection was made after he had already painted another shade of red that did not please his picky client.)

Hardwood Floors

We're excited to have hardwood floors in the new house. We enjoy them a lot in our current place and they contribute a lot to the "historic home" look. Here are some photos of the type of wood and stain colors that we're considering. Actually, we have considered just about everything, but we really love the warmth and tone of our current heart pine floors (original to our 1916 apartment) so we would like a similar look. My general preference used to be a darker wood floor - in fact, when selecting the stain for the heart pine floors when I moved in and renovated, I wanted to go darker. I'm so happy my Dad talked some sense into me. I have really grown to love the lighter, more natural (for pine) look and appreciate how the lighter floors keep the place from looking dark since our other furnishings include a lot of dark wood furniture and dark brown leather sofa . All that to say we love what we have now!

Here are some photos to give you an idea. The first one shows my work station, just so no one can say I didn't lift a finger for this renovation! The two pieces of wood are just different grades of the same type of wood. Each piece has three different stain colors - just one coat. I think I will try another coat and add the satin finish poly coat to get a best sense of the finished product. I picked up three nice colors of Minwax Stain at Home Depot. They are, from one end to the darker end, Colonial Maple, Golden Pecan and Cherry. The next two pictures show the two sample pieces sitting on our current floor. One photo is with flash and the other is without so you can get a sense of the comparison to the current floor.

I am liking the Colonial Maple or maybe the Golden Pecan - they are fairly similar so I want to see what a second coat of stain shows. I do like the Cherry, but it is a little brown, I think. I also like the wider plank for size. It is 4" wide. Between the two samples (the different grades of lumber) I am undecided - I think they both look great!

What do you think? While you are thinking about those options, I wanted to let you know that we will have two very special guest bloggers this week! Stay tuned! They will have a lot of ideas and opinions regarding furniture placement and arrangement and tips on selecting upholstery! You won't want to miss it!

Updated house tour

It is exciting to see the house taking shape! This week, the big accomplishments were installing the heating/air con ductwork and most of the electrical wiring, plus some of the plumbing! OK, I posted those photos in the reverse order of what I intended.
First we have the rear bedroom window! Not a wonderful photograph, but I just like that big window. Don't you like how the workers can enjoy all the fresh air flowing in? Hopefully there will be new windows soon!
Then we have a semi-random shot - view from the master bedroom to the laundry area in the hallway.
The fireplace is the view into the living room; the framing is the future powder room. The nicest photo is the view from the entry hall! To the right is the wall to the living room, beyond that is the dining room; and you can see the new framing for the wall between the dining room and kitchen. Up the new stairway you can see that nice big rear bedroom window. The stairway was replaced because those original stairways were just so narrow and the one that was there, like many on the Hill, was also very slanted.

Oh, something sad did happen! My dearest, sweetest, adorablest little friend and neighbor - the one who can make me smile when no one else can and who, as my flowergirl on my wedding day looked at me after my veil was pulled down over my face and said, "What's that thing on your face?" - just understood that we will be moving! She is a frequent guest in our current place as she lives just upstairs. I think she just comprehended "moving"; I'm not sure that it matters that the new house is just a 5 minute walk away. It's still not "downstairs". Maybe I'll make a map for her. The new house is just a few minutes away from her park. I hope my little monkey is still a very frequent guest!!!

Green with Envy

Big day Friday! I took the day off to visit all kinds of house-related stores to see sinks, toilets, faucets, lights, wood floors....Plus I returned some tile samples and picked up some wood stain to test some floor colors. I'm exhausted!

The first big stop was at a showroom for Ferguson Enterprises. Walking in, my first thought was, "I bet a lot of husbands dread coming here...". Imagine vignette after vignette of kitchens, bath faucets, light fixtures.... I loved it pretty quickly. Nope, not the countless granite countertop-pull-out faucet combos, the contrast of polished nickel to polished chrome, not the cute chandelier for $2,800. Cookies. They serve cookies! They bake them in one of the 'working kitchen' areas. I'm sold. I'll buy anything.

Other than the cookies, the only thing I saw that I so wanted was - unexpected. Green kitchen cabinets. If you described it to me, I don't think I would find them appealing, but they were gorgeous. Granted, green is my favorite color. What do you think?

