June 3, 2010
May 19, 2010
May 4, 2010
February 11, 2010
tax refund = dining room pendant light (maybe)
I love tax time... I used to dread it... I hated it... but now, given the interest we pay on our mortgage, in addition to Cook County real estate taxes, tax time offers.... THE GLORIOUS REFUND! ka-ching! ka-ching! ka-ching! Actually, it's more like only one ka-ching!, but still... $$$.
In addition to stashing some cash in savings, a little bit of the refund is scheduled for cosmetic, but much needed, home improvements... Towards the top of the list - the dining room / kitchen light fixture situation.
Currently in the dining room, there is just a bare bulb in an exposed wire fixture socket... bare bulbs, when designed/installed with thought, can be used quite effectively in lighting, however the bulb situation in our dining room is not an example of such.
About 3 or 4 months back, we installed a red vintage Panton Topan Pendant in the kitchen. I grew up with it in my room. Originally, we were going to hang it in the study upstairs, however the kitchen needed a pendant over the island so I figured let's hang it in the kitchen for now. The pop of color is striking against the charcoal soapstone counters... HOWEVER, I stumbled upon the Topan Pendant in black and man, oh, man... that fixture would look NICE in the kitchen. Especially when lit... the inside has a copper glow. So, now I'm wondering do we get the Topan in black for the kitchen and move the red one upstairs to the study??? Hmmm....
First and foremost, which pendant should we go with for the dining room? We've narrowed it down to two choices - 1) the cost effective yet fun/edgy Patrick Townsend Orbit Chandelier OR 2) the OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive beautful yet never affordable so we'll have to find a used one on eBay or get a knock-off Artichoke Pendant by Louis Poulsen.
Photoshop mock-ups located above... Thoughts?
November 10, 2009
July 9, 2009
status update
The front garden is almost in full bloom. It has been a very cold and rainy summer, so unfortunately, the garden is not as lush and color-tastic as last year (don't get me started on this summer's weather, here in Chicago... I'm extremely bitter). In any case, we planted a few more additions (begonias, dahlias and petunias) to the roses, hydrangeas, lilies, astilbes and evergreen-leafy-berry ground cover plants whose name escapes me at this moment... the dahlias are doing well but the squirrels are snacking on the petunias... nasty tree-rats.
We rented a 20 yard dumpster around the 4th of July, taking advantage of the long weekend, using the extra days off to clean out the basement. We had about 8 months of constrution debris waiting to be hauled away. In addition, we had that random junk that tends to 'grow' and accumulate in one's basement... you know, broken beyond repair fans and toilets, 99% empty buckets of drywall joint compound, tools barely held together by duct tape, broomsticks without brooms, etc. I did not bother taking any photos of the basement... someday, maybe. You will just have to take my word... the basement looks a bizillion times better after losing 20 yards of junk in its trunk.
While de-junking we recovered numerous goodies we had stashed away 3 years ago, prior to starting construction on the 2nd floor. One such discovery were my parents' old director's chairs. They bought these chairs 30 or so years ago... the frames are nice and solid, with a nice patina of wear and age. I just have to get/make some covers for the chairs, which will be a bit of a project since these chairs are larger and wider than standard director's chairs on the market today (the original covers became threadbare and torn with wear so they were thrown out about 10 years ago by my parents, before I inherited the chairs). 
Bought some plants for the kitchen... a jade plant, one of those spider-super-hardy-viney plants, herbs (oregano, basil, cilantro and lavender... still would like to get some mint) and some cut sunflowers...
... and Charlevoix... well, she has been having some 'fur management' issues. We're sill working on it...
May 28, 2009
details
One of my biggest heartaches during our whole gut-rehab adventure has been that my dad wasn't able to see any of the major work completed. He was diagnosed with cancer soon after we purchased the house and within 2 years he was pretty much bed-ridden and unable to communicate very well. We had just started the major work on the second floor when he passed away... My dad gut-rehabbed 2 houses on his own... I learned from him and his work, but I cannot count how many times I have asked and continue to ask myself "how would dad detail this?" or wish that he was still alive so that he could come and critique all the details I screwed up (Jesus Christ... have you heard of a level? Who the hell hung the drywall? I'm getting motion sickness from the waves... (then with a smile and pat on the back) Looks good!!!!)
My mom has put their Michigan/summer house on the market... so I've been busy taking photos of the house whenever I go up there to visit... During my last visit I took lots and lots of photos of the front deck... lots of great little details to keep in mind when constructing our own deck (hopefully this summer). My dad had all these elegant little details/solutions stored away in his brain... God is in the details, right?
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