Au revoir to our lovely housie.

One of the things that will be missed most about our awesome pad.  Feeling wistful as I pack boxes.  It is sad to leave.  

So long housie.

External context

My uncle has pointed out that he has not seen a picture of the exterior of my house (I'm an interiors person).  Here is the only picture I have.  It's a four story brownstone in Boston's South End.  This picture was taken to illustrate the gutter down pipe that needs replacing.  It's not the home's glamour shot.  But this is a before and after, after all.

Time for Framing

We are at the framing stage.  This is exciting and often daunting.  If you know me, you know it's easy for me to say knock 'em down and not build them up when it comes to walls.  However, there are things that are best behind closed doors.
Here is the location for the floor to ceiling pantry.  

We will use the center depth for a deep but narrow pull out cabinet.  This is a luxurious addition.  I am no fan of diving in to a cabinet to dig out some awkward shaped mixer.  

It's like falling into the rabbit hole.  After wedging your torso halfway in the cabinet with many "oh, there that is" and "right, I forgot I had that"'s you strong arm the piece out of there and realize that you probably will never fit it back in.  

Back to knocking things down.  Here is the location for a new larger window.  This will bring much desired natural light to the bottom floor kitchen.  There will be a counter below.  Nice work surface.

Plumbing, electric, many inspections to come.  Once drywall goes up you'll really see the difference.  Stay tuned.

Master floor has a great floor!

Today I met with my contractor and the cabinet maker.  We went over all my wishes and desires for a functional kitchen and then headed up to the master floor to discover that it's been gutted and is open and bright.  The floors were a pleasant surprise.  A nice sanding and staining will make this floor shine.

We also talked about the plans for the master closet, which is actually a room.  I imagine a clothing boutique in my own home.  With great storage, lighting and a place to display my shoes, I may never leave.

Above is the site for our not-so-large master bath.

For the master bath we are going to be using Bianco dolomiti marble for the walls and honed black slate for the floors.

slab of bianco dolomiti

cleft version of black slate

We are also going with gunmetal finish on the fixtures.  This is so me and not for everyone!

Looking forward to seeing it installed.

Guts are in View

New view of the kitchen.  No walls, no ceiling, no counters or appliances.  

The next step is getting the proper windows here.  Our plan is to create floor to ceiling windows and move the doorway over to the edge.  As you may have seen from previous posts, my ideal glass wall has been modified.  Unless, of course, some of you want to donate to the "Lisa's perfect windows fund."  
Really, though, we plan to install 3 double hung windows and paint out the mullions shiny black.
It will be exciting to see.
Here is a view from the outside.  We wish to make the kitchen and garden one, in a California-y way.

Here are some reasons why this house was "the one:"

The cool old skylight.

The center stairway.

Do go toward the light.

timely renovation: an oxymoron

If anyone has told you that there is really a renovation schedule, they are lying.  A schedule is something that is adhered to (in general):
schedule |ˈskejoōl; -jəl|noun1 a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intendedevents and times : we have drawn up an engineering schedule.• (usu. one's schedule) one's day-to-day plans or timetable : take amoment out of your busy schedule.• a timetable : information on airline schedules.


  A construction schedule is an arbitrary timeline that makes the client feel as if they have some control.  I'm just sayin.'
Contractors just seem to love "Twos," and I don't mean two by fours.
Any request you may ask of the contractor beginning with "When...," will be answered with one of the following:
2 months
2 weeks
Tomorrow


So your job is to roll with it, and don't stop asking those when questions.  Patience is a virtue, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease, in a few weeks, maybe.
Luckily, I really like my contractor.


I am still picking out lights and am kicking myself that I didn't take this one home with me from Brimfield:

It would have been perfect in the dressing room.

welcome june.

What a fantastic Memorial Day weekend to really get into the swing of summer.  I'm pretty certain the weather could not have been better, nor the company.  It was a joy.  Now back to work and a renewed focus on the house.
My mission this week: complete all lighting specs.  Once I get them figured out, I'll post some images.


Remodelista's post today got me going on my darn windows again.  Check out these beauties:

C'mon!  They even have the light fixture that I am coveting.

Now for the genius here, the table pulls out from the wall.  What a perfect space saver and nice way to have a color pop.

Log onto Remodelista.com for more of this architect visit, Pulltab Design in New York.