New York Renovator

I hung my beautiful giant clock up in the kitchen. I had promised myself to wait until the kitchen was completely finished, as a means of motivating me to keep on keeping on with this endless project, but I just couldn’t wait. I couldn’t!! The clock was BEGGING me to go up on the wall.

The thing is huge, and weighs perhaps 20 or 30 pounds. I was no mean feat hanging this sucker. Because there is no central stud on this wall, I had to cut open the drywall, insert a block of wood between the two flanking studs, and patch the drywall back in. It took about 4 days (spackle had to dry, we had to repaint the area, etc etc). But FINALLY, it is up! I absolutely love it.

It goes with the kitchen design so well, has that bronze-y finish and an “Old World” feeling. It matches the ceiling fans exactly. Now all I need is some custom mugs and a few nice shelves to make the area perfect!

Below the clock will be a long mantle-like shelf. My iPod dock will sit on it. Yes! We got an iPod dock! My Hubs picked it, and it is really high-quality. I’ll have more on that, later. And oh yeah- under this mantle shelf will go a heater… whenever we get those installed. The forecast calls for flurries on Friday! I’m a little nervous because the basement window is still not filled in, and we have no gas lines for heaters yet. :S Both The Hubs and I have been totally swamped at work, and have absolutely no free time at all. *sigh*

I got my towels from DonnaKaranHome.com last week. They are super!

I’ve never had such luxurious towels. I am getting so spoiled, I tell you!

These are from the Bamboo Boucle Towel Collection. And they are in *ahem* plum. LUSH, I tell you. LUSH!

If you’ve been wondering where to get some really exceptional linens, home accessories, and window treatments, look no further than DonnaKaranHome.com. Wow! The selections are superb. Donna Karan is a high-quality brand name. The towels I got are practically heirloom quality– well-made, thick, meant to provide not just “use” but “enjoyment” and “beauty” as well. The bedding is especially beautiful. I love the decorative pillows, but look at the sheet sets! Aren’t they sweet as anything? That’s the DKNY City Clover Sheet set. So perfect for a little girl or teen.

There’s a lot of such beautiful home accessories at DonnakaranHome.com. You can browse the website to order, or use the store locator to find a store in your area. It’s very easy to order online, and the photos are very descriptive. Warning: Resistance is futile. The stuff is SO beautiful it will be very, very hard to choose just one thing!

Just so you know: DonnaKaranHome.com sent me these towels for free in exchange for mentioning them here. All opinions are absolutely my own!

My new curtains from CurtainWorks came in! They go marvelously with my living room, don’t you think?

I am ecstatic at how beautiful they are, and how very well made they are. The kind folks at CurtainWorks gave me three sets for my living room. I absolutely LOVE these curtains! They are the perfect color, the perfect style, the perfect size!

Well, they don’t go with that lousy pink/blue couch we have. I greatly dislike the color of the couch (we got it used). We are going to be replacing it with something more suitable for our room. I want the living room to have a beige and red color scheme, with maybe some green accents.

About these curtains– they are the Arlington Jacquard Wide Width. I LOVE THEM, and I will be buying more for the rest of the house. They are of excellent, durable material– thick but not so thick that they are ugly. These will be perfect as both summer and winter curtains. They come in several colors, and are VERY affordable. These 84-inch drapes are usually $25 per panel, which is very comparable. I had shopped and shopped around a great deal this summer, looking for proper window treatments; and I think CurtainWorks has the best selection for the best prices. The material is really exceptional, I’m just so happy with these curtains. I have been to dozens of stores both online and locally, and I just haven’t found anyone who can compare with CurtainWorks. I’m really, really impressed with them.

In the past, I have always sewn my own curtains, because curtains at the stores were always so expensive, and I had the time to sew my own. However, I am too busy to sew my own stuff now, and the price of bulk material has really gone up in price recently. In my local craft/material store, I spotted some curtain fabric for $50 a YARD! Whoa!

CurtainWorks also sells curtain accessories. They sent me this absolutely exquisite iron birdcage finial drapery rod. It’s so beautiful. As soon as I get the curtains for the other rooms, I will use this rod for my kitchen window.

So I’m very impressed with CurtainWorks. I recommend them heartily! The prices are good, the curtains are EXCELLENT. And they sometimes have sales. Currently, there is a summer clearance sale going on, so it’s a great time to nab some nice curtains for very low prices. Next time you’re looking for some beautiful curtains or curtain accessories, definitely check out CurtainWorks!

So you know: CurtainWorks sent me these curtains and the finial rod for free, in exchange for me writing about them. All opinions are absolutely mine! And I mean it when I say that I love CurtainWorks and these curtains! I personally recommend them!

In the new kitchen is a laundry closet, or “alcove,” as we sometimes call it. Honestly, I didn’t want the laundry appliances in the kitchen… but I had no where else to place them. We had to shoehorn the closet into a small corner of the kitchen. It looks “OK,” but it’s not the best choice, in my opinion.

