CREATIVENEUROSIS

The full monty

2010-10-14T01:16:00.006-04:00

The project in the sneak peek has reached its new owner so now you get to see the whole thing! It's a baby quilt; the second I've made. I'm pretty sure it took me longer, but, having done it before, I think my piecing (and definitely my binding) was better. I've got 3 more wee ones making their debut starting in January, so I gots lots more of these to do (assuming we consider 3 to be "lots").

Marimekko

2010-10-06T21:27:00.005-04:00

For a place that sells such awesome fabric, the Marimekko store in New York has a surprisingly non-awesome system (if you could call bolts of fabric lying horizontally on top of each other a "system") for displaying its fabric. After much tugging and shoving, this fabric came home with me (all the way on the Bolt Bus, which is a surprisingly pleasant way to travel)......and ended up on the dining room (ok, it's more of a dining area) wall.

Note to self: Stretcher bars don't automatically align themselves at a right angle. Sometimes they must be beaten into submission. Also, you should really center that light fixture someday.

A sneak peek...

2010-10-06T21:26:00.002-04:00

... of a non-house project I just finished. More pics after it gets to its new owner's momma.

Not-so-secret crushes

2010-09-27T08:30:00.005-04:00

Organic "Ogee" fabric from Tonic Living - would make fab pillows for the bedroom.

Twist Stool from Overstock (and a bunch of other places) - would totally complement my new pseudo-Nakashima table.

Life pillow from CB2 - would be perfect in the living room (except that when you have a perfectly good sewing machine and fabric for days, and more pillow forms than you really need, it's hard to justify buying a $25 pillow - even if it is fabulous)

It's not that I'm embarassed by the laundry room ductwork and pipes...

2010-09-20T21:36:00.006-04:00

...it's just that I'd rather look at this...

...instead of this...
...when I'm doing laundry.

This is how I want our bedroom to feel...

2010-09-16T10:24:00.005-04:00

image from DesignSponge

Needless to say, it does not feel like this (and won't ever, if the kitties have anything to say about it).

Oh shellac, how do I love thee?

2010-09-09T13:27:00.004-04:00

Let me count the ways:

1)

2)

3)I could go on, but I should probably stop at 3...

What I did over the long weekend

2010-09-07T10:54:00.011-04:00

Turned these e-bay finds...

...into this side table for the living room.

The top still needs finishing. I was going to use just polyurethane but apparently since it's spalted burl maple (which is why it has that marbling in the wood) I need to use shellac first. Or so the internets tell me. In any case, once it's finished the marbling will be even more pronounced.

I was inspired by this and this. And George Nakashima. And probably by watching back to back episodes of Design Star on Hulu.

I'm back...

2010-09-01T13:27:00.002-04:00

... and I really want a reciprocating saw.

... and we have new family members - Puck (on the left) and Ollie.

that is all.

More art

2009-10-09T15:57:00.003-04:00

Set of 8 bird-themed photo prints from etsy seller bomobob. They will live in the laundry room or 3rd floor bathroom, housed in some of my (obscenely large) collection of Ikea Ram frames... which I still need to paint... hmmmm.

Our first art purchase for the new house!

2009-09-21T11:37:00.004-04:00

I've been DYING for Ork Posters to produce a Philly version of their city posters; and after months of waiting:
They also have Boston, DC, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, LA, San Fran, and 3 versions of NYC...

Before and After

2009-08-25T08:36:00.002-04:00

So, you may recall the dining table we got from Craigslist a while back. For a while we'd been using it with our old Ikea dining chairs until we came across a set of 4 chairs (again, on Craigslist) that matched the style of the table. Since both the chairs and table are very traditional (and the chairs were upholstered with an unimpressive white fabric covered by plastic), I decided to add some retro fabric to the chairs to mix it up a bit. Behold the results:

A preview...

2009-08-13T20:04:00.002-04:00

...of new fabric I bought. I'll post pics of it in action this weekend.

