The Digs Doc

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

High style, low cost - with a side note on controlling clutter

In an earlier post, I talk about fabulous finds for cheap in the Global Bazaar section at Target. That was a surprise, for me anyway. Less of a surprise and a notch up from Target is West Elm. Their style is decidedly modern but, because they have a global flair, many of their pieces can work well within any other style that doesn't mind bending a bit. And their prices are excellent, as is the quality of their goods.

Although my own style is more traditional, in an eclectic sort of way (Arts & Crafts meets British Colonial and other global styles meets flea market meets sidewalk finds, with an occasional modern twist), I've gotten a number of wonderful, reasonably priced items from West Elm. My latest were on-sale linen curtains for my in-progress dining room reinvention (more on that down the road), along with some natural fiber rugs in wonderful colors and textures (including the one pictured above), and some floating shelves to help manage my husband's ever-expanding family (his family) shrine, which I try to confine to two rooms--his studio and the spare bedroom, which doubles as his office.

I should mention, in case this is a sensitive issue for some readers, that I'm not opposed at all to family shrines. I think it's wonderful to include personal family photos as part of ones home decor. It's only when these shrines include only one side of the family and cover everything from a grandmother's Palmer Method Handwriting certificate to an unedited collection of children's drawings that I would recommend some selectivity and, possibly, rotation of favorites, while the remaining items might be stored away as cherished keepsakes and memorabilia that one wishes to keep but not necessarily display. This strategy also offers a peace-keeping compromise to couples with differing preferences in this area. It works for us.

This matter, of course, raises another important decorating issue--clutter control, a topic that has become so popular in recent times that, as most of us know, there now are stores (online and off) dedicated exclusively to containers and storage items. The Container Store is one excellent example.

To me, this says at least two important things relating to making a house comfortable and aesthetic:

1. Most of us have way too much stuff and it's suffocating our living space and clogging up our lives.

2. You can't have an aesthetically pleasing living space if you have too much stuff in it, no matter how lovely or sentimentally meaningful that stuff is.

So, maybe another, more extensive, post can be done on this topic of clutter control, a topic near and dear to my heart, being myself a recovering clutterholic. For now, I hope these little tidbits are useful and thought-provoking!

Back to West Elm and their great style at reasonable prices. Do check their website and try their products. I think you'll be pleased. By the way, they have a number of attractive shelves and containers for storage!

Resources:

West Elm
The Container Store

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Low grades for "high end": Part One - the rule

Get ready! This is a looooong post! And it is, admittedly, a bit of a rant and rave, though a much diluted rendition of the actual frustration these experiences caused. Still, why air this drama? Because I've yet to see this information in print anywhere else (or spoken about on "reality renovation" TV either). So, given the purpose of this blog, it seems important to include this side of renovating as well as the funny (if often stressful) stuff. So, if the subject interests you, read on. I hope it helps. I wish I'd known it early on.

To start, I admit it. I have expensive taste. Luckily, I also have a good imagination and often can get the look I want without paying a lot. But sometimes, things just cost. So, I plan ahead and work that into my budget.

Advisory Number Four (continuing from my first post): If you must, choose a few expensive items to get the look you want but plan carefully and choose wisely to stay on budget.

While planning for cost is one thing, it actually was in dealing with "high end" products' distributors or obtaining associated services that I met with unanticipated problems. In fact, I was blindsided by what came my way.

I did expect (perhaps naively) that if I were paying an arm and a leg for what was obviously high quality products, I also would be getting "high end" service with equivalent guarantees. You get what you pay for, right? Not! In fact, the rudest, costliest, most disruptive, deceptive and unethical behavior I've encountered (over several years and several renovations) involved persons associated with the sales and servicing of "high end" goods.

It has since occurred to me, as one explanatory clue, that the craftspeople who actually make these beautiful "high end" goods and put so much care into them are usually NOT the ones who sell them. Still, remember (from my first post) Principle Number One in Home Renovation: If you want and expect reasonable answers, you will lose your mind.

