Monday, April 23, 2012
If you're a frequent viewer of interior design blogs, then you know there are endless, wonderful, and inspiring images of homes out there. I'm always struck by how many design blogs really don't show much "living" going on. I'm sure most of it has to do with privacy. Some young mom/designers show lots of pictures of their young kids, or babies on the way, or an arrival. But, older design bloggers, like myself - tend not to show too much of our every day lives.
When I sat down this morning to write a post, I knew I wanted to share our weekend. Record it, really. On Saturday, our sweet dog of eleven years passed away. Sushi was his name. He was a Shar Pei and lab mix (we think...). Sushi found us, or rather, he found my husband. Eleven years ago, John was at work and had just come back from lunch when he noticed a stray dog in the parking lot. The rest is history.
Our patient, loving Sushi was such a companion to us all. Like most families with dogs, they enter our lives when the kids are young and, as the kids grow up, they grow old. We sent our first child to college last fall. We had noticed how Sushi seemed to be slowing down. I remember being in college when my childhood dog passed away. In just a few weeks, I'll be driving north to pick Frank up from college, glad to have him home for the summer. We were all sad that Frank didn't have a chance to say goodbye to Sushi.
Like all busy weekends with kids, our middle son had a ballet rehearsal and our daughter had a theater rehearsal. Their shows are in just a few weeks so things have been in high gear.
And.. it was my middle son's prom night. On Saturday morning we said goodbye to our dog, our family member, with aching hearts. And on Saturday evening we celebrated Walt's 11th grade prom. He looked so young, so handsome, and full of life and future.
We, in the design world, create these spaces - obsess really. All the while, life is happening in these spaces every day. Saturday reminded me why I love design so much. It's creating the idea of home. And home is the best place on earth.
Sushi, we will miss you always.... home won't be the same without you.
Posted in:
Family,
Pets
4 comments
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
I've been working on a master bath project and thought I'd share some of the progress. (Earlier posts on project are here and here.) Things are really starting to take shape. I was on site this morning to review some finishing details and took a few pictures.
Thought I'd start with the before....
(the Afghan rug was a starting point. My client and I were trying it out while reviewing the design plan.)
... and not the final after, but the progress after below.
Almost every surface will be changed out when we're finished. All the plumbing remained in place, so no sinks, tub, or toilet moved. This space is a nice size, not too large and not small either. But, it had a few fundamental issues. One of the biggest issues - all the doors! The bathroom is entered through French doors. To the left is a single vanity sink, then the closet door, the toilet room door (to the left of the tub) and then over to the shower door. To the right of the shower door is the second vanity and then a door to a linen closet. That's 5 doors and 1 shower door all in the same space.
The old floor, tub, and shower tile was removed, as were the sinks, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, and lighting. My client wanted a mix of old world vintage along with a lush hotel feel. I used a wood flooring that had an old world feel, not too dark or too aged. Much more to come on this tub space. It's the first thing seen when entering the room.
The tub deck will receive carrara marble as will the sink tops and shower surround. I used Benjamin Moore's "decorators white" for the custom cabinet work. It's a wonderful white to pair with carrara marble.
These amazing French doors were installed yesterday. They are painted in Benjamin Moore's "black". All the door hardware is from Emtek.
Below..... before of one of the two vanities.
Hats off to my clients for letting me post these pictures.. they were getting ready to "move out" of their entire bathroom/closet and into their guest space. A bit of chaos while construction is underway.
.. the progression after...
The closet door was removed and a glass French pocket door was created. The right and left doors slide on top and will tuck behind a closet system (to be installed a bit later) when the doors are open. The new vanity will have drawer fronts with glass knobs.
Below... the second vanity... before.
Another problem door (linen closet) to the right of the vanity. The door open in front of the linen closet door is the left French door.
After...
I had the linen closet door removed. My carpenter and I created a space for the old linen closet, using the same opening. The upper portion will have open shelves. The base of the open shelves will have a carrara marble countertop as well. The space below is a pull out laundry hamper with 2 bins (to be lined with custom made canvas bags). The front of this hamper will have a faux drawer front. There will also be a full length dressing mirror to the right of the shelves and hamper. The French doors have such a great relationship to the open wall... all by changing out and re-working all those doors! Love it!!
The shower will have a carrara marble surround and a heavy glass, frameless door. The shower was re-tiled in a marble-look porcelain tile and the shower floor is a tumbled marble in a hexagon pattern.
Lots more to come! But, things are coming along. Hope to have my clients moved back in soon and the final after pictures to post soon as well.
Posted in:
Bathrooms,
Master bath
1 comments
Thursday, April 12, 2012
I found it! And I can't believe it. Have you ever come across a picture, an inspiration, an object out of reach that you just wish you could get your hands on??
Yesterday, I found this!
It's a cast iron Mercury - three dimensional wall bust (not sure if that's actually what you call it, but you know what I mean).
I had come across this amazing wall inspiration picture (below) and used it in my post on random art arrangements. In my post, I mentioned how fabulous the wall bust was and that I had to find one... completely written as a joke.. like I'd ever find one.
And then.. the sky opened up (at the West End Antique Mall in Richmond, Va) and the gods of the vintage hunt shown down upon me and there it was! And got it for a song.
(source)
The tag on my Mercury identified it as such but with a question mark next to it. My son, Walt, the mythology expert, noticed it sitting on the kitchen table when he came home from school. He confidently stated, "That's Mercury, or also known as Hermes.. in Greek Mythology." That's all I needed to confirm the tag id.
So, in looking up Mercury in Wikipedia, I learn that Mercury is the God of Trade. (also the God of thieves and travel.. but we'll ignore that part). How apropos that I found him while on a buying trip for my Etsy shop. The name Mercury comes from the Latin word merx, which means merchant or commerce.
Mercury isn't known so much as a merchant in our world, but is known as an element or a planet, coming from the word mercuria. Mercuria refers to something or someone that is erratic, volatile or unstable. This is where Mercury's little wings come from, giving speed to moving from place to place.
I'm going with the Merchant version. I think I'll hang my Mercury fella in my office next to me. I just love him and can't believe I found him.
What are the chances??
Posted in:
Accessories,
Vintage
1 comments
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