The Fixer Upper House and Garden

The Living Room

Originally we had big plans for changing the function of the living room, including building columned half-walls that would separate the main, narrow section from a small attached sunroom. This would have created a lovely office for moi...but after we decided to install a storm drain in the yard...well...the lovely office for moi got flushed away.

And this is OK, because the phoenix rises out of ashes...and the dough rises out of quickened yeast ... and May flowers spring from April rains ... Anyway, looking on the bright side: after we refinished the floors, painted the walls and cleaned up the fireplace, the living room emerged as the go-to place for curling up, catlike, in a comfy chair with the Sunday paper, and reading it all, even the Auto section and the circulars from Macy's and Target. It's a great place to go to play board games, or visit with a friend, or chat on the phone. And the room's spaciousness deceives visitors into thinking the house is a bit bigger than it really is.

The living room is only partially furnished at this moment in time due to fund compromisation (I just made up that word). You can see how nicely the floors turned out:

The fireplace bricks are the exact same color and texture as chocolate chip cookie dough before you dump in the bag of chocolate chips:

 

Did I mention how nicely the floors turned out?

Get out your sunglasses! The walls were really really white

And this:

Floor Refinishing

If not for the Polish music drifting from the basement, I'd think I was alone in the house. It's so quiet, so empty. So ... very ... foreign. Sunlight mingles with dust in the living room and I wonder what's more striking: sunshine after a dark winter ... or is it the floor?

GC and his crew have cleared out the house. Gone are the ladders, saws and cans of paint, the scraps of wood, piles of molding and plastic bins over-flowing with trash. The house has been emptied for tomorrow's appointment with the hard-wood floor refinishers.

The bride is donning her veil.

I'm very nervous. I OK'd the floor stain weeks ago based on a four-inch test area in front of the refrigerator. We tested several colors, with the end goal of having very light floors but not so light that they look naked. We tried cherry, golden oak, natural, driftwood, early American and some other stains whose names escape me now. We also tried 50-50 blends, but I didn't love anything. How do you love something you can't envision? Emmanual, the floor-refinishing overseer, was adamant that I go with natural, which looked fine on the new floors but yellow on the old. A decorator urged me to blend natural with "just a touch of brown but no yellow or red." The painter suggested cherry to match the cabinets, but to my eye it was too matchy-matchy. Miguel the architect liked early American. I felt it would be OK if it was lighter, but when GC mixed early American with natural, the blend came out yellowish on our old, yellow-oak floors. In fact, none of the blended stains turned out well. Adding to the dilemma is that old floors take color differently than new ones.

So I decided to move on. I OK'd early American and let it go. But now, as I stand on dusty floors in this sunny room waiting for the floor guys to arrive on a day that's so bright my head hurts, the worries creep in. What if it's too dark? Too brown? Too mottled? What if I hate it?

Well, whatever goes down this week will be better than what's there now.

The hallway floors are a dark stain and are in dubious condition:

Since we expanded the dining room, it has both old and new floorboards:

The stairs are a very ugly orangish-yellowish stain that doesn't match the rest of the house:

Hillary and Me

It's crunch time for Hillary and me. While she travels the country trying to get you to vote for her, I'm finalizing the details on my house. If she blows it this week, she'll probably never make it back to the White House. If I don't get the aesthetics right, I could blow the whole renovation project. Oh HIllary, I know just how you feel! To work so hard and come this far ...

I think I have a better chance of succeeding in my endeavor than she has in hers. A few days ago I visited the granite yard to lay out templates for my countertops. It took an hour to drive there, and while dodging potholes more treacherous than any news leak, I fretted about the slabs of Costa Esmerelda that I picked out for my kitchen 2 weeks ago. Would I hate them and be filled with regret? Fortunately, it was love at second site, and thank goodness for that! (Here's a goofy picture of me in front of one of my granite slabs.) The counters are getting installed this week, and I can hardly wait.

Later I met with a "paint consultant" at my house to go over options for the first floor. I'd been in an absolute frenzy about wall colors after receiving conflicting advice from my many trusted advisors; at one point I was testing 21 Benjamin Moore colors in one room (you try picking out the paint for every single centimeter of your house! It's overwhelming!). But I'm at peace now; I'm feeling fine! With help from Dee, a consultant at the J.C. Licht paint store where my painter Derrick gets his paint, I've settled on HC-114 for the kitchen, mudroom, butler's pantry and powder room; HC 35 for the family room; HC-45 for the living room and foyer, and 2080-10--a cheery paint called Raspberry Truffle--for the dining room. Expect lattes and a home-made dessert if you come for a visit...