[Insert clever title here]

2009-08-02T18:21:00.011-04:00

So remember when I posted that gorgeous duvet cover I loved but thought was way too pricey? Remember? And all y'all were like:
You should buy it! $250 isn't too much to pay for a comforter. It's on sale; it's actually worth a lot more than that. And besides, it's organic - you care about the environment, right? Well then why aren't you buying organic bedding, what kind of person ARE you?!?!?

Or maybe that was me...

In any case, I'm glad I didn't take the advice of whatever crazy person that was, because last week I was wandering down Chestnut Street wondering what to eat for lunch and I walked into West Elm to escape the heat and there it was: Everything the other comforter was but better

One big bold print instead of a smaller all-over pattern
Organic - Because after all I do care about the environment, and my health
King size - to eliminate the war of the covers (thanks Lee for the tip!)
Neutral background (but not white) - because really, who wants to deal with white bedding?
On sale for $40 - you know, less than a sixth of the price of the other one...

yes, it's wrinkled; if you're interested in popping over to iron my sheets, please, feel free.

Oh, and to the left is Brad's nightstand that I stained and painted. Project details to come later...

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2009-07-28T08:16:00.008-04:00

...we've got a backsplash! (and range hood).

the backsplash is courtesy of tweedledumber, who tried to weasel out of cutting the tile to fit around the edges at the underside of the cabinets. instead, she wanted to put up some sort of molding between the base of the wall cabinets and the backsplash tiles - though she kept reiterating that she would do "whatever we were comfortable with".

so then why are you even asking us about this molding ???
dude, if we'd wanted molding, we would've asked for it.
we wanted tile, we bought tile; put up the cotton-picking tile!!!
I don't care if it's hard to cut; that's part of the job, so cut it and shut it!!!

tweedledumb in the meantime came by yesterday to install the stair rails he claims to have been "working on at home" for weeks... a brief summary of a lunchtime phone conversation just about sums it up:

me: so are we getting new stair rails today?

the hub: well, he and his helper are here but so far they've just been the in "backyard" cutting and sanding stuff. I don't know what he's been working on at home this whole time.

me: I know what he's been doing - [to quote my niece] NO-THIIIIIIIIIIIIING.

You would've thought...

2009-07-22T09:09:00.002-04:00

... that we were probably getting one of the tiles I posted yesterday for our kitchen backsplash; but you would've been wrong. After many hours of handwringing, we're going with these glass tiles:

The plan is that the black and gray will tie the floor and counter together and the reflective nature of the glass will prevent it all from being too dark. Now let's see if tweedledumb and tweedledumber will actually show up on Saturday to install them...

And we're back...

2009-07-21T10:47:00.006-04:00

Haven't updated in the last few days because I've been consumed by ~~devising a plot to~~ resisting the urge to kill our contractor. Anywhoo, apparently he and his shenanigans will be out of our hair by the end of the month - or so he says.

Bottom line is: Kids, if your contractor calls to say he can't show up for work one day because he "lost his keys" and can't leave his house, that's probably a sign of bad things to come.

In other news; mmm, backsplash tiles....

My current irrational obsessions

2009-07-16T10:23:00.011-04:00

Overpriced (or at least too rich for my blood) but lustworthy...

For Helen (and Amanda)...

2009-07-13T18:59:00.010-04:00

Not that y'all can't read it if you want, it's just that it won't be as much of a revelation to you because yours truly somehow neglected to take "before" shots of the table.

In any case, Brad and I were helping our friend Helen (who beat P Diddy in the New York marathon, btw) move when we came across an old table in her basement. Turns out, she'd gotten the table from our mutual friend Amanda (who, as we speak is traipsing across Brazil- that's right, my friends are filled with all kinds of fabulosity) when Amanda was purging for her cross-country drive to California.

It had seen better days and Helen was going to leave it in the basement, and being the sucker for a project that I am, well...

