I have been wanting to have a house and home thread for a while for all things house and home. As many of you are aware, I have spent years restoring old homes and have a weak spot for Architecture, Interior Design, Design and Art.
But this thread isn't just about that. This can be about how someone has tricked-out their dorm room or 15-room mansion. This can be where you show off your kitchen remodel (hint-hint) or the Unicorn stables you designed and constructed.
If you want to discuss a do-it-yourself project, like adding an outlet where there isn't one, or blowing out a wall to enlarge a room. Whatever. I bet a lot of people around here have experiences to share in that department.
Anyway, I will start. My wife and I have been restoring an Old Portland 1916 Craftsman for the past five years. It was in bad shape when we got it. Just like the one before it. We're suckers for pain. But the bones, well me in particular, I love good bones.
I will start posting pics as I continue to chip away, but here are a few for starters.
My current project, the foyer. That lavender you see on the doors was even on the exterior. It was all over the place. Not that I dislike lavender, but...
This is the work-in-progress dining room and a peek into the living room. Around 80% restored.
I'll add some more later.
We haven't started yet, and I don't really want to post pics of the before until I have some "after" to prove we don't live in a shell of a house.
I do LOVE that purple paint, though. I wish the rooms in my house were big enough to deal with such a dark color. I am going to stalk this thread like it's my job, I have to get into the headspace.
Nice work chestie.
@Chester--yeah in the end it will be nice because I will have two ovens (a baker's dream) but it's just gotten way more expensive and way more time intensive that originally planned. I am waiting for the gas guy to tell us the only way to do it will be to tear up the floor, then my worst case scenario will be complete.
@ Renee: I figured I better move this discussion over here...
As far as the gas line install, do you guys have a crawl space under your kitchen or a basement?
You're a pro Chesters! Is that a white cat on the steps?
Oh! The purple is so nice! So soothing! I like it.
There is no point in owning property in San Francisco, and there is even less of a point in owning property when your profession is in games and you'll be forced all over the place. But when I get my student loans paid off and I've established myself as am author, I'd like to buy a small house out midwest, so pictures like these are quite inspiring!
Currently I rent an apartment, but live out of one room. I have shelves on every wall--these things called "Cubeicles." They're nice; they hold my books and my toys and my snacks and things like that. But that is the extent of my house and home, currently.
Good eye Vraj. Yeah, that is my carpenter's apprentice:
His names are: Kiwi; Bambi; Gamby; Bosley; Bosley-Verbatim; Puerto-Rican Bosley; Gashumbee; Lamborghini Countach; Google; Google and to the Gamby. Alister McFlea.
And his significantly older and more debonair brother (also more conceited): Whiskey; Richard; Richard-Shilly; Shilly Shat and to the Shat in his Pants; Mr. Richardson:
@MissKok: Nice to see you again! I hear that, San Francisco is ridiculous. You know, houses are great but they are also ball-and-chains. It is a love-hate relationship.
I could just as easily go for the minimalism you speak of, and I just might again someday. Small and creative-focused.
I am a huge fan of the really small portable houses being built by a number of people. I want to build one of those someday.
Thanks on the color compliment. We tend to go for pretty intense color schemes but I am starting to like white and simple again to allow the art and furnishings to take center stage.
Nah, in CA there's no such thing as basements, do to all the falling in houses would do this clost to a fault line. We had a guy come over today that thinks he can run it next to the beam that runs through the center of the house and put in the copper line for the ice maker on the fridge too, here's hoping he is as together as he seems!
Good news is, his estimate was less than half of what our last estimate was. Assholes from Palm Springs trying to bring the HCOL there to our little pocket of cheap.
The good news is we get to start demo soon, and we got a good line on inexpensive, but awesome looking countertops. Most of that will start happening next month though, we have about $10k being held up right now *grumble* so the big stuff is going to have to wait.
The next big issue is, of course, that we may have completely 180'd from our original vision for the kitchen. Yeaaah. Gonna be great!
I 180 for a living. Yeah, it is all part of the creative process.
Well, that is good news, I love it when shit costs less. I always get as many bids as possible for everything now. And it is amazing the price fluctuations. The thing is so many people just go with the first bid that those fuckers go around raping people. But other times it might be that a contractor is too busy...but for the right price...
Yeah, Husband ran into him at the convienence store. He was doing remodeling on the store front next door. He's a nice guy, works a lot in the area, and gave us really inexpensive, logical solutions for some of the stuff we were worried about, in addition to giving us his contacts on suppliers, without us even mentioning hiring him on for more than the gas line. So it's a win win right now. And it feels much better to give a guy like this work than one of these pricks from Palm Springs.
Yes. Chemistry is huge. Not only that, but you can