So, while it's useful to consider this low grade/"high end" problem and how to circumvent getting burned, some things are not explainable in reasonable terms. The fact is, some merchants and service providers simply have no qualms about conducting unethical business practices heavily masked as something else. And it happens for ALL kinds of businesses at ALL levels, whether we expect it or not. Running into these people could be due to anything from rotten luck to having past karma with them that needs working through. I have no idea. Stuff happens! Even if you think you've checked them out ahead of time, it can happen to you. The point is that, paradoxically, "high end" products do not necessarily mean "high end" service. Here's the skinny: (Actually, it's a fatty).

"High end" products actually can be a red flag for trouble, especially if you are not exceptionally rich with a team of designers to run interference for you. But then again, you also may have a designer and/or architect who is just as problematic as the products' distributors--regardless of whether they've appeared on HGTV and designed multi-million dollar homes. Because the same budget bias (double standard) may apply to some of them. If your job is not a six-figure job, then, despite the fact you're paying them as much as somebody whose job is (e.g., per hour), you could very well be getting short changed by them as they squeeze you in for some fast money and/or diversion and/or who knows what.

However, I guarantee you, if you suggest to them that they are treating you differently because yours is a "small job," they'll scream like crazy in protest. Shakespeare said it best, they "doth protest too much, methinks." At that point, you know you've been taken.

OK, by now the point is abundantly, redundantly clear. But what do these people actually do?

Here are some (but not all) of my personal experiences, illustrating this low grade/"high end" problem:

One "high end" custom cabinetry company located just outside of Boston with whom I've had my very worst experience actually has too many offenses to include them all. But here's a sampling (and not the worst of it):

Their senior designer was advertised as having an interior design degree and license along with membership in a professional interior design association. She had none of these credentials, discovered, by accident, AFTER she took a "non-refundable" $2,000 retainer collected on the premise that she and the company's architects (which didn't exist at all) could not be expected to begin their 'exceptional' design work without the customer's serious commitment to the process, demonstrated by shelling out the retainer.

While I started getting clues I was dealing with trouble early on (after they had my retainer), I kept working with them because this was the only way supposedly to salvage my retainer and I kept hoping it would work out in the end. Only after a lengthy battle did the designer produce the designs asked for (which involved nothing more than creating shop drawings from photos and drawings which I supplied illustrating exactly what I wanted; she didn't have to "design" anything) and then submit the order. Since I know now of others who, after handing over their retainer, also were given designs nothing like what they asked for but who weren't willing to continue working with this company to try to get what they wanted (thus, losing the WHOLE of their retainer), it raises the question of whether there is some scam at play here involving taking the money, dashing off totally unacceptable designs ("canned" designs?), hoping the client will pull out, and keeping the retainer having done zero work. I certainly had to go through the wringer to get anything that vaguely looked like the designs I had handed her on a silver platter; which she still submitted incorrectly (and the manufacturer further screwed up). The cabinets arrived several weeks later than promised and were wrong in just about every respect but the color (which was white).

The installer returned to figure out corrections (see, for example, photo at the top of this post with pencil marks on cabinets, drawn by installer, showing the angled corner the cabinet was supposed to have but didn't). However, the company's owner then refused to make the corrections and left me with half installed non-conforming cabinets (after taking 90% of the cost of the cabinets, which the company required at installation) and the message to "litigate" if I didn't like what had happened, a threat likely previously used with successfully intimidating results. Who wants to litigate?

Several attempts were made to settle out of court via Angie's List (a consumer help group), the Better Business Bureau (a complete joke, as I had been warned but hoped wasn't the case, a story worth its own post) and an attorney (at great expense) who tried everything from an amicable request to ultimately sending a 93A (consumer fraud) letter. Nothing worked. They just got nastier, more degrading and more threatening, never consulting an attorney themselves or informing their insurance company that a claim was being brought against them.

In the midst of this, I found out that the 25% extra I paid (above their already exorbitant base costs) for "chemical free" cabinetry materials (family members have asthma and allergies) was also taken fraudulently. Formaldehyde-containing cleats were hidden behind drawers, prohibited glues were used during installation, and the main cabinet material, though not containing formaldehyde, contained another binder known to produce respiratory problems and the raw material that formed the particleboard the cabinets were made from was obtained from "sawmill waste," which, obviously, could contain anything.