It used to be covered in a dark varnish and had 2 drop leaves supported by gatelegs. I removed the leaves and gatelegs (you can see holes where they used to be attached), used SoyGel stripper to remove the varnish, sanded it down with my new best friend, added 2 coats of Timber-Soy wood stain in mahogany, and finished it all off with Poly-Soy, a soy based polyturethane. It was a lot of elbow grease for a little table, but it was also pretty fun.

My current obsession

2009-07-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

Apparently I have way too much time on my hands, which is odd because it's not like there isn't tons of work for me to do around the house and... you know at work. But I digress... In this copious free time I've been obsessing about knobs for my nightstand. I can't seem to commit; anyone care to weigh in? (because, naturally you also also have too much time on your hands and want to squander some of it with me)

Which knobs should I get for my nightstand?(survey software)

It's the little things...

2009-07-11T10:52:00.000-04:00

Wall hooks, turned curtain holdbacks for the bedroom, from Urban Outfitters (yes, I said Urban Outfitters - don't you judge me!).

Night Stands

2009-07-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

Inspired by this project from PennyPeopleDesigns (not to mention the price of new wooden nightstands, and the underwhelming pickings at our usual 2nd-hand haunts), I decided to re-do 2 Ikea nightstands for our bedroom.
I originally planned to stain Brad's with Ikea's Antique Stain, and make mine sort of like the one in the project. However, the Ikea stain left a lot to be desired and Brad really liked the mahogany stain on mine, so now he's getting the project knockoff - the knobs will be basic stainless steel not ring pulls. Here's an in-progress shot of his:

Mine's currently shedding the ikea stain. It'll be similar but with chocolate brown paint instead of mahogany stain For some reason, painting furniture is harder than painting walls, I have no idea why. But in any case, stay tuned for more.

Momma's got a brand new light fixture

2009-07-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Remember this?

It's long gone, and in its place we put this: (converted from plug-in to hardwire by yours truly thankyouverymuch)

The swag cord hangs a little too low. I'll fix it when next I have the urge to stand on a ladder for 20 minutes. This was originally supposed to go in my craft room but my craft room's so tiny, the only thing that made sense was to make it the main light. Except that it just doesn't give off enough light to be the main light in a room where you work with needle and thread. Plus it's way too cool to be hidden on the 3rd floor and it's perfect for our dining table.

The least complete room in the house...

2009-07-08T10:59:00.001-04:00

...is my craft room (shocking, I know - but in my defense, the closet was the victim of the roof leak and our contractor had to rip out and replace drywall and treat mold on the sub-floor).

Here it is in all its lilac glory (I reupholstered that chair a couple years ago, it used to look like this).

The most complete room in the house...

2009-07-07T10:56:00.001-04:00

...is Brad's office (shocking, I know). The new plant's name is Harriet.

PS: Happy Birthday Jefe!!!

The living room has curtains!!!

2009-07-06T10:43:00.003-04:00

The oversize ceiling fan that threatened to decapitate anyone over 6 feet tall has been moved to Brad's office (which has the highest ceilings of any room in the house). Still need to put down the rug. The pillows on the sofa came with it. The colors are ok, but they're not fun to lie on. Gonna replace those, and also make new covers for the footstools. I seriously had no idea how closely the green on the wall would match the armchair, it's a little disconcerting.

I'M BA-ACK!!!!

2009-07-05T10:23:00.005-04:00

Explanations, shexplations, I didn't post for a while, now I'm posting again. Nuff said. Now on to what you've missed:

The kitchen, she is almost finished. Need to install backsplash, range hood and new dishwasher - the old one is kerplunkt and it makes more sense to buy a new one than to pay $300 to fix it. I know what you're saying - for $300 you could buy a whole new dishwasher; but you're wrong. Well, you could buy a new 24" dishwasher, but alas our kitchen was designed around an 18" dishwasher and somehow, despite the fact that they're SMALLER, 18" dishwashers cost more. Still, it makes more sense to buy a new one than to repair the old one.

