Powder room: the fixtures

No gold tiles or bejeweled faucets but a splash of colour from the vessel sink amongst the sea of gray tones

Little yellow ball

I have no idea if it's a type of chrysanthemum but it came as part of a bouquet of flowers. I just know that it's tiny, yellow and unbelievably photogenic.

The dressing room light

Of course if you are going to take down the light in the dressing room to use in the powder room you have to put something in its place. Luckily (or part of my devious master plan to drive The Guy crazy) I had a spare halogen light fixture from the master closet light improvement project. Unfortunately when The Guy removed the fixture he revealed a circle of Navajo white that didn't match the surrounding super white paint. But luckily again, I had a can of that left over, so all we had to do was give the circle a quick coat of paint and voila. Right?
I'll spare you the photos because here's how it went down.
"What's the quickest way to do this, we don't want to go get a roller do we?"
"I've got a touch-up sponge you can use, but it could get messy so just strip off your shirt and jeans and I'll get it"
That was the luckiest thing that happened all day because you'd be surprised how much paint those sponges can hold. When The Guy jumped on the chair dressed only in underpants and socks and pressed that sponge to the ceiling there was....
Let's just say the clean-up took far longer than the touch-up.

Powder room: the lighting

I know it was probably a very expensive fixture, but no-one has been able to secure it to the ceiling, and a half-attached, rusty chrome and lucite chandelier is not going to add anything to the vision I have for the powder room.


I made The Guy swap the light fixture from our dressing room for this one. And guess what was underneath the chandelier? Great swirling 60s disco balls, it's more of the silver metallic wallpaper I found when I painted the room. Oh my eyes. This must have been fantastically fabulous back in the day.


It took two of us to take down the light. Then we got out the scales. It weighed 9.5 lbs.


We carefully peeled off the wallpaper. I'm going to make a scrapbook of all the wonderful wallpapers and tiles that decorated the house in 1968. I wish I could have seen it then. I had a moment's regret that I'd taken down the light, and the wallpaper, then I got back with the programme: bringing the decor into the 21st century.


When we put up the Facet Clip by Ron Rezek for Artemide light the room instantly looked cleaner, sharper and much bigger. The Guy complained, of course, about another of my crazy ideas but I get the satisfaction at the end of the project, of hearing him say "You know, you were right, it looks fantastic".
Of course I was honey, of course it does.

Tuesday morning

So you give up?
The answers to last week's quiz are
The Pogues:
1) Rainy Night in Soho
2) Streams of Whiskey
3) Body of an American

Billy Bragg:
4) The Milkman of Human Kindness
5) A Lover Sings
6) Greetings To The New Brunette (Shirley)


Billy Bragg wanted a SHOUT OUT so here you go: An ace set, lots of old songs, some new tracks from his soon to be released album and a cowboy shirt from his trip to SXSW in Austin, Texas. What more could his public ask for? Although I'm thinking he may come to regret the shirt (another impulse purchase fueled by the half-off sale that is America for Europeans right now).


Then there was the main event, the reason we were all at the gig, to commemorate St Patrick's eve the proper way. Not with green beer, parades and maudlin songs about pipes and mountain sides but with the great London Irishman Shane MacGowan and The Pogues and have a rollicking good time. As did this guy doing the drunken Irish flaying-about dance with a pint of beer in each hand without spilling a drop. It's a gift to be celebrated.

24 carats too late

I just ordered the smokey grey veined tiles for the downstairs bath; special order so I have to use them. And now I see these 24-karat Gold & Platinum tiles from Design Tale Studio. If only I'd waited a day! And it would have gone beautifully with that gold and diamond Teknobili faucet I mentioned last month.
This is a limited edition of 150 and and according to the website it's priced at only 1,700 euros or $2,651 (the exchange rate is a killer right now). Do you think that's for a 12"x24" tile? I'm afraid to ask. Just imagine how impressed your guests will be when they see you used that one accent tile!
It's not happening in my little powder room, though. I prefer to wear my gold, not decorate my house with it.
via Trendir

Powder room tile choice

Saturday morning was spent running from one tile place to another to find the perfect floor for the powder room. First stop HD to look at the marble we could buff down and seal. It was Hopelessly Depressing. We did buy a $9 Carrara marble lintel but the only marble tiles they had left were Crema Beige, and these were chipped and horrible.
Then on to a "real" tile shop where 12"x12" honed Carrara was a staggering $12! Eeek. And the more I looked at it the more I thought it could turn into a bad 80s nightmare. So we chose six Porcelain tiles that would co-ordinate with the countertop to try at home. First contender was a light grey marble-like 13'x13" tile that unfortunately looked dirty in the powder room. Second a great stone-look cement-coloured tile but it was too modern for the space. Likewise two Urbatek tiles in grey-green and slate blue and a fifth that had sparkles in. Unfortunately that one did look like someone had missed the loo, so that left number six.