Questions for today:

Why are kitchen cabinets so expensive?


Why are there no (easily found) interesting bathroom vanities?


How much would I regret putting a pedestal sink in the hall bath (for guests and future kiddoroonies) rather than one with a cabinet? Kids don't need to store many things do they?


Marble stains easily. Do we want a marble bathroom floor?

Why did my parents instill an appreciation of quality and taste in me? Why are quality and taste expensive?

Finally (and as if to disprove her last questions she asks), how could a powder room exist without a Hound Tissue Butler????? We must all order one! (Image from Overstock.com)

Do you have wheelbarrows in your kitchen?

Or just not feel like cooking?
We had a nice date night dinner tonight at Toscana. We recommend it - tiny place with yummy Italian. It's not cheap, I will say. The food was interesting and delicious with good service, too. Oh, it is tiny inside - the seating is upstairs, but they have take out on the main level. Anyway, it is just a suggestion if your kitchen happens to be filled with wheelbarrows or other building supplies.

Oh, and the house is filled! I met up with John the Builder today for a trip to Lowe's and Lumber Liquidators. I did get a bit nervous when he told me that I "won't recognize the house" when I visit next! Yikes!

Well, we were able to drop in sooner than expected because we walked past on the way to dinner and someone was still working! The nice electrician, who we met on Saturday, was still working away. That would explain why John the Builder was still phoning me around 5 to confirm light locations and cable connections.

The house did look a lot different! There were lots of boxes of supplies for the HVAC in the living and dining rooms and even the kitchen. They have already put in the basic equipment for the vents and the ductwork is waiting its turn. The electrician had in some of the lighting boxes and was installing the plastic boxes for the electrical outlets and light switches.

Today at Lowe's I selected our basic white recessed lights for the kitchen and a few other areas and the kitchen under-cabinet lights. We also did some browsing and discussing of bathroom options. At Lumber Liquidators we checked out some hardwood floors. Why are the prettiest ones also the softest wood? We need to make the hardwood decision soon as it needs to be ordered. Currently we are leaning toward Brazilian Mesquite. Doesn't that make you want to barbeque?

We also need to make some other decisions fairly soon - bathroom tile, vanities and medicine chests! Stay tuned!

Nice wheel(barrow)s!

There's a wheelbarrow in the once & future kitchen. Actually, there were two. And multiple ladders. It just made me laugh.

This weekend I spent about 3 and 1/2 hours at the house with John the Builder, Jason (Realtor to the Stars) and the Wonder-Husband. (The last two bailed part way through, but John and I worked on!)

We got to see the future basement--no photos since it was dark, muddy and low-ceilinged! Upstairs I got to see more progress on the framing and then we spent lots of time walking through determining where all the light fixtures should be, as well as the lines for cable and phone and any specific electrical outlets. The phone & cable part was funny for us since currently we don't have a land line or cable. The light fixture decisions took a loooooooooooong time. But I am happy with the game plan! Now I just need to start pinching my pennies for those pretty light fixtures I found last week!

Design dilemma - please advise! See that photo of John the Builder by the wall of brick & metal? Note the chimney (coming up from the fireplace in the living room) there in the photo--note specifically how it is not centered. Well, that is the 'bed wall' in the master bedroom. We need to design something so that they can build out that wall. I think they are going to just have to build out a dummy wall flush with the chimney and it will be about the width of the bed so the bed will be centered on that part - which will just be drywall. Then, in the recessed areas left between that part & the walls on either side, we'll probably do some built in bookcases BUT in theory our nightstands will need to sit in front of those bookshelves. John the Builder suggested just having it empty & closed in on the lower part with shelves on the upper 2/3rds'ish. I can't stand the idea of NOT using that bit of storage space. What should we do on that lower part--a base cabinet or open shelves that our nightstands would then be in front of? Find a way to incorporate the needs of a nightstand into the built-ins? Suggestions and photo ideas are welcome!

The other photos are just a stack of lumber in the future living room and a shot of the master bedroom floor joists as seen from the living room. I just thought they were interesting. When do you get to see your floor joists that way? (Hopefully you only see them that way once, I'm thinking!)