Also needed: a couple adjustments to base cabinet doors, spice racks, and a paint job. We're getting there.... Before and during photos here and here.

Things that are broken:

2009-06-08T12:24:00.002-04:00

Our dishwasher
Our central AC unit
My heart :(

Update: The AC's fixed, at very little expense (thankfully!), the dishwasher, not so much, we're gonna order a new one soonish.

Living Room in Progress....

2009-06-07T21:37:00.001-04:00

The Embiggening of the Kitchen IV

2009-05-28T22:17:00.003-04:00

More later when we get out from under all the boxes.

Update

2009-05-21T14:06:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know, I'm woefully behind on updating the blog. But between a work-mandated out of town trip and all the last minute things to do before we move (two days until D-day!), there's just been no time. Look out for many, MANY updates and pictures once we move in!

The Embiggening of the Kitchen III

2009-05-07T21:41:00.001-04:00

To recap; first it looked like this:

Then it looked like this:

And now, it looks like this:

I think there might be a kitchen at the end of the tunnel. (click on the photos if you want to see them larger)

Hole Tour

2009-05-06T20:14:00.001-04:00

Today I'm taking you on a tour of the various random holes in our house.

First up, here's a hole in our bedroom ceiling (ruining our paint job, grrr). This one's the result of a leaky pipe in the third floor bathroom. Funny story about that hole: When we bought the house we knew the faucet for the third floor bathtub didn't work. So we had it fixed after closing. Well, the plumber apparently didn't quite fix it because when we went to test it, we could turn the tap on, but not off. We eventually had to use the newly cut access panel (see hole below) to turn it off. After that whole fiasco, we notice a drip on first floor. Yes, you read right, not the second floor. A leaky pipe on the third floor caused a drip through the second floor wall and down to the first floor. Which brings us back to the hole above. In a sense, it was actually a good thing that the plumber screwed up the faucet job because otherwise it would've been a nice long while before we discovered the leak. But it was still annoying as hell.

This hole's less exciting than the 2 above. It's in my craft room closet . We didn't even know the craft room had a closet until the home inspector pointed it out. Of course 5 seconds later he pointed out that water has been leaking into it from the roof. So it was like: "woo-hoo, we have a closet.... oh crap, it has mold in it". Hmmm, maybe this hole's story is as exciting as the other 2. In any case, they'll all be gone before we move on Memorial Day weekend, at least they better be if the contractor knows what's good for him.

Because I need MORE projects...

2009-05-05T15:40:00.004-04:00

We picked up this dining table (sans chairs) off craigslist on a bit of a whim. It's solid mahogany and seats 6, which is what we were looking for. The top's got a fair number of scratches though, but since I'd been thinking about getting a power sander and refinishing some other furniture, we figured why not. That said, I think it'll take a lot more than a power sander to get the varnish off this puppy. I think we're gonna wait to see how my refinishing turns out before looking for chairs. We don't want it to be super formal so I think we'd need to get some very mod chairs or (more likely) pick up a mish-mosh of mismatched chairs in the same stain and re-upholster all the seats in the same fabric.

My light fixture...

2009-05-04T19:17:00.000-04:00

... hanging out in the guest room until I can put it in its new home in my craft room.

Stair Rails

2009-05-04T09:45:00.000-04:00

Remember these?

They're going away, and these are taking their place:

(They'll be painted white). Our contractor said he couldn't find any pre-made stair parts that matched my specifications (my specifications that they be simple and classic), so he's making them custom. I don't get it, but I'm not complaining...

Tiles are here!!!

2009-05-03T20:34:00.000-04:00

They're going in this week.

It's not what you think it is...

2009-05-02T09:51:00.000-04:00

...unless, of course, you think I have some sort of strange compulsion that has caused me to purchase four teardrop-base lamps for the new house. Because then it's exactly what you think it is. In my defense, the 2 below were random thrift store finds:
Plus, I'm pretty sure I've got the lighting thing out of my system now. I've even pretty much given up on looking for the perfect dining room pendant. When we get the dining table, it will come...