As of this writing, over a year later, this company still has my money and the partially installed, toxic cabinets had to be removed and put into storage while efforts to resolve the matter have had to be placed, as a last resort, in the hands of a trial attorney; more cost. By the way, this designer wound her way onto HGTV, etc., promoted as a world class design expert, including for having designed "villas in the Grand Cayman Islands." (In fact, she previously worked for a cabinetry manufacturer that supplied kitchen cabinets to condos built there by a major hotel chain.)

About the same time I encountered problems with the cabinetry company, I heard (from other distributors) and read (in consumer listings) about other customers having serious problems with this company. They're still in business though, advertising themselves and their "designers" as "the best in the business"!

Another unfortunate experience was with a "high end" architect. This was more of a mixed bag in that he did offer many practically useful and aesthetically satisfying services. But he also enlisted someone whom he called his "associate" who actually turned out not to be an architect or even a student with any design training, but was instead someone who worked in the office and was "planning" to go to school for design soon. Her measurements were significantly off (by several inches in several locations), resulting in major construction problems, many irreversible, and one very ticked off contractor who took it out on me.

The architect also used this "associate" to work on the drawings and specs, while he worked on other projects, which resulted in her ordering windows 4 inches too short. Ironically, many of these problems could have been prevented, not only by the architect's checking his "associate's" work (since he knew she had no training) but by his responding to my suspicions that some of the measurements did not seem to make sense. Instead, he offered an indignant response and said I was being "unfair" by not having sufficient trust and confidence in "his" work. He later ate crow, but by then it was too late.

These are only two personal examples of high enders getting, from me, low grades. Again, most of my experiences with "high end" distributors and service providers merit similarly low grades. However, I have had some very good (if rare) experiences, examples of which I mention in Part Two - the rare exceptions.

Whew! A long post here, but, as noted earlier:

This is an important issue to be aware of, I think. I very much wish I knew about this problem awhile back. And it's a territory I've never heard or seen mentioned anywhere else "out there." So...

Advisory Number Five: With "high end" products and services, be especially wary and ask for "customer references," don't accept references from their designer and/or architect client base only.

Designers and architects (the "trade") get their supplies from places like this and want to keep those supplies coming. Also, they don't rely on the company's "design" skills; they use their own designs for the most part. Further, they're repeat customers and the company has reason to keep them happy. If you're told the company doesn't release the names of their "elite clientele," take that as a warning sign and leave in a hurry.

Caveat emptor! And good luck!

Low grades for "high end": Part Two - the rare exceptions

I've just posted Part One - the rule on this subject of dealing with "high end" distributors and service providers, that rule being:

The rudest, costliest, most disruptive, deceptive and unethical behavior I've encountered (over several years and several renovations) involved persons associated with the sales and servicing of "high end" goods. Thus, from me, they merit the lowest grades despite the quality of their products.

Now, I'd like to mention, for the record, some very good (if rare) experiences I've had.

Here are three exceptions (I've encountered) to the "high end" problem:

For my kitchen backsplash, I purchased very expensive but stunning, handmade Motawi tiles from Tile Showcase in Watertown (outside of Boston). They were installed by a semi-retired master tiler referred to me by Tile Showcase. This man is a true artist (see photo of tiling detail, a hand cut mitered corner rather than bull nosed edge) and it was clear he gave equal care to whatever job he did, six figure or three figure. And he was so pleasant to deal with! I also got prompt, courteous and skilled assistance from my sales rep at Tile Showcase.

I purchased my appliances at Yale Electric in Dorchester (part of Boston) and the sales rep I had for this order was an absolute prince! I encountered a small problem with the refrigerator upon delivery, but this was immediately remedied without the slightest resistance. In fact, they were very apologetic about it. Yale actually sells appliances (and lighting) from the highest "high end" (like Sub-Zero and Viking, which I didn't get!) to the more affordable models we're all familiar with.

