#thehomeproject Home Edition

My Dad 'built' our house. In so far as a Civil P.Eng. builds his house without his very mechanical father and father-in-law. No he built it.

It is a profound point of pride in our family that while we lived in the suburbs our home was a home.. made with busted fingers and the sweat and designs of our people. My mother the wizard who brought the 1 and 5 year old onto the old property to foist up a structure that would be home. A builder in her own right she taught me every trick I know to design or tile or finish or ... well I can't uploster, she is the Alpha.

Homemaking has its meaning to us.

My husband is a soft-bodied lawyer from the rich side of town where every domestic charm came from the very best catalogues.

But he tries. Damn I acquired him the summer after we met as a painter and amour. Good combo. He was faking it mostly but 20 years hence blood may be thicker than water but plumb chalk and spackle binds in its own special way. We are now one. I have no end of special treats on my walls and floors thanks to his crossover.

For the long weekend we set to our religion. Renovate. The target to unburden ourselves of the old workshop for a cantina space. The current garage leaves enough workshop room for amateurs like us. And soon more room for summer sun where the kids can all run while the salmon BBQs. A bigger passion than the homemaking the object togethering. Wish you could join us. Soon.



ps.. there is a well known joke at my office. If I am renovating I must be pregnant. But no we can simply rest on our laurels (or bay leaf as the case may be) -- its just for us at this point.

Design Tuesday: Da Kitchen

My Dad built the house I grew up in, with my grandpas. If you ask my mom, or me for that matter, we say it took 22 years to finish. I am used to renovation, construction, destruction what have you. I like it.

My favorite thing to do is probably a kitchen. Our last year reno was our third kitchen as a couple and I am really beyond pleased with how it turned out. Amazing what having some money to do it can do to my ego. Oh, yeah that and getting off the DIY train.

"But, what do you think?", I wonder. And do note there are a couple things outstanding. Maybe I need the advice of the Internet to get this kitchen just so and not have finishes lingering for 20+ years like my Dad!

Before Hall


After Hall


Before Floor


After Floor

Doesn't Dexter look so much more content?

The Old Cramped Kitchen


Hey, Ma. Get a job! We need to redo this kitchen!!!
La Nouvelle Cuisine!



My top 10 Favorite Design Points in this Room
1. Pantry with a sliding door.
2. Beautiful glass tile from Bedrock. That link includes the design that first turned us on to their stuff.
3. Water dispenser on the outside of the fridge. We had a party last week and it was perfect to keep guests of my way. Never mind I think Britas suck.
4. Hell I even like tap water. I do like my entry level Grohe faucet. Not too expensive and very stylish + practical! Make that very Eurostylish!
5. The beech floor turned out great. I briefly was convinced I was going to use that brick tone quarry tile like you get in restaurants but this is actually lower maintence. No maintenance is my design style every time now.
6. The custom matching millwork our cabinetmakers did.
7. The adequate lighting installed by awesome electricians. Me likey the good trades.
8. Clean lines of a modern design but casual; not a really hard modern aesthetic.
9. That righteous pull out bread board with 85lb load stopped glides and a two inch butcher block.
10. The peninsula cubbies for my dinner dishes.

Now in this photo you'll see I have my pass through peninsula counter... well there actually is no counter. That is where I need help. We are undecided. I have the fancy white quartz composite in the kitchen proper but this area is actually more a part of my dining room. My current plan is to redo the adjacent fireplace surround in slate. Could I use slate for the peninsula? Would that be a good service surface? What would the other choices be? I specifically rejected using the composite there because I didn't want white. The dining room is white and I feel I need some contrast to sort of ground that spot, all the while tying it to the kitchen.

What are your ideas? Believe me, I have hit real design fatigue. HELP!




And, we need a nice new fixture over our dining table? Oh yeah and a new dining table?...Wow it's damn handy I have an income again.

Design Tuesday: A Hang Your Hat Challenge

In the Spring of 2004 I was getting pretty pregnant. At that you aren't telling yet but everyone knows stage we took our escape. 17 days in Paris. It was lovely. A wonderful pre-parenting present that has coloured our whole outlook.

But I exaggerate.

Anyway, there is a quality to that trip that we have tried to hang on to, the L'Occitane soaps, the lentils du puy, even the Historical loo. One of our guidebooks directed us to a Historical Loo near Place Vendôme. My husband, the inveterate world-wide loo photographer (I know you know these people), and I made haste to this most pressing of Parisienne landmarks.

It was remarkable, and amusing. The snaps were taken and little was it thought of again, except to ask every other person we knew who visited Paris if they had been. They hadn't, scoff, losers. Probably skipped Chez Janou as well, da fools.

When it came time for me to finish designing the last of our three bathrooms in the renos it all came back to me. I wanted to make this, our main floor powder room, kind of opulent. Hell, I thought... I'll make it historic. Where are those holiday snaps??

From these I set off to compose the necessary component for our own Paris, 1905 inspired WC. Nice wood, pretty ceramic tile of great taste, mosaic floor, stone, stained glass tones.
































So how did it turn out??




Our contractors did an especially beautiful job of the wainscot. They copied the detailing on each panel exactly to my Paris pics. I do love those guys.







And, now for this episode of design tuesday, audience participation! For really no functional reason I installed a chrome and porcelain hook near the door. The room is so cubicle like it seemed appropos to me at the time. See me waving?

I keep thinking I have to find a great hat to hang there. What say ye? Ladies evening hat? Fedora? Maybe something straw and suitable for Giverny? Too much?

Design Tuesday

We bought our house in November 2006. We took possession Feb 15 and started working on it right away. Since we are grown ups with children now we hired these people called professionals so we got a lot more done than back in our hardcore DIY days.

Bascially in one year we have redone everything except the laundry and rec rooms. I am pretty damn happy with all my design work and general contracting skills. We got a lot out of our $$$ and I found a really wicked team of renovators to help us. Case in point my custom cabinetry in two bathrooms and the kitchen.

We are almost done. Just a few more tile challenges. I really love buying tile. My daughter has lots of tiles to play with from all our shopping trips. (It is surprising I never did put tile on the kitchen floor by the way, wood won out. Easier on the feet and pretty low maintenance.)

Just a little late night layout time tonight.



Note the casserole from the in-laws and an open container of HaagenDaz. A renovation this massive is not enough to spoil me. I need free food and chocolate!

I love this tile, it is 100% recycled glass that we made a special trip to get it from Seattle. It rocks!

... One four inch, two x two's or a two by four? That box is the tile puzzle box my Dad made for his granddaughter to play with her tile collection in. The work the kids did Sunday really gave us the best layout we could come up with.

After this it is off to the new WC that was inspired by our Paris '04 trip. I am simply unable to decide among all these beauties. Is it just me or do these put the Beaux back into Beaux-Arts? Ok they are Art Nouveau, but hey I do design off any book learnin' or nothin'. You tell me is this pretty?



I am just getting to the home styling phase and I promise I will post a bunch of pictures then. Posts that will include a number of my recommended products for any brave new renovators out there. And, I think you know who you are.