Kitten-approved final choice: grey porcelain tile with black and stone veins.


Oops. First casualty of the renovation - the brand new lintel. It didn't stand up to being trodden on.

We went out last night

And did we have fun? Just us and 3000 of our closest friends. We discovered some new (to us) talent William Elliot Whitmore. If your wondering why you've never heard of him try saying "William Eliot Whitford" after six pints of lager. The best adjective to describe his music is "raw". At least that's what the wee Irish lad who came up to me three times during one song to ask his name called it. By the time he got back to his mates, he'd forgotton the name. By the third go, I couldn't pronounce it either. But he's from Ohio, he's bluesy, folksy, and raw on a banjo. Do yourself a favour. Go listen to Digging my Grave on myspace.


We weren't the only ones who had chills running down our spines and believe me, with the main act coming up we were a tough crowd to impress. Luckily we happened to meet the guy on the blue couch so we weren't afraid to let our emotions out.

To give you another chance to tell me who was headlining (upstate got the second act already) I'll review the rest of the evening when my ears stop ringing you've had a chance to garner the clues in this post.

Going Out Tomorrow Night

Anyone want to guess who'll be gigging?
There are clues but no prizes, just the satisfaction of knowing you have a superior knowledge of music from the last twenty years or so. Oh, and bragging rights of course. Extra points if you can also identify the songs:

1) Still there's a light I hold before me
You're the measure of my dreams

2) There was nothing ever gained
By a wet thing called a tear

3) And as the sunset came to meet
The evening on the hill
I told you I'd always love you

and

4) If you're lonely, I will call -
If you're poorly, I will send poetry

5) Is there a flag that flies above your heart
And is my name writ there upon it?

6) Here we are in our summer years
Living on icecream and chocolate kisses

Remember: Googling the lyrics is cheating, and as there are no prizes, pretty pointless. Have fun.

Bathroom flooring: the tip

Finally I got the long anticipated email from Apartment therapy with the tip for doing your own cheap and chunky marble floor. Big disappointment. The tip? Buy cheap marble pieces from Home Depot and buff them down to kill the shine. I'd already thought of that. But I'm not sure that's going to make for easy cleaning and that's a high priority here. Everything cleans off polished marble, including the red wine ring I found three weeks after our last party. (Which of you put that red glass bowl over the stain?) I just Windexed it off. But buffed marble and possible pee sounds like it might lead to odd yellow stains on the floor, and that would annoy me.
Does anyone know whether buffing makes marble more pervious?
Otherwise I could go with Porcelanosa Urbatek Zone Nature, which would be maintenance free and cheaper at $5.95 sq'.

Getting started on the bathroom

I can't tell you how long I've waited to type those words. Unfortunately, I had hoped that I'd be writing about the long anticipated master bath remodel but that would be too easy. We're still at the "You haven't shown me a plan" "I showed you the plan" "That's not a plan. It's a sketch, a very vague sketch" stage.
But we do have one other bath we have to renovate. Or half-bath. Or powder-room as they call it here. The little WC under the stairs. The one I said would have to wait until we renovated the kitchen. (I should make two New Year's Resolution lists in future. One of things we plan to do that year, these will never get done, and a second list of things that won't even be considered because it seems that these will never be completed at any cost).
And it all started with a call to our great handyman to come help me fix the rotted siding under the sliding door. You see because he does fabulous work he's greatly in demand. So when you've got him you don't want to let him leave without tackling all the little chores you can't do yourself. Like tile the 52"x 56" space that is the downstairs loo.


Inspiration from great room credenza

I know exactly what I want in there: Ronbow Red and Black Vessel sink with a long neck vessel faucet on a Carrara marble countertop. See how easy this will be? The only thing I need to do now is pick the floor tiles. And yesterday I saw just the thing over at apartment therapy: Cheap and Chunky DIY marble tile floor. That's it exactly. Perfect. And they will tell me how to do it. Only yesterday's email with the details didn't come and I'm waiting impatiently, checking my inbox every two seconds. Because I need to go get the necessary materials so that we are ready when The Handyman comes and then we can cross this project off the list.