I was fortunate enough not to have that Newton cabinetry company get as far as taking on my kitchen cabinets (although they tried!) and instead got truly healthy cabinets from Neil Kelly Cabinets, a custom cabinetry company in Portland, Oregon. I had originally gone local in pursuit of healthy cabinets because I thought that would make any potential problems more easily solvable. Well, wrong! And despite Neil Kelly Cabinets being 3,000 miles away on the West coast, they have been fantastic. I worship the ground these people walk on, couldn't have had a more opposite custom cabinetry experience. I hear they're catching on here on the east coast. Good for them and whoever works with them! (See the bottom of my first post for a photo showing the plate rack, some of the cabinets and the oak part of my countertops, all custom made for me by Neil Kelly Cabinets.)

So, the good guys are out there. Unfortunately, they're the rare exceptions to the rule.

Be careful and good luck!

Friday, February 24, 2006

Kitchen renovating: how to still eat in


You know it's coming. The kitchen is being gutted, or at least majorly incapacitated for awhile. Does that mean dry cereal and take-out for the next 3-6 months? Not necessarily. You can create a "temporary kitchen" where you can cook modest (or even semi-elaborate) meals, depending on your imagination and tolerances.

To get started, here are some basics that worked for me. No doubt you'll discover your own.

1. Choose a room for your temporary kitchen.

Ideally, this room should have a sink in it--or one close by. But, if you get yourself a dish basin and don't mind schlepping to the closest sink (ours was in the basement), the temporary kitchen can be set up almost anywhere that is convenient for you. Some people choose the basement. We chose the dining room (functioning as temporary office), adjacent to the kitchen, with two layers of ZipWalls between it and the work going on in the kitchen. (For more information on ZipWalls, read my first post: It gets worse before it gets better.)

2. Move your refrigerator into that room.

That's one reason we chose the dining room/office. It was a short distance to move the fridge! Hopefully, yours has wheels.

3. Get a good "toaster oven" if you don't already have one.

By "toaster oven," I mean the new ones that toast, roast, bake, have a convection feature--basically, do it all but on a small scale. You pay but you will be sooooo glad you have this and will likely use it long after the kitchen is done. I still use mine regularly. It's a Delonghi.

4. Set up a one or two burner hot plate for simple "stove top" cooking or just boiling water.

NOTE: MAKE SURE you have all this stuff (#3 and #4 above) set up safely and don't leave it unattended. You don't want to burn your place down before it's even renovated!

5. Find a suitable place for basic pots/pans/cooking utensils.

6. Get a stash of disposable cups, plates and eating utensils.

I hated this part because of the waste. But it made things much less stressful to just toss the plates after meals. There's only so much that dish basin can hold in one shot.

7. Make the room as comfortable as possible.

If, in order to make your temporary eat-in kitchen livable, you have to take stuff out that used to be in there when the room was something else (e.g., in our case, a dining room/office), do it. The more comfortable and normalized you can make it, the more tolerable your unpleasant situation will be. Of course, as I said in my first post, if you can relocate during renovation, do it! But if you're reading this post about setting up a temporary kitchen, the likelihood is you're roughing it on site. Ain't it FUN?!

Setting up a temporary kitchen helps make living through a renovation feel a notch above holding out in a semi-demolished hotel. At least you can cook a casserole. Bon appétit!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Decorate like a musician

Sometimes it's hard to see what's not working in your own space, a bit like you can't proofread your own writing. One way to identify what does and doesn't work in a room is to ask others, who may or may not be willing to tell you. And even if they are, they might not have your same taste.

There's another way to do it yourself while still getting some distance from the fact it's your own house which you see all the time and get desensitized to. You can adapt a technique musicians use to improve their own playing; (I know because I'm married to a musician and, as a result, have met a zillion others). They record themselves and then listen back. Your own variation on this theme can be to take a photo of your room and have a good look at the photo. Yeh, I know! Whose house is that?! It's weird how different it can look!

Anyway, you don't have to be a great photographer to get some very useful information and if you have a digital camera, you get the feedback immediately and can try different things, take another photo, look again, delete the photo, try another way, etc. Enjoy and I hope you have recharageable batteries!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Turning a walk-through into a room

What do you do when a big chunk of your living space is essentially non-functional except as a walk-through or passageway between other rooms? Even if you put furniture in there and hang some pictures on the wall, it still ends up being a walk-through and nobody feels comfortable spending any time there.

