Why I Love Mid-Century Modern Furniture

The above is a picture of a table that recently sold on eBay for $371.00. The reason I'm posting it here is because we actually own this magazine/end table.

I, however, purchased ours at a the Farmer’s Market in Royal Oak, Michigan about three years ago. The price? A staggering $18. (Originally priced at $24, but I haggled.)

All in all, it just goes to show what a smart investment mid-century modern furniture is. (I doubt anyone will ever make money in 40 years on their Ethan Allen dining set.)

Just wanted to share. And, yes, gloat a little.

Mosaic Goodness

After months of waiting, we finally ordered the mosaic tile for the guest bath. As a refresher, here's what the guest bath looked like before we took a sledge hammer to it:
And here's where we are now and have been for six months. Only change from the picture is that the bath's doubling as a storage room till the kitchen is finished.
Essentially, here's the look we're going for in the vanity, the main difference being that our vanity's back wall will be one giant mirror.
The mosaic tile we bought is American Olean's Bijou de Verre in "Snow," seen below.
It's an iridesent white, which we scored big when we found it online at a www.oddlyenoughmosaics.com for only $10.43 a square foot. Everywhere else was charging $16 - $23. (Thanks, Erin!)

Anyhoo, I'll post updates on the guest bath progress as it's made. Right now though, we're just waiting for the mossaic tile to arrive. Then, we'll get our hands delightfully dirty.

The Great Outdoor

Sometimes, it's the little things that give us joy. In this instance, it's our address plaque. Seriously. We finally removed the old, nasty one that came with the house. (See below.)



In its place is a fabulous modern one manufactured by Craig. We had bought the numbers at Home Depot Expo a while ago. However, mounting each one individually onto and into the brick wasn't something that we were both groovy on.

Inspired by some expensive signage and another DIYer's homemade solution I had spotted online, we constructed our own out of simple Plexiglas that was sanded to give a frosted appearance onto which we mounted the numbers. The whole thing was then hung using spacers so that it, like the numbers, "floated" off the brick wall. Here's the result of Craig's hard work and my humble assistance:



Add to it the other mod details, like a swanky modern outdoor light that I spent literally DOZENS of hours online trying to find...



And this cool little doorbell button...



And all together, here's what our new, ubercool front entry looks like:



The door, FYI was stained by Craig, too. (You'll be seeing gobs more of his handywork soon.)

Already the plan is in the works to improve the front walkway, for which we've already selected super-groovy/affordable stone tile from, of all places, Lowes. Regrettably, other stuff takes priority, like our backyard with the HORRIBLE drainage issues that we have to fix ASAP.

Till next time...

Kitchen Bitchin'

Seven months living in our house and we still don't have a completed kitchen.

I blame ourselves. And, of course, our kitchen guy. Sadly, when you try do something on the cheap, you eventually end up paying for it in other ways. For us, it's been nights in bed spent wondering when we'd be able to make a meal without having to travel to the laundry room to do dishes.

Our kitchen guy has left to Panama—long story. Needless to say, I don't think we'll be seeing him again anytime soon. At least, not this month.

However, things will change this week. We'll be calling Inmer to finish up the kitchen, which includes installing the tile counter top. Sadly, our kitchen guy had orginally promised to install tile counter top as part of him getting the job. (Doesn't look like that's gonna happen.) At least we know that in Inmer's hands it will get done and done well.

Last week, we received the last pieces we needed–the Schluter System for the counter top. The Silestone tile itself we received the week before last. (Damn heavy, that Silestone tile is!) Below is a picture of the look we're going for.



Notice, if you will, the oh-so lovely stainless steel Schluter border that will finish off the edge of the counter top. Very nice.

Sinkwise, after much deliberation (not really), we decided on a huge, single bowl model by Kohler. We also scored big on our kitchen faucet, which we bought at Overstock.com for about $80.00. Great design, very well made. (We bought the Satin Nickel one below.)



All in all, the kitchen will be done, we hope, by the end of August, which would be exactly one year after we bought the house and first demoed the damn room. It's all very funny. In a dark, twisted, home renovation-related sort of way.

So, let's hope that next time I write on the topic, instead of kitchen bitchin' I'll be boasting about a "bitchin' kitchen."

Let's hope. Let's hope, indeed.

Back Yard Before

With still lots to do inside the house, of course we spent today working in our yard. Better to make progress before it gets too damn hot, which it will.

Here, some of the before pictures taken from atop a ladder.