In case you were wondering...

2009-05-01T19:19:00.004-04:00

...why the husband needs two desks:

More kitchen bits

2009-04-24T12:57:00.002-04:00

Undermount stainless steel kitchen sink from Overstock
Chrome faucet, also from Overstock
and we're picking up the cabinets this weekend!!!

Paint Job - Living/Dining Room

2009-04-19T20:46:00.000-04:00

BEFORE

AFTER

The Embiggening of the Kitchen II

2009-04-18T20:59:00.003-04:00

BEFORE

DURING

The Embiggening of the Kitchen

2009-04-18T20:51:00.000-04:00

BEFORE

DURING

good news and bad news

2009-04-17T14:05:00.002-04:00

First the good news: Except for one itty bitty thing, our roof is actually fine, and functioning as it should - keeping rain, sun, and pigeon poop out of our house.

The bad news? The roof of the house adjacent to ours (damn rowhouses!!!) is not functioning as it should, and this is why water is getting into our house.

I'm not sure this homeownership thing is all it's cracked up to be...

Kitchen bits coming together

2009-04-16T23:04:00.005-04:00

Cabinet doors in Adel Beech from Ikea.

Recycled tiles from Olean in Park Avenue Liberty Green or Amber Valley Bowl Green from the Environmental Home Store.

Countertops made from recycled paper (cleverly titled "Paperstone") in obsidian. Also from the Environmental Home Store.

Again with the lights

2009-04-16T15:54:00.010-04:00

Apparently, besides cabinets, all we've bought for the house so far is lighting. I happened upon the light fixture on the cover of this book in a store on Pine Street. There's a nick in one of the mylar sheets so it was severely discounted. So I call Brad to get his opinion and the store folks suggested that rather than coming to the store later, he could look up the book cover on Amazon.

He wasn't feeling it. He said it looked like "that one at Ikea". (btw, it is WAY cooler than the one at Ikea). So I didn't get it (boooo).

Then we decide I should get it for the craft room (YAY!) and I go back about a week later. When I tell the store owner I want to buy it, he responds "No! You can't buy it; he doesn't like it. He thinks it looks like the one at Ikea". It was funny. Maybe you had to be there...

In any case, this is the light that's going over my chair (the chair Laney currently thinks is hers) in the craft room. And apparently I have a lighting fetish (who knew?).

Image from Amazon.com

Brad's office

2009-04-15T21:10:00.004-04:00

Sorry I didn't include it in the 'before' shots, but he doesn't really want anything done to it. I'll probably make curtains or roman shades for the windows though.

And here's his new (second) desk so now he'll have more room to stash all the tiny computers that seem to appear out of thin air (it's from the Swedish place).

ARGH!

2009-04-15T21:00:00.001-04:00

The roof is leaking. AGAIN. I hate roofers.

The sofa for the living room

2009-04-15T15:22:00.004-04:00

We haven't ordered it yet. We're waiting until May when Raymour & Flanigan has its 15% off friends and family event. It'll probably be the only piece of furniture we don't get secondhand. I've been trolling craigslist and the pickings on secondhand sofas are slim my friends... very slim.

More lighting...

2009-04-15T12:48:00.002-04:00

For the living area:

From Ikea.

2009-04-14T21:34:00.009-04:00

The lamps we bought for the bedroom.
So.
Psyched.

From Lamps Plus.

I know, I know....

2009-04-14T21:13:00.003-04:00

But you want to know... and I want to tell you. So we might as well make it official no? For the next few months or so, I'll be documenting the excruciating minutiae of our new house. Remodeling, painting, the whole shebang. Not sure what I'll do after that, but for the time being, don't act like you don't want to hear about the house. You know you do...

And now; the "before" photos:

Living/Dining area: The fan and dining room chandelier have to go.

Kitchen and door to half bathroom: Our contractor is currently ripping out the half bath

Master bedroom: We're painting it this weekend

Craft room: We're painting it too :)