Our living room had this problem. When we first saw it, despite attempts by the previous occupants, it ended up a walk-through, a hallway between the front door and kitchen or dining room or porch (where their kids played) or stairway to the second floor. Why? Because it has five doorways off of it and all the furniture was lined up against the walls, further emphasizing a path running through the middle of the room, leading to everywhere else.

The problem is one I call "no containment." The solution? Create containment! Here's how.

Obviously, there are architectural ways to do this, e.g., with columns or partial walls, etc.--which can look beautiful but can be expensive and you have to deal with construction issues (and if that seems like no big deal, read my first post). Another option is simply to move your furniture around.

Once you "get" what the problem is, you can figure out ways to arrange your furniture, some plants, whatever, to give you little mini-rooms within your room. This will allow the traffic flow to meander, stay awhile, settle in or gently flow to another destination, but not feel compelled to bee-line through the room and out.

At first, it might feel odd placing a big piece of furniture away from a wall, sticking out into your room, but go with the flow and experiment.

Here's how I handled my living room but you can apply these principles to any room:

1. "Vestibule" -- when you come in the front door, you land in a tiny entry room fit for one where you can hang your coat before entering the living room. Right before you is the first doorway into the living room. Prior to rearranging this room, you got a clear view across the room to the stairway on the opposite wall and felt pulled in that direction, fast. En route through the living room, you discovered the dining room and kitchen doorways to your left and porch door to your right. So, you realized you could take right or left turns. But you didn't even notice the living room,because it basically was a hallway. So, I placed a folding screen a short way into the living room nearest the front entrance and abutting the wall on the left, placed a cheap wooden stool with table cloth over it in front and put a nice plant on it. This extended the entry room into a more inviting "vestibule" and gave the eye a place to rest on arriving, before moving into the living room. You can see beyond this screen, to the right, but the screen offers just enough "containment" to allow your eye, and you, to rest a bit before entering the house.

2. The "new" Living Room -- On the other side of the folding screen is a narrow armoire, angled into the living room, the folding screen at its back. This creates a small "wall" that is just wide enough to give the sense of "containment" for the living room, i.e., it feels more like a room and less like a hallway. The opposite side of the "new" living room is "contained" by placing a rocking chair a few feet in from the stairway (rather than against a wall) facing in the direction of the living room. This creates another small "wall" for the room. So, the four "walls" of the living room become: the pre-existing right-side wall, the pre-existing left-side wall, the newly created armoire "wall" and the newly created rocking chair "wall."

3. "Window seat"" -- The newly created space to the right of the extended "vestibule" is just right for a "window seat" area looking out on the front garden.

4. Small "hall" to stairway -- Between the stairway wall and the rocking chair "wall," a small hallway to the stairs is created. Entering from the kitchen, this little hallway faces a pleasant focal point in front of a window, created using a table, plants and a fountain. Because the stairway turns near the bottom, this little area also has become homey extra seating off the living room.

So, the large, unusable walk-through living room is now the most cozy and comfortable "room" in the house, with four distinct usable living areas and allowing for a smooth, gentle traffic flow between adjacent rooms.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Paint, your best friend: Part one - the basics


Of all the home improvement possibilities that exist, painting is the simplest, cheapest, most forgiving (i.e., most easily reversible!) step you can take to update and improve the look of a room. And anybody can do it, really.

This first photo is from Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a wonderful restaurant, a review of which you can read on my sister Lynne's blog, Good Eatin with Lynne. It's a stunning example of what is possible with paint. The plaid "wallpaper" isn't wallpaper at all. It's a faux paint treatment, using stripes of gold, silver and copper paint on a green background. Not necessarily a beginner project but certainly one anybody could do with a little know-how and a lot of patience. In any case, I couldn't think of a more inspiring photo to demonstrate what's possible with paint!

Getting started:

The single most important thing in painting (as any pro will tell you) is preparation. This is true whether you're doing an elaborate faux treatment or simply changing the wall color of a room. You can paint a room quickly without prep but the difference will be huge and, in some cases, disasterous (e.g. painting latex paint over old paint that turns out to be oil based, without having used a suitable primer). So, don't skip this part. It will save time and money and disappointment.

