Quick reno update

Before I left for Palm Springs we had a few house issues - tree in pool, missing tile and snow up to my armpits but as of today we have resolved most of those. Steady rain is taking carre of the snow; a man with a chainsaw and a truck came, happily declared "Let's make a mess", chopped down the tree and hauled away the debris. Bonus: more light at the back of the pool so the hollies I'm planning should do well; potential problem - more weeds.


The tile came in, the floor is finished and grouting has begun. We used half a bag of anthracite grout on the shower and floor tiles and two bags of grey (gris) grout on the mosaic walls. Quick pic above of the grout drying before they washed it off the tiles. Got a big thumbs up design-wise from the plumber who came to check it out before he returns tomorrow to attach the faucets, shower fixtures and WC. He wanted to know how we made it bigger! Shower door ordered and should be here in less than "tweaks"*.


Painters already have one coat on master bedroom walls, ceiling and trim and the closet. Today the bath and dressing room get their turn. We also ordered the new bed/furniture and the Awesome Designer is waiting patiently to install the upholstered window valances.

Still to do: Fit vanities (scheduled for Thursday); measure and install counters and re-fit saddle (marble guy will be here asap after vanities go in - turnaround is one week); plumber to fit basins, faucets; electricians to finish lighting and carpenter to attach all the pretty hardware to the wall. I'm still hopeful we can make it so The Guy can take his first shower in there on his birthday but at this stage I'm just happy we're making progress.
*The official supplier/contractor delivery estimator - supposed to equate to two weeks, rarely meets that timeframe.

Little Phallicies

You know how it is when you are walking around an art gallery or a museum, something unexpected catches your eye;


you wonder if it's just you but it seems that everywhere you look


up


or down


inside


or out


there always a tiny piece of Classic art staring you right in the face


it's enough to make one swoon!

Racquet Club Estate Tour 2010

Palm Springs: Racquet club Estates Tour, part of Modernism Week 2010. Seven mid-century modern homes, five Palmer & Krisel designed Alexander homes - some with butterfly roofs, another with a flat roof; a Donald Wexler Steel House and a Meiselman post and beam. They have been restored, some keeping as faithful to the original as possible, others updated and expanded but all retaining the desert's mid-century tenets of clear lines, walls of glass, clerestory windows, airy rooflines and indoor/outdoor living.


The surrounding landscape is always part of the home - here mountains form a dramatic backdrop to the pool


Each of the homes is unique in its own fashion - here the breezeway wasn't part of the original Meiselman house but was added along with a master bath and guest suite during a year-long renovation. While other homeowners had updated with an eye to budget this home had it all- Bulthaup kitchen, LED color-changing lighting and infinite jacuzzi tub.


We signed up for the tour not only to get a closer look at Krisel's and Wexler's designs but to see if there were any renovations we could use in our own house. We brought back a couple. One was the ingenious hole cut through the frameless shower doors that enables you to turn the water on without hopping in and out of freezing spray. The other? To clear The Cool House of all clutter and tabletop "fluff"! We also confirmed how well-suited ikea is to mid-century kitchens and bathrooms - especially when paired with quartz counters. Catch the local news video of the tour here and spot The Guy chatting with designer Anne Breux about, what else, beds...

Inspiration after the fact

Shower walls: 8 x 13 porcelain tiles
I think the hiatus on the master bathroom renovation while I went to Palm Springs Modernism Week reinvigorated everyone. By late afternoon yesterday the shower was covered in anthracite Talis in a running bond pattern (the iphone camera makes it look brown) and half the bath walls were tiled in mosaic Eidos Grafito (both by Porcelanosa); perfectly positioned against the vertical Carrera marble slabs.

Master bath walls: 8 x 13 ceramic mosaic tiles
To tell the truth I was a little worried about the marble edge but it seemed the most creative way to solve the dilemma of joining two tiles with differing patterns and thicknesses. I'd never seen it done before - not in real life, not in a modern setting - and I wanted to ensure it looked neither obnoxious nor like the entrance to a mausoleum. After lots of research on the vanity top option I had decided marble would be the best way to keep within the grey/black palette; it also repeats the counter in the powder room and the credenzas in the great room and dining room, and I want to maintain continuity throughout the house. Once I'd settled on that for the horizontal planes it seemed fussy to add another element - wood - for the vertical.

Second floor Women's Restrooms, Gettty Villa: black marble mosaic tile
It's funny how you can worry about the details - even though the tiler, the contractor, the carpenter, the painter and most importantly The Guy assured me it was the simplest solution. I really seconded guessed myself for days and several sleepless night in Palm Springs until I found tranquility and validation in the restrooms of the Getty villa in Los Angeles. Mosaic and marble - classic but uniquely modern.

Bathroom inspiration

From the Albert Fry House II, Palm Springs

Elephants & Palms

Escape!

As nothing much is happening on the reno front - a 23" x 17" tile short of a finished floor snafu followed by snow days, sick tiler, and a wrong cabinet door setback - I'm tucking my head under my wing, embracing oblivion and swapping


this*


for this


and this*



for Palm Springs Modernism Week

Last year we stayed here for a conference; pretty pink flamingos, great sushi and Starbucks vouchers offered in exchange for hard sell to buy a timeshare - classy! Apparently these people had splashier time...