Perhaps someday I can relocate the laundry area, when I finally convert the garage into a family room/utility area or something. I think the laundry closet is awkward, stuffed behind the back door and next to a window. I tried to make the area look as natural as possible, by adding more of the Greek-style pediment and fluted trim to the opening, and adding a window seat beneath the window next to the closet.

I originally planned for bi-fold doors to close off the laundry area, but it’s really too tight of a squeeze to fit them in. So I have to use curtains. These curtains are not my final choices: I will hang heavier drapes to help block out the noise of the appliances.

I also hung my retro tin signs.

So obviously I still have a lot of work to do. We still have no clothes dryer installed yet (need to route the gas line). And with winter coming, we REALLY need to get on the ball and install the heaters (more gas lines). I am thankful we won’t have forced air heat this year. No drafts, no dust, and no threats of Mesothelioma from the 60-year old ducting system. GOOD RIDDANCE to that junky system!

Chuck from Secondary Roads noticed my island in the new kitchen. So I thought I’d mention it.

The island is a big one, on great big casters. I cut a portion of the butcher block countertop slab to fit on it. Originally, I was going to use a simple table, sheesh maybe slap together wood from tv stands or something, or maybe construct a table of my own, using the butcher block as a tabletop. But as the renovation dragged on, and my list of Things To Do grew larger and larger, I decided to shell out the bucks and get one. I bought this island at my local Bargain Outlet (a chain of discount materials here in the Northeast). It cost a heck of a lot of money: $240. For that amount, I expected the materials to be first-rate and the instructions to be a breeze.

NOT.

The instructions were TERRIBLE. We had to take it apart three times due to poor or missing instructions. And the material is “OK.” But one of the stiles had been obviously cracked during manufacture, and had been glued together at the factory (in China).

We love the island– the concept of an island– and we made new parts of sturdier wood to make this work. So I don’t intend to complain about the island, per se. I just expected a lot more for my money. I wouldn’t recommend this particular island (it’s “Sunnywood”), but I do recommend the style: a big box of shelf boards with cabinet doors, and a sturdy wood countertop. We love our kitchen island for this. It also helps to direct traffic and keep passers by out of the work area. AND it makes a terrific barrier with which to play hide and seek with Livvy.

While designing the kitchen, I had complete creative freedom. Of course, I did have some limits: the door here, the drains there, etc. But overall, I had an open space 12 x 23 feet to tinker with. Oddly enough, the floor plan I eventually ended up with strongly resembles the floor plan I originally sketched shortly after we moved here, over 10 years ago.

One new feature, however, is our “Beverage Center.” The kids are tea and coffee drinkers (as are their parents ), and the old kitchen was so cramped with all six of us trying to cook, clean, and make tea/coffee. I wanted to avoid the traffic jams. I therefore decided to eliminate a small, dark, and cramped pantry closet under the stairs. I closed it up and built a small alcove with cabinets. The cabinets store our teas, coffees, mugs, barcode scanner (lol, kidding), and etc. It’s also a place where the kids make their own snacks and lunches. I inserted a small refrigerator under the counter for the storage of coffee creamers, lunch and snack foods, and cat foods.

The base cabinet drawers hold the dinner silverware, which is a dream come true. The kids usually set the table for dinner; the silverware and other dinner serving dishes are now conveniently located in the walkway between the kitchen and dining room. No more elbowing each other to get to the silverware and dishes!

To the left in this photo is our new (and unfinished) pantry shelf. I have yet to craft wood cabinet doors for the pantry… I cannot find any doors for it, and will have to make my own. But because my time is so filled up with more important projects (we still have no clothes dryer and still have no heaters installed), the pantry will have to wait.

I also opted for butcher block countertops for this area of the kitchen, too. I was initially hesitant to do so, knowing that the kids may be forgetful or in a hurry. Standing water and food stains are the enemies of wood countertops. But I was very pleased with the results of Waterlox on the counters. And the kids have been wonderfully careful about keeping their area neat.

I’ll be blogging more about the little details in the kitchen in posts to come. Thanks for reading!

We’re in!

In one final blitz of a day, we finished painting, finished installing the baseboard trim, cleaned up the furniture, and moved things back in. As soon as we got the entertainment center in, the boys set up their Playstation console.

Glory to God, it is MAGNIFICENT having a dining room back again. I got sick and tired of eating in the garage with the bats and bugs!

We’ve spent the weekend working on the living room– giving it a new coat of fresh paint, FINALLY installing the trim and baseboards after 3 years… cleaning out all the plaster dust that just wouldn’t go away with *normal* cleaning… and rearranging the furniture. I have been without a real, organized desk for about four months now, and it was starting to wear on me. Because I work from home, a messy desk is a hardship for my work. (‘m not into customer service jobs at this time, I just write articles for a living.. so while I don’t need a super-quiet room, it must be organized and neat. Otherwise, I’m fussing with things, trying to clean it up and not doing my writing jobs!