By preparation, I mean:

1. Cover everything you can't take out of the room. On floors, I use an old reusable canvas drop cloth. Sometimes I use those paper drop cloths that have a plastic coating on the underside (so paint can't seep through); don't put the plastic part facing up because the paper part traps the paint drips while the plastic causes it to bead (and potentially travel someplace else). Which leads to: I never use the clear plastic stuff on the floor for this very reason; the paint beads up on it and when you remove it, after painting, those little paint beads fall off and get all over your floor. Needless to say, it's a pain to get that paint off your floor and, obviously, defeats the purpose of using a drop cloth in the first place.

I do use thin sheets, e.g. 1-2 mil, of the clear plastic sheeting to cover any furniture, etc. that I can't get out of the room. When I take this plastic off, I carefully fold the corners in to make sure I trap any paint beads inside before removing it. And then I get rid of it. I don't try to reuse it unless it's clear that little or no paint got on it and, if I do reuse it, I shake it out to get rid of any dust, debris or paint beads or simply cut off any part with paint on it before reusing it.

2. Remove all light switch and outlet plates. It's easy to do and looks neater when you replace them after painting. Just don't stick your fingers in there.

3. Clean surface area to be painted and patch any holes. Use a mild cleaner and clean any dirt or grime off your paint surface. If you have holes from picture hangers that you're not going to reuse or from any other of life's hole-making experiences, patch them with spackle, using a putty knife to smooth the spackle over the hole. Try to be neat but don't try to be get a perfectly smooth result on the first try, because overworking it will cause the spackle to start to clump as it dries in the process. It could (likely will) take more than one application to get a smooth surface.

After each application, let it dry completely (see directions on container, usually several hours). Sand (and gently clean the sanded surface) between each application until you get a nice smooth finish that looks like the rest of your wall.

I like to wrap the sandpaper over a small woodend block (about 3"x4" or so and as thick as you like it). This makes it possible to sand on the plane with the wall and not to dig grooves into your wall using the pressure of your fingers. You can get spackle, putty knife (use a smallish one unless you have a big hole to fill), and sand paper (fine grade) at your hardware store.

If you have a big hole to patch, there are screen-like patches in various sizes you can use to make the job a lot easier. Tell the guy at your hardware or paint store what you want and follow the simple instructions.

4. Tape off the area to be painted with blue tap; (don't use masking tape because it can take up any paint or finish under the tape, defeating the purpose of taping off because you'll have to repair the damage; not that blue tape doesn't do that sometimes, but it's much less likely and will do less damage). You can get blue tape at any good paint or home improvement store. Blue tape is expensive, but it's one of those expenses that's well worth the investment, saving you time and money and grief, in the end. I actually use the "delicate" version of blue tape (pictured), especially for faux painting, but you don't need that for regular painting.

What do you tape off? Stuff you don't want to get the paint on. For example, if you're painting the wall, carefully put blue tape along the edge between the wall and the woodwork (see photo). Take your time. It will be worth it. It takes longer to prep than to paint, a lot of times.

5. OPEN or at least crack some WINDOWS to let in ADEQUATE VENTILATION.

Now the painting begins!

6. Prime the walls using a good quality primer. I use AFM Safecoat Transitional Primer because of its low toxicity. It's formulated especially for people with allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivies or anybody wanting better indoor air quality. (I'll be talking more on the subject of "safe building" materials in later posts.) While you may not want to use this primer (or AFM paint), whatever you do, don't use cheap paint. Get some decent paint. It will go on better, last longer and look better.

For priming and painting, I use regular, decent quality, reusable paint brushes of various sizes (vs. those disposable sponge things) to paint along the edges and a paint roller for the rest. You'll hear people talk about using a "W" motion to paint the walls, i.e., forming a "W" with the strokes of your roller and, continuing in that style, covering the wall area you're painting. DON'T! Anyway, I don't. You can end up with "W" marks all over your wall and, unless you want that, simply use even, vertical strokes, from top to bottom, keeping a "wet edge," i.e., continuing from your last roller stroke, progressing along the wall until you've covered a whole wall (at which point you could take a rest or keep going).