*
1. tree down!
2. floor tile, one piece short of perfection

Snow Day 2010

No work today - the wet saw is cold and wet - and will probably be buried by the end of the day


the cats are unimpressed


the dogs are feeling imprisoned.


Of course there are compensations for the humans - a roaring fire & a glass of wine


and the promise of dinner with friends - if we can only get out of here.... I spy rescue

Chocolate and Clouds...

...with a glint of metal... After all the selecting, culling and final editing and the twenty 12" x 12" squares in 7 different colors I painted on the master bedroom walls we have finally (maybe) come up with a paint palette* that pleases both The Guy and picky me.


Benjamin Moore Titanium to be precise. A warm pale gray with a greenish undertone for the master bedroom walls


Benjamin Moore Cloud White a cool creamy white, soft and billowy on the ceiling and inside the closets


Benjamin Moore Bittersweet Chocolate brownish black. Tasty on the trim to match the dark vanities.


By the way designers and decorators, Benjamin Moore has just launched a couple of exciting projects- new showrooms in New York and Chicago that have variable lighting to mimic those pesky north and east facing windows I'm currently dealing with and huge color blocks so you can truly imagine your finished design. The NYC showroom is painted in Cloud White, a shade I've used very successfully at The Cool House that provides a neutral background to the color chips.



Additionally, the "Designer's Colors" Virtual Fan Deck, a design-tool launched a couple of years ago with Kravet fabrics and furnishings is now available online making complimentary color choice a snap.


Benjamin Moore has also added an e-commerce section to the website so you can buy all the supplies BM offers, plus the sample pots in 600 colors, without stepping away from your computer. Shipping is free on orders over $75 and for 4 or more Color Sample pots. My local paint store is only offering pint samples these days - great for touch-ups or small areas, not so economical if you want to try out 3 or 4 colors on the wall. If you have any painting dilemmas there is a problem solving section too: Learn How that incorporates tips on faux-painting techniques and a calculator so you know exactly how many gallons of paint to order.
*For those keeping count - during the master bedroom project I have spent countless hours using BM's Personal Color Viewer, made innumerable trips to the paint store, bought 5 Color Sample pots, three pint size pots and 50 chips - all to find that what works best is a color scheme I used here, here and here. Ironic, no?

Design Inspiration

It looks like those umbrella stand pendant lamps in the great room are working their magic again.


Today they inspired the Awesome Designer to pull this fabric, Delineate in Malt from the Couture Collection by Michael Berman for Kravet. Also available in Foam (light blue) and Oyster (creamy beige). Not sure where we'll use it but I think we have to find a place - it was meant to be...

Maybe it was meant to be... the shower edition

After leaving the carpenter an amusing passive/aggressive note on the shower wall and mulling over the options to make the recessed shelf look sleek and chic and talking to The Guy who loves the Smedbo basket in the boys' shower I did a complete u-turn and started to think chrome shower shelves. After all two words that make me cringe are cubby (I always want to follow it by shouting Broccoli!) and niche especially when pronounced nitch! Soooo, should I run with my original idea or re-design on the fly?
There a couple of modern solutions that would fit with the hardware we are using in the rest of the bathroom


Ginger soap basket 36.60.20 from Homeclick.com $195.75


Smedo Sideline Chrome basket $86.40 from myknobs.com

What do you think interwebs? Do you prefer a cubby/niche/recessed area for your shampoo and shower gel or a basket or even a shelf?

I neglected to say which Sunday...

From a little more than three years ago "My prediction is that by Sunday evening there won't be any tiles, grubby or otherwise in the shower. "
The tiles did finally come off on January 1st 2010 and the cement board was screwed in place today. If all goes according to plan - for example, if the carpenter can unscrew the backerboard and cut out the hole for the shower niche that was carefully preserved during the demo (see above with pen on shelf), then re-attach the board - the tiler should be here Monday or Tuesday to start putting those babies back on the wall.

Gold toned papers

The white tone on tone wallpaper samples that I sent for from Graham and Brown were a bust. The tone on tone Checker looked dingy and the Curvy didn't read at all, its beautiful geometrical swirls simply disappeared on the foyer walls. The black Checker looked better but was still too one note - not the play on shade I had been expecting.



So, if the tone on tone is too boring and the terracotta and gold papers are just too much of a statement what, I wondered, if we went with a less bold color and pattern but a brighter, more metallic hue. Especially, as you can see in the photo above, we have more open spaces than solid walls in the foyer. What do you think?


Luna in Gold/Tan from Cole & Son via Lee Jofa


Muse in Champagne via Lee Jofa


Carlu in Nickel


or Gold by Designers Guild


Finally - grasscloth is very mid-century modern and it's making a comeback. W3043-24 is a 50% grass/50% paper blend in a real golden tone available from Kravet.

Remodeling Analogy

Plumbing :


Ceiling : :


Carpentry :


_

Oops! The joy of a completely internal bath is never knowing which room will be affected. These leaks (foyer) and pops (dining room Cathedral wall) will be fixed by the plumber, carpenter and painter next week - luckily I kept this blog so I can track which paint we used in the dining room...