Leaves. Lots and lots and lots of leaves. Our camphor tree drops lots and lots and lots of leaves. Notice, if you will, how there is ABSOLUTELY NO GRASS in this yard. I'll be an optimist and say that we've got a "blank slate" instead of a "dirt pile."


Piles of the stone and brick rescued from the renovation. Those will be used to make our outdoor cooking area.


Craig in the background, doing what Craig does.

Our biggest thing now is to plan what we're actually going to do. We know this: we need a shed, we need a sprinkler system, and we need more dirt. Which is why instead of bagging all those leaves we've decided to do something pretty ambitious for a couple of apartment-dwellers-turned-homeowners. We're going to compost. After all, why toss away all that possible new dirt? We'll see how it goes. Should be interesting.

What happened to January? And February? And March? And...um... April?

So, yeah... we missed a couple of months. Not because nothing was happening as far as the renovation goes (duh), only that I was lazy.

Yes. I said it. I was lazy. I could've said that I was trapped under heavy machinery, and there has been a bit of that lying around, but that would've been a lie. I've also been busy with my freelance, which is what has helped pay for the renovations noted on this blog. So, in a way, I have been busy in a renovation-related way.

Still, today's post is loaded with oodles of news. For starters, the terrazzo floors are finally redone. Let me just say that it took quite a bit longer than anyone anticipated, including Benny from Panamerican Flooring. While the results are impressive, it was painful for everyone. Several days of cleaning, polishing, and moving furniture around. And several more days of cleaning up the ultrafine dust that's left over from the process. As you can see, the results are mighty nice.



Even more impressive if you consider this is the same guest bathroom floor that once had the yellow linoleum floor and the nasty ceramic tile and looked like this:



What else? Ah, yes... the master bath. We're finally bathing like normal people. Here, a cropped shot of the master bath. (A full shot will be posted later. I'm such a tease!)



Now, what about the kitchen? Damn fine question. The kitchen, quite frankly, is a bit of a sore spot for me/us. The cabinets are up but we're waiting for the exterior panels and doors to arrive from Canada so that they can be installed. Needless to say, the "company" that's doing the kitchen won't be getting many referrals from us. (Long story.)

Notice, though, the lovely stainless steel fridge in the picture. The Kenmore Trio. We love.



And here's a reminder of where we were, the day we tore out the old cabinets...



Still, I'm hopeful that the end result will be worth the money we're paying, which is actually a fraction of what we were quoted elsewhere, ergo why we used Company X, an acquaintance of my brother-in-law's.

Hopefully, we'll have a kitchen by the end of the month, though I'm not holding my breath. I've passed out too many times to try that again.

The guest bath, seen below, is still not finished but we at least know what we're going to do and the materials we need, which includes about $946 in mosaic tile. Notice the fabulous little built-in counter with shelving created by Inmer. Nice, aye? It will be lovely and finished in time for our guests of honor when they visit—that's, you Daddy and Mommy B!



Good news is that the family room is completed. But, I'll post pictures about that and the laundry room in the next posting, which I'm hoping will be much more frequent than it has been.

Thanks!
Jacqui and Craig

Family Room Floor

Well, the nasty tile floor in the family room, seen below in the "before" picture, is now a pile of shards in our beloved dumpster. We rented a chipping hammer and power scraper at Home Depot this past weekend and went to town.
















Here, the results of our labor.

I had never used a chipping hammer until this weekend. It was sooooooooo cool. (I'm such a dork.) Of course, the aching muscles we suffered afterwards were anything but cool.

Still, once we finish we're going to have a killer stained concrete floor.

Tearing down the house...

The project of the day/weekend.



Here, the oooooooooold metal duct work we removed.

Along with this...





Rat #9. Or is he #10? We kinda lost count.






More to do tomorrow, but here is how we left it today. The hall ceiling totally demoed and a foot higher. Plus, the bathroom framing is finally done, thanks to Imed and his son. Tomorrow, more demo, reinforcing the overhead beams for the drywall, and clean up.

Oh, and I think we need yet another dumpster. That would make three.

On a similar note, we ordered our Starck 3 sink and toilet (Hurray!)



Of course, we still need to figure out what ceiling fans to buy and light fixtures, but that's okay. At least things are back on track.

Our Eleven-Year-Old Central AC

By the title of the post, you may very well be able to guess what this is about. Yes. Our eleven-year-old central AC. Now, you might be asking yourself, "Just how long is a central AC unit typically good for?"