Meanwhile, work progresses at the house. Leon the tile guy is back this week, finishing up bathrooms and such before embarking on the all-important fireplace surround. Painters Mike and Andy put the first coats on the 2nd floor and basement rooms last week and now are prepping and painting the first floor. The kitchen's beadboard ceiling has been painted (the photo at left shows the painter, Derrick, testing various ceiling colors.) Carpenters Sebastian and Matt have completed the fireplace mantel, mudroom cubbies and the cozy window nook---applause is welcomed and accepted! Also: Husband ordered all appliances. Miguel sketched the layout for the laundry room ...  And after juggling the opinions of a half-a-dozen tradesmen on the proper stain for the hardwood floors, I've finally decided to go with a light-brown color called Early American, per Miguel's suggestion.

So many trusted advisors...so many opposing opinions. Yes Hillary, I think I know how you feel.

Here are a few pictures of the stones I picked out for various counters. This first photo is Costa Esmerelda granite, for the kitchen. I love the greenish-blue colors and the subtle white veins that appear throughout. The computer doesn't do it justice:

The next photo is of the green soapstone that I'm using in the "butler's pantry"; I'm also using this for the raised hearth in the family room. It's not a very clear picture, unfortunately:

And below, behold a slab of quartz for the kids bathroom. It's more sparkly in real life:

Purple Rain (Shower)?

When we were engaged, Husband gave me carte blanche on the bridal registry. He didn't care about china, linens and silverware---this is a man who'd rather use paper plates than run the dishwasher every day. So instead of dragging him to Crate & Barrel, I took my friend Therese.

Therese is stylish in a way that's timeless while also being very now. I needed her counsel when I was picking out cereal bowls 15 years ago as much as I need her now that I'm picking out paint colors for my entire house. But Therese is far away, Husband has punted ... and I'm on deadline with the painters!

I do have some ideas, and I've so appreciated e-mails about favorite colors from friends and blog-readers (Thanks, guys!). I also have several other things going for me: SIL is painting her house and freely sharing advice from her decorator; daughters 2 and 3 are settled on their colors; and my new friend Sue is a designer who knows how to "read" paint.

So far, I've got one yellow bedroom, one lavender bedroom and a kids' bathroom that's going to be Italian Ice Green. Per SIL's suggestion, the hallways on both floors are going to be OC-5 Maritime White (a tad lighter than a non-fat/no-foam/half-caf latte from Starbucks). The basement stairway, hallway and "media room" will be the same, so the house's core will be a calming, neutral color that should  stabilize it from looking like a Jolly Rancher's factory. I'm searching for a slightly darker version of OC-5 for the family room (Louisa--I'm trying HC-39, but it seems a bit yellowy in my dark family room).

I'm testing a very bold color on the plaster walls of the small and sunny foyer---AF 650 in satin, which is like a shiny, ripe eggplant. I think this will frame the curvey windows and doors nicely; who knows: maybe it'll make me want to cook Italian more. I'm considering Maple Leaf Red for the dining room; a sagey green from the affinity line, AF 435, for the living room, and another light green with slightly more blue tones for the kitchen--Af 465.

The hardest rooms have been the master bedroom, master bath, and my teen's room. We've tested a whole spectrum of colors on her walls...melon, gray, yellow, green, sage, purple. So far, the one she likes best is the color I'm thinking about for the kitchen, AF 465. It could work.

But what to do about the room I share with He who likes paper plates so much?  The bathroom has cararra marble with a dark stained vanity and white tub and toilet. I've tested four colors (greys, greens and mauvish purple) and nothing, so far, appeals. The bedroom is vexing, too. It's a sunny room with a vaulted ceiling--the coolest bedroom ever--and I can't shake the notion that it should be purple, silver and cream. What?! This isn't Husband? He gave me carte blanche ...

Ready Or Not!

Given how long it took me to choose a counter, is it any wonder I'm losing sleep over paint colors?

I'm presently surrounded by dozens of Benjamin Moore color wheels and brochures; it's like pulling an all-nighter during finals! Last week, my decorator Jean and I picked out several B-M-Affinity paints, but the cabinets were covered in cardboard; we had no fireplace tiles; and I had yet to chose a counter. Tonight, these colors seem too dark; too thick, even. Also, my painter says you can get the same colors for less $$ in Benjamin Moore's regular lineup. ... What to do?

Ready or not, tomorrow the painters are going to test some colors. I've picked out a few safe bets: "white dove" for all the trim; "maritime white" for the hallways; and "pomegranite" for the dining room (I like red). For much of the rest of house, I'm leaning toward "soft-whites," such as B-M's "dreamy cloud" for the master bedroom and "swiss coffee" for the kitchen and family room. But I'm really shooting in the dark on these whites, and I wonder if the snowy weather has affected my color palette?

Here's a photo M shot today of a stream near our house ... as we were slowly bumping down an icy road beside it: