The Fixer Upper House and Garden

Milo's Mudroom Mayhem

We designed the mudroom with two things in mind: a place to store stuff, and a place to store dogs when dogs need to be stored somewhere, such as when they have muddy paws, or when workers or small children are in the house. Allie, our labrador, took to the den-like room immediately. Milo, a cockapoo, considers it a prison, and he swiftly figured out how to escape. At first I thought he was scratching the Dutch door so it opened just enough for him to wiggle out his 20-pound frame. But then M and her friend used a hidden camera to catch the rascal in action: He actually scales the door, like a monkey. You can see the video at the left-side of the blog. Just click the "play" button on the widget that says "One True Media." (You can make the video appear bigger by clicking the "zoom" button on the frame.)

Blog Updates

Dear friends and readers,

I am as un-techy a person as you'll ever find, but a little thing called "widgets" is making it easier to navigate the blogosphere. Just six months ago, I grappled with how to start a "favorite houseblogs" sidebar to this blog. Now I can link to other blogs very easily (if you're a blogger who reads my blog a lot, let me know!). Widgets also have made it easier for me to connect with you, dear friends and readers. I've just added "feedblitz" (upper right corner), which allows you to get my posts delivered to your e-mail address if you so choose. And I've also added a "search" function that lets you find stuff on the blog.

So if you want to revisit last summer's flood,  or read about soapstone, or get some tips on mudroom design...search the blog!

Now if I could just find a widget to fold the laundry...

Photos Of ...

The floors looked spectacular for the 15 minutes that I saw them last week. The next day, GC taped a sign on the front door that said "Remove Shoes: Floors Just Refinished." This prompted the painters to tape heavy craft paper over the floors, so they could keep wearing their boots. This is good for the feet, good for the floors and good for the olefactory system.

Here are several photos of the work that's been going on recently. Great thought, care and effort went into every one of these projects by all involved--and not a little bit of agonizing!

The kitchen is shrouded in plastic:

Painting the bricks lightened up the kitchen a lot--the wall was once the exterior of the house. After we built the addition, Miguel had the idea to place HVAC ducts on both sides of the stained-glass window, creating a little desk-niche.

Here's what the refinished floors look like...under cover:

White snow, blue sky, new addition:

 

Before the recent spring snow storm, Nawkaw came out to stain the new bricks. I think they look good but Husband says "there's not enough red." Oh well.

The mudroom is multi-functional, including cubbies, a coat closest, nooks for dog beds and lots of shelves for stuff (opposite the cubbies). The Dutch door will come in handy when muddy paws need to be contained. To maximize light in the kitchen, we decided to not use the top half of the door.

This next photo shows what happens when you trim Motawi tiles. I will post about this in detail later, but if you're considering using hand-glazed tiles, just know you can't trim the field tiles that have variations in shading. Instead of trimming them to fit, you can order custom-sizes from Motwawi for just $4 more per tile:

The "Shaker Beige" paint on these plaster walls frames the old door and windows:

No matter what's going on in life, you still need to walk the dogs ...

 

... And dance!

Hooks or Hookers?

"It's better to be married to someone who's obsessed with hooks than to have a spouse who's into hookers," I said to Husband.

"Huh? What?" said he, looking up from the laptop.

I was dangling a sack of white, two-pronged coat-hooks in front of the screen. "What do you think about these for the mud-room cubbies?  Do you think it'll look crowded if I use 3 hooks in each cubby? They were kind of cheap. Do they look cheap?"

Cheap got his attention. "What? Oh. They're fine," he said.

I jingled the plastic bag again.

"They're awesome hooks!," he added, sensing my need for more feedback. "Great job!"

But I wasn't going to let him off the hook in regards to the hooks. "OK, so I'm obsessed!," I admitted. "Be thankful it's only hooks! Do you know how many stores I went to this week in search of hooks, door stoppers and a fireplace key with a black flange?

"No," he said. "No I don't know, but I think you're going to tell me."

"I went to six stores, seven if you count two separate Home Depots! And not one store had decent-looking door stoppers! And they're all either phasing out coat hooks or selling them at such a clip that they can't keep them in stock! You try it! You go to two Home Depots, Expo, Lowes, Renovation Hardware, Ace and Craftwood and we'll see how sane you are at the end of the week!"

"Do you want me to get you a beer?" he said, eyeing the computer again. "We have Blue Moon."

I love Blue Moon with a slice of orange, but I didn't need a beer right then. I needed the lap-top so I could search online for decorative hardware. In addition to 20 door stoppers, I need a dozen cool-looking-but-not-too-expensive coat hooks, 15 glass door knobs, one fireplace key with matching black flange and a hand-held shower nozzle that doesn't look like something Dr Frankenstein used to charge his monster. Not to forget 15 or so light fixtures, bathroom mirrors, carpet for the master suite and a retro-looking Formica counter for the laundry room.

"Yes," I said. "A beer would be great."

And while Husband was slicing the orange, I signed him off the laptop and got to work.

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:

Everyday Matters

I'm looking forward to being reunited with my everyday china. It's an embossed, all-white Wedgewood pattern that I still love as much as Husband, chips and all.

It's early to be thinking about moving back and unpacking. M reminds me that I've been saying we'll be back "in three weeks" for the last six weeks. But even though the end date fluctuates with the weather, we can't help imagining where we're going to put the beds, and who is going to get which cubby in the mudroom, and where will the dog bowls go?

As wonderful as it is to think about living in The Fixer Upper House once it's all fixed up, these thoughts cause me some anxiety: I'm not sure what we'll find in the storage lockers that we stuffed after last summer's flood. I know the china survived, because the boxes it was stored in did not. Several hours after the flood, I unraveled every plate and saucer from mud-soaked wrappings, then I dried and repacked them snugly in brand-new boxes.

I suppose that's why I let myself think about the china: I know it won't be moldy. About everything else, I'm just not sure. We got rid of most of the books, linens, stuffed toys and clothing--every cloth or paper-thing that got wet, along with a lot of other stuff (as shown at left).  But given what zombies we were by the end of that day, I can't be sure that everything that went into storage was dry. In fact, I remember feeling queasy when I locked the last locker that night.  My thought? "Ew, mold."

If anything that went into storage was even just a tad muddy... Ew. I don't want to be there when the lockers are opened up. But I will be, of course, because I'm the shepherdess of the stuff.

I just hope the movers don't break my china.

Winter Daze

Today's snow is wetter than a dog's nose after a good sneeze. Here are some photos:

The house this afternoon (we're going to replace the shutters and I'm thinking 'hunter-green'):

Near the lake:

T and friend making a snow dog:

Built Ins

The silver lining to this grey day is that the carpenters have been working on the built-ins, which look great. Here are some photos of these works in progress:

The window nook:

The mudroom bench and cubbies (note the Dutch door):

Closeup of detail beneath mudroom bench:

It's really nice to see these French doors in action again. Husband extracted them from his great-grandfather's house in central Ohio shortly before the house was leveled and turned into a parking lot. We've been storing the doors in our basement(s) for 15 years.

Set In Stone

I bought my tile today: several hundred ceramic, porcelain and marble polygons from four retailers. Some people buy everything from one store. I'm not one of these people. This is partly because I needed different materials and designs for several rooms. It's also because not one store had everything I wanted for the price I needed. For example, I priced my job at several "stone and tile" stores that could have accomodated my entire job---from the hand-made fireplace tiles (pictured here) to the kitchen counters to the cheapo-porcelain 12x12s for the mudroom. But there was always a problem: at one store, the sales staff was snooty. At another, quality was great but prices were high. Another dealer offered reasonable prices but boring material.

I never said I was easy to please. And for what this stuff costs, you shouldn't be either.

