1.30.2008

re:commend

since we're on a major progress hiatus, i have to confess it gets difficult to come up with new relevant or clever re: words to name my posts. so, here's a fun game to get some participation from all you people who visit my site. list some words you can think of that i can put in a word bank for future post naming. they have to start with re - and it's best if pronounced 'rEE' but could be 'reh' as a fallback. ready? go!

1.26.2008

re:fresh

so... here is our sherwin williams 'calico' dining room! thoughts? it's subtle and muted, right? (kidding.)













i think i'll like it better after we get some new dining room furniture (lighter/warmer wood) and some art on the walls. it's like a little jewel in the middle of our house!

1.24.2008

re:date

a friend who works for the city was telling anthony that while the city's records have our house dated to 1935, that's the date they record when they don't know the real date (ha, i thought it was curious that it was the same date as our old house). he said our house is more likely circa 1915, or possibly even earlier - our area started being developed around 1905. pretty cool.

1.21.2008

re:animate

anthony is picking up some more paint today. i'm very excited to work on the dining room - it will add a lot of character to the house, and be modern at the same time. this is the look i'm going for in the dining room (from room and board) -


so, we've chosen a paint color called calico. and maybe one day i'll be able to afford that concord cabinet. and some steel frames. this is the light fixture we ordered (also from room and board):


and i already purchased this cute mid-century inspired mirror from west elm to go in the room as well -


the plan is to get - or make - a big (54-60") round dining table, as the room is nearly square and therefore needs a round table, in my opinion. check back later in the week for more paint pictures!

1.16.2008

re:quisite gray

we're in save-up mode, so it's going to be a while before anything big and flashy gets done. in the meantime, i'm really only going to have paint pictures to show. we chose sherwin williams requisite gray to go in the continuous space of the living-kitchen-stair-loft areas after looking at bunny mendelbaum's cool house.









for some other images around the web of requisite gray, go here and also check out this page in this month's issue of cottage living -



by the way, sherwin williams duration paint goes on like a dream. best paint i've ever used.

1.09.2008

re:grettable

booo. the city took down the tree in front of our house yesterday. now our sad-looking house is much more exposed and screaming, "hey, look at me!"



it feels naked. i know there's nothing we could do about it - it was in the city's right-of-way and was sick with termites anyway, but i hate it. they're supposed to grind out the stump today, and we can plant a new street tree, but it won't be a mature [oak?] tree like this was. it just draws more attention to our pitiful exterior. it will be a happy day when we can have the exterior painted!

1.03.2008

re:solution

ha, you thought this post was going to be about my new years resolutions. but i won't bore you anymore than necessary.

nope, this post is about the decision as far as the kitchen sink goes. we've decided to go with an asymmetrical offset sink like this -


- that way the big bowl on the right can be centered under the window but the overall sink can be centered in the cabinet. or close. see how off they are -



we're leaving the doors off of the sink base until after the counters and sink and disposal are installed, just for ease.

here are the rest of the final (for now) kitchen pics!








now we need to save up for the countertops, appliances and sink so we can have them all installed at the same time. i have to say, our kitchen is small by today's suburban standards, but this is the most storage i've ever had in a kitchen in my adult life, so i'm pretty excited about it!

here are the other appliances we have picked out:




i can't wait to use that range! and you can click over on 'inspiration' to see what i'm hoping for the countertops.

1.01.2008

re:semble

we've been working on assembling and installing the cabinets little by little, and it's actually starting to look like a kitchen now!







i love the color combination of the creamy white cabinets with the walnut-y wood floor and the stainless steel appliance(s).

those ikea people are geniuses, because these cabinets go together so easily (especially the hinges). it's getting them installed against our not-so-square walls that is sometimes frustrating.







unfortunately we've found that our framers didn't quite center the window, so we've had to adjust where the upper cabinets are installed, and we have to make a decision on whether the kitchen sink will be centered on the window or on the base cabinet it sits in...any opinions out there? the centers are off by about 3.5 inches. which way do you think your eye will see it? in relation to the window or in relation to the base cabinet?