Good question.

Answer? About eleven years.

Yeah, I'm sure you didn't see THAT coming. This unit is so cost-ineffective that it'll cost us about $214.00 a month just to run the damn thing.

The only reason we're even considering getting a new one installed is because of a wonderful thing called financing. Gator Air is offering no payments, no interest for one full year on a 3.5 ton Bryant system. So, I guess that means that we can worry about the cost November of 2007. Maybe by then we would've won the lottery. Who knows?

Either way, I really don't think we have much of a choice. Unless we want to ignore it and replace it once it totally breaks down. Maybe we'll be lucky enough so that it doesn't bust on us in the middle of July.

At least we didn't get any surprises from the plumber. Yet.

Not So Shocking. (Pun intended.)

Today, proof positive that rewiring the house was an absolutely good thing. Seen here, a sample of 50 years worth of wear and tear. And rats, or something.



As for the rest of the house, all the bedrooms are mostly gutted. Thank God we figured out a way to save the ceilings with the help of wire snips and molding. (Don't ask.)



View of the guest room from the office, sans walls. This weekend we need to neatly trim the remaining drywall as close to the ceiling as possible.



We will also be reinforcing and/or replacing a few termite-damaged studs with the help of my dad and Craig's new toy, Mr. Ax.



Hopefully, that'll be it for the surprises. At least until we talk to the plumber.

The Master Blah

Today, the guys got started demoing the not-so-master bath. We're getting rid of the shower stall and we're putting in a complete tub, as roomy as possible.



The master closet and hall closet will be demoed. That space will then be used to enlarge the master bath



The hall closet (below), which is next to the master bath, will become a much shallower linen closet. The extra room will be added to the bathroom.



Our new closet will be that of the adjoining bedroom's (seen right). We're closing off that closet and making an opening onto ours. Later, we'll build an entirely new closet in that room.



The results of the day... This is the view from the hall through what was the hall closet.



View from the master bedroom through what was the master bedroom's closet.

Take it off! Take it aaaaaaaaaaall off!

I never thought demolishing anything other than a piece of chocolate cake would give me such joy, but this has. Following are some pictures taken on my little Motorola phone.

Below, Dad and Craig are getting rid of the nasty, evil little doorway. What you see behind them is what will be our stylish, somewhat sunken dining/family room, the ceiling of which was demolished last weekend.

Found in the attic: Newspapers from 1964; a bottle of lip gloss, no doubt dropped by the recent roofers; one baby jumper; a chewed up rubber ball; and something yet to be identified. Fun! Hoisting bags upon bags of drywall?
Not so fun.



The doorway after.

Much, much better!

The Before Pictures

Here they are. The pictures that will make you appreciate "the after" oh-so much more. Enjoy!

View of the living room from the family room. Down the hall are the bedrooms and baths. Cedar ceilings, or possibly heart of pine, in need of a scrubbing, are throughout the living room and kitchen.



Yeah... a fireplace. It actually gets chilly in Central Florida in the winter. (Those of you in Michigan can stop smirking, thank you very much.)



This was a carport that one of the former owners enclosed. Badly. This will be the future dining and family room. Two sets of French doors are to the right.




The kitchen in desperate need of triage. This picture doesn't really show how hideous this room is. (Be thankful.)






You just can't appreciated yellow tiles until you see this bathroom. FYI: Those are floor tiles on top of linoleum that's glued on top of terrazzo. Yeow!













I don't know who thought this was stylish. Satan?






Yeah, we have a lot of work before us.

Ranch Sweet Ranch

No matter how many programs you watch on HGTV, we have learned that nothing prepares you for home renovation. Except maybe a quadruple wisdom tooth extraction.

Nearly two weeks into home ownership and I've made more calls to plumbers, exectricians, terrazzo floor guys, and drywallers than George Bush has made to his daddy.

The joy.

Still, we're thankful. Very thankful. Amazingly thankful. And while it may sound as if it's a painful process, it really isn't. At least, not yet. Maybe in another month. When we realize how much money we've spent.

That said, a note to the folks at greenstreetdetails.com: "$120 for a friggin' 10-inch drawer pull? You gotta be jokin' me!"

Thank you and stay tuned.

You may laugh. You may cry. You may feel sorry for us and make a donation to our renovation fund. It's not tax-deductible, but then neither are all those mochachinos from Starbucks.

Jacqui and Craig