A round up of recent chores

We knocked a few off the punch-list, we even hope not to have to do a couple of them again for at least a few days, weeks months - or EVER!
1) Secure the fence. Again. It blew down during the storms over the weekend. It's happened at least once a year since we moved in. In the past we've re-nailed it, re-braced it, shored it up and bracketed it. This time we have two pieces of cedar on either side of the fence acting as supports, plus one branch that snapped off a Dogwood. I have no confidence that this will be equal to a stiff breeze. The only way to fix this is to re-fence.
2) Screw the hinge back on the mudroom door. Again. This time we not only used longer screws, we also glued them into the wood. It has a 50% chance of being a permanent solution.
3) Straighten the drive post light. Again. The one the local hooligan hit with a baseball bat two summers ago. This time I took a piece of bluestone and rammed it down the side of the post to prop it up. The bluestone will be hidden by the hostas in another month. Probability of success? 75-80%. I don't think this will move unless someone swings on it. Or swings at it with a blunt instrument.
4) Refinish the back door. The one with the dog scratches made not by our puppies but the dog of the previous owner, and the nicks that were made when we had the tempered glass put in. I used Restore-a-Finish, it took almost no time and little effort. Now you can't see the scratches. I went over the entire door. It gleams. I was so impressed I did the laundry door, the window in the kitchen, the sliding door and assorted pieces of baseboard. I love this product.
The only downside is that you can really tell where you used the product so to avoid the tell-tale "I got bored and achey and went off to have a Martini" line on the woodwork you have to keep going. And when you have 70' linear of baseboard Martini time can seem a long way off.

Bear?

Look closely at the Jamie Geller Dutra Original Abstract painting. What do you see? I see a landscape on a rainy day with the sun glinting through the rocks in the background.


What does the Guy see in his birthday painting? A bear, that's what. It took me ages to see what he was on about but eventually I got it.
Anyone else see it?

We have a winner

and it's me. Yippee.
Actually it's The Cool House whose charms were appreciated. It won the Housetribe House of the Week competition.
Housetribe is a relatively new community-based website all about houses; whether it's searching their database to buy, sell or rent property, or showing off your own home or, what most people probably do, gawping at other people's houses, pop over to Housetribes, you're bound to find something interesting.

Art, moveable art

If the new Jamie Geller Dutra painting is in the master bedroom, then where is the Aboriginal art "Myths of Uluru" that I gave the guy for his birthday three years ago?
Here's the thing: I never felt that painting was 100% at home in our bedroom, the colors weren't quite right and it was a little small for the space. So I moved it to me office, right above the computer and it's extraordinary.


The ochre and red dots are perfectly balanced by the Asger Jorn Uden Titel (1943-44) poster from the Louisiana Museum collection in Denmark that hangs on the opposite wall,


and the Indonesian mask by the window. It's getting global in here.


Just in case you thought I was leaving out the Americas, New York is represented by three photos on the wall nearest the door.
Piece by piece the house is coming together.

Birthday, Secret, Painting

I have been patiently anticipating writing about this for a month now.

On February 10 I received an email from Jake Gorst announcing the opening of artist Jamie Geller Dutra's store on etsy. Jamie is Jake's mother and daughter of Shirley and Andrew Geller, architect of The Cool House. The email came fortuitously as I was looking for something arty and modern for "the guy's" birthday. I fell in love with original abstract painting in shades of green, bright blue, purple, red and gold, quickly purchased it and as soon as it was in my hands I dropped it off at the Framing Workshop in Huntington in the hope if getting it framed by this weekend.

The whole time I wanted to blog about how fabulous the painting was, how the colours would fit perfectly in our bedroom, especially how the abstract reminded me of lakes and mountains, shafts of sunshine and waterfalls, and I couldn't because I wanted it to be a big birthday surprise. I did blog about Jamie's site on 2modern design, but I couldn't add any personal elements in case the guy got wind of it. Very frustrating.

That I'm impatient is no secret but did you also know I am hopeless at fibbing and getting the painting home without the guy finding out would stretch my artifice to its limit? First I had to rope a neighbor into picking up the framed painting because it was too wide to fit in my car; this entailed many secret phone calls and emails and eventually a fictitious trip to look at furniture with said neighbor. The guy was suspicious, and very reluctant to leave the house at all yesterday (normally he's running errands all over the place on Saturdays) but the five inches of rain we had may have been responsible for that. Finally we went out to dinner and per the plan our neighbors snuck the painting into the garage while we were out, hiding it behind my car.


This morning I placed it in the kitchen and he was totally blown away by it. I picked a wood frame with a brushed stainless steel finish that picks up on the cool grey tones and an off-white matte that really defines the colours in the painting. We hung it over the sofa in our room and suddenly the guy understood why I made him rearrange the furniture in there last week. I told him it was so the room would appear larger (which it did) but really it was so the painting could be positioned on this wall and seen from the great room, back stairs and landing.


All this subterfuge was exhausting. I have only the greatest admiration for people who pull off surprise parties for family members, I don't know how they can get everyone to cooperate without letting the secret out. But all the drama was worth it when I saw the wonderful work of art as I walked up the back stairs and the look on the guy's face when he opened his present this morning.

Danish modern in the English Home Counties

The Danish architect Jorn Utzon, who designed the Sydney Opera House, also designed residential houses. Up for sale for the first time since it was built, is what the Times describes as "probably the best modern house in the world".*
Not only was it designed by a great Modern architect, it was built for Povl Ahm who worked for the engineering firm Arup and who demanded only the best for his own home. Built of yellow London brick, concrete with teak window frames, the house looks exactly as it did when forty-five years ago. Inside Höganäs floor tiles, similar to those used in the Sydney Opera House, flow from room to room and the kitchen and baths have cabinetry of Oregon pine that looks completely fresh. The rooms are filled with Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs and other Danish modern furniture. Check out interior and exterior shots here, but do it quickly, they're bound to disappear once it's sold.
The 4,000 sq' house is offered for sale by The Modern House Estate Agents listed at £2.5 million ($5.000.000). Buyers will not be able to significantly alter the house, as it has a Grade II listing, which is given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest" and planning permission has to be sought before any renovation can be considered. But really, when a house is this well-built, well-maintained and well-decorated why would you change a thing?

*that's only because they haven't seen mine yet.

Casulty of winter?

Checking the yard yesterday I made an upsetting discovery. One of the pretty azaleas had snapped of at the base and was lying on the ground. What made it worse is that the leaves were just starting to uncurl, a sure sign of the approaching spring.I'm not sure if it succumbed to a overload of wet snow from the previous week's downfall, a falling tree branch knocked it off or a cat jumped off the fence and landed on it.


This would be the cat most likely to do the damage. Look at the way he is eyeing the azalea. And, sob, look at how beautifully it blossomed last year.


There is nothing left but the stump, so I picked up the branch and buried the broken off part in a pot outside the back door. I don't expect it to magically blossom but at least it doesn't look so forlorn.

One small village, one big price difference

Two houses went on the market yesterday: one to the left us and one to the right. The first is a 1955 farm ranch that looks, apart from the new (2007) roof, as if it hasn't been touched since it was built in 1955. The second was the gardener's cottage to the Ferguson Estate and was completely redone and extended vertically in 2006. It's asking price of $1,750,000 reflects all the work that has been undertaken to turn the former cottage into an Italian-inspired villa. Even so it only has has three bedrooms, which may put off a lot of potential buyers and this house is situated right on the edge of the property line, backing up to a steep hill. You are literally 3' away from the road, so imagine the potential noise of trucks and schools buses making the incline all day long.
The price of the fixer-upper (that's Great Opportunity! in realtor-speak) is $799,000. Almost a million less than the renovated home. You do get a full, flat acre and 5 bedrooms but farm ranches aren't a popular style these days. My best guess is that this would be the value of the land only, and we're looking at another teardown. And at that price, in this village, it's a bargain.

File it under lust, baby

Looking through some inspiring photos on the internets today I came across the Legna Lightbox 2 from Jef Designs. This digital painting is illuminated by three fluorescent tubes creating a soft, back-lit work of art.
I want something like this to replace the Artimide Logico light on the landing. I'm not sure that the Legna lightbox would provide enough light along the corridor but it's certainly the right size (20h x 30l x 3.5d) and has the wood effect in it that we just can't get enough of in the Cool House. Can you image how striking it would look there? As it costs $1500 and our lighting budget right now stands at $0 or less I won't be able to find out if it would be as stunning on our wall. I'll just have to worship it from afar.