So I shopped around a lot. Husband and budget necessitated that I seek the best prices, but I also shopped for quality material and interesting designs. And for the record I will say that when I was on the fence, I leaned in favor of sales people who were helpful and interested in my job.

I liked Beeta, who runs the desk at Stone Habitat in Mundelein. Her store has a great selection of marble and granite; she was helpful; she negotiated; and the price was right. I bought my kitchen counters (Santa Cecelia granite and Soapstone), fireplace hearth (Soapstone), and master bathroom counter and tiles (Italian carerra marble) from Stone Habitat. The installer, Joe, came to the house to measure before I made my decision. In fact, Stone Habitat and Expo were the only ones who sent installers to take accurate field measurements for the quote (Expo wanted to charge $200 for this service, but I wouldn't pay it). Stone Habitat sells stone and only stone...so I bought my marble and granite there and for ceramic I went elsewhere...

For ideas and selection of ceramic tiles, you can't beat Expo. Its tile department is expansive, brightly lit, and with moderate to higher prices. (I was surprised how bad the lighting was in many tile stores.) Getting someone to help you is a challenge--some of sales reps at my local Expo seem like they've been working the prison night shift for too many years. But a young rep named Katherine was a great help to me. I did the kids' bathroom at Expo: white ceramic subways with glass mosaic accent tiles the color of a Fresca bottle that's been in the ocean for 30 years; 2x2 octagonal white ceramic floor tiles, and Corian "whitecap" counter tops. Worth noting about Expo: its installation quote was outrageous; Donald Trump must buy his tile there. I bought the material, but not the labor. Also worth noting: they're having a tile sale--20% off. This helped a lot. Worth worrying about: I suspect delays.

I got my mud-room flooring at a heavily advertised chain called Century Tile. Originally, I planned on using brick-colored Marmoleum, but I went with 12x12 porcelain tiles that look like natural slate, per my decorator Jean's suggestion. These "NK-17" tiles are very durable (comes in handy with 2 dogs) and cost less than $4 a square foot. They'll be ready for pick-up tomorrow.

Because I shopped around and negotiated everything, I was able to splurge on the fireplace surround in the family room. I'm going with the handmade tiles pictured above from Motawi (www.motawi.com), which I bought at The Fine Line Tile Gallery in Chicago. They're expensive, and the installation is, too. But it's worth it.

The Shoe Dilemma

Thank goodness the holidays are behind us, the vacation is over and tomorrow we return to our blessed routine. Call me boring, I don't care. I love a good routine.

I also love a good domestic dilemma, and I face a small but important one for the mudrooom: should we have built-in shoe cubbies...or should we store our shoes in baskets?

Miguel's drawing at left shows one wall of the mudroom. I could have the carpenter build partitions for shoes beneath the "lockers" and bench, which will look tidy but fit only about 3 pairs of shoes each. Alternatively, each shelf area could hold a wicker basket that would hold several pairs of shoes, depending on how big the kids'  feet get...

Another plan, favored by Husband, is to limit each child to storing 2 pairs of "in-season" shoes in the mudroom, with the "off-season" shoes kept "off-site, such as in the basement or bedrooms. I'm not sure how the kids would decide which "2 shoes" to keep in circulation, but I can imagine some interesting getting-ready scenarios. For example:

Me: "Time for church!"

T: "I can't find my church shoes!"

Me: "Check the mudroom!"

T: "I'm past my 2-shoe limit!"

OR....

Me: "It's summer at last! Let's go to the beach!"

M: "Anyone know where my Crocs are?"

Me: "Check the mudroom!"

M: "But it's off-season!"

OR....

Me: "C, it's time for Irish Dance class!"

C: "Where are my hard shoes?"

Me: "Don't you keep them in the mudroom?"

C: "Dad won't let me!"

......................... 

Now that I think about it...dumping multiple shoes in baskets is probably the best idea!