Let your primer dry thorougly, at least 6 hours, sometimes more depending on the humidity, for example. If in doubt, let it dry overnight.

7. Paint your walls with the desired color, following the application steps given in 5 above. Depending on how dark your color is, you may need several coats to get good coverage. This is why some people "tint" their primer, to save steps. But to keep it simple for now, simply use as many coats of paint as gives you adequate coverage. In any case, use AT LEAST TWO COATS and let the paint dry thorougly between each coat.

8. Carefully remove your blue tape (using a utility knife to cut through any dry paint that keeps the tape from coming up easily) and, voilà!

Here's how the rich paint color used in my bathroom looks. It's AFM Safecoat Shaded Porch on the wall, Old Lace on the trim.



Resources:

One excellent and reliable source of AFM Safecoat products is Safe Building Solutions

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

An unexpected decorating resource

Depending on your tolerances for craftsmanship and design, some furnishings will have a quality appearance and some will look cheap. Not rocket science. But every once in awhile, you find good stuff that doesn't cost a lot. A couple of weeks ago, I came across just such a source--totally by accident. I was in Target getting towels for my house rabbits (they like the 'meadow green' ones) when my eye caught the Global Bazaar section.

I wandered over there and couldn't believe I saw a table ideally suited for my reinvented dining room. (Watch future posts for more on the dining room reinvention--away from the look of "formal" dining room towards salon/lounge, open to new kitchen.)

Anyway, not only was this table exactly what I was looking for, it was (for a table) really cheap! But in price only. You'd never know by looking at it that it was under $300.

For anybody out there wanting something similar or any number of other great-looking furnishing and accessories, the bargains are even better now. Until February 25th, there's an additional 30% off on lots of good stuff, e.g., "my" table is now under $200 while this sale lasts.

By the way, I don't work for Target and don't know anybody who does. Until now, Target was basically my source for bunny towels; that's it. Who knew?!

Happy shopping!

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

It gets worse before it gets better

Here's my kitchen, last winter--when it was freezing outside. Note: No insulation and nobody working to add any either. That's because there was fifty feet of snow outside and nobody would work until the weather improved. So, why didn't they wait until better weather before ripping the guts out of a quarter of my first floor living space?

Principle Number One in Home Renovation: If you want and expect reasonable answers, you will quickly lose your mind.

That lesson learned, one can move on to other matters, like how to keep yourself and your pipes from freezing while a large part of your house is gutted during a New England winter; the latter is easier because, although the insulation (and radiator) were gone from the kitchen, the heat in the rest of the house was sufficient to keep the kitchen above freezing; (my plumber reassured me of this while we both stood in the kitchen in ski jackets and boots). Conversely, that gutted room didn't help keep the rest of the house warm (quite the opposite), which leads to the first advisory:

Advisory Number One: Dress for the Occasion.

This could mean coats and hats indoors, or rain gear--and saying "goodbye" to open-toed shoes for awhile, not that you'd wear them when it's 40 degrees indoors. It definitely means packing away any really nice clothes for the duration of the job, or, at least, wearing and/or storing them at great distance from the work site with two layers of ZipWalls between them and the primary dust site (the room being renovated)--because the whole house will be either a primary or secondary dust site. There will be no 'dust-free zone.' This leads to the second and third advisories:

Advisory Number Two: Invest in ZipWalls (even if you think they're too expensive--at first).

What are ZipWalls? Check it out:

  • http://www.zipwall.com

  • Advisory Number Three: Relocate pro tem.

    If you can live somewhere else while the renovating is going on, most definitely do it. A major renovation is a nightmare to live through on site, unless you like waking to the sound of a nail gun and dust as a condiment with everything. Still, it can be done and how to do it will be part of what this blog is about.

    More to say, another day. In the meantime, some good news.

    Silver Lining Number One: In the end, you most likely will have a space that's a lot better than what you started out with (which, of course, is the point and makes the whole experience worth it, especially in retrospect).

    Here's a photo from my completed kitchen. This is the same window as the window on the left in the above gutted photo.

    Resources:

    Cabinets, plate rack and oak countertop by Neil Kelly Cabinets

    Tile by Motawi Tileworks

    Soapstone countertops by Vermont Soapstone