The end of this renovation is near. Thank God!

And I PROMISE I’ll have more photos of Livvy. We’re back with the camera, and I took some real cute ones. Thanks for cheering us on during this tough time. You guys are the BEST.

I spent a LOT of time renovating the downstairs of the house. I also spent a LOT of time comparison shopping. Ugh! I am so sick of shopping I could scream. It was hard work, believe it or not! I hadn’t known that a neat website called ShopWiki could have saved me a ton of time (and money, no doubt!). ShopWiki is exactly how it sounds– it is a “wiki,” or collaborative website of multiple resources, for shopping. ShopWiki is unique because they don’t just dump you with search results that are bought and paid for by advertisers (like, *ahem* some other search engines)– ShopWiki REALLY searches for WHAT you are LOOKING for.

You can search ShopWiki for anything. and come up with relevant results for your shopping expedition. ShopWiki will search for all sorts of basic and unique items. Need a particular indoor light fixture or a very special line of home decor products? Search ShopWiki. How about Victorian style lamps, or maybe a very quirky lava desk lamp? ShopWiki will find them!

It’s pretty cool. Now that I have started the decor phase of the renovation, I’m on the search for Norman Rockwell prints, and other nice furnishings. ShopWiki to the rescue!

Well, I’m stumped. I can’t make up my mind about a clock for the dining room. I have a gorgeous (and HUGE) one for the kitchen, and the living room already has a nice swinging pendulum one… I want the dining room to have a classy, elegant clock. I’ve been surfing through the collection at Buy.com, and I have whittled it down to two choices. They are both so beautiful

There’s this one. It’s a Westclock Deerfield, on sale for only $20 (free shipping, too!). I like it because it’s simple, elegant, and made of wood. Its something I can see from across the room without having to squint.

But I really like this one, too. It’s the Ashton Sutton Discover Clock. It’s got a reproduction of an antique Dutch map created by Fredrick De Wit. I love that!! It’s a large clock, too– 18 inches. But it’s $60.

I’ve said before that I am bananas about clocks… I would like to get some really nice ones… $60 is a bit much right now, but it’s still a great deal..

What do you think? Do you have a preference or any advice to add? My dining room is very traditional. Here’s what it looks like with the new flooring.

So I’m trying to build around the classic, traditional style. NO cheapo plastic Walmart clocks for me! Hmmm, choices, choices…

My 1855 home was constructed in the Greek Revival style, a popular architectural style in Upstate New York from the 1840s to the 1860s. Even though my home is a modest home, the builder didn’t shirk from adding a few subtle but beautiful Greek Revival elements here. This is a photo of the original 1855 trim in the dining room.

Simple, but nice, don’t you think? Unfortunately, I could not salvage the original trim. It was encapsulated with lead paint, and was pitted horribly. It would take a whole lotta acne scar cream to fix those pits, baby. So I decided to get rid of it, and construct my own. Here’s how we did it.

First, I cut basic 1×6 lumber into a triangular shape. I didn’t take photos of all the complexities, but here’s a quick rundown of how I did it. I measured the length of the framing (a window or a doorway), and added more length for the fluted trim on each side (totaling 6.25 inches, in this case), plus a half-inch extra on each side. So if a window was 33 inches wide, I added 7.25 inches to that measurement, to account for the additional fluted trim and a slight overhang of the pediment on each side of the trim. I cut my board to this length; I then measured the center of the board, and measured four inches up on each side of the board– this made my triangle, and I cut it with the circular saw.

I decided to use pre-primed beaded corner for the pediment top.

In order to create a tight butt joint where the beaded corner would meet in the middle, I would have to cut the beaded corner ends at angles. So I measured each side of the pediment board with my angle tool to find the angle size.

I then transferred this angle measurement to my miter saw. I LOVE my laser guide light.

I then cut the beaded corner at the angle. It makes a perfect angle at the top of the triangle.

I did it again for the other side of the pediment.

I then placed them together at the vertex of the pediment board. The trim boards have a nice, tight joint.

I then glued the beaded corner down, pre-drilled holes to avoid the wood from splitting, and nailed the pieces together.

Voila! I have a simple pediment replacement. Add some fluted trim, some glossy paint, and I’ve got a Greek Revival window.

Photo taken before trim was painted.

This kind of carpentry work is not difficult at all, and it looks SO MUCH better than the cookie-cutter modular-home, basic casing trim that so many homes have. The trim work, even such basic trim as I have detailed here, adds so much to the house. We painted it this evening (haven’t taken any photos yet) and the trim looks absolutely fabulous, just so classy. I’ll post the photos when I get them. Little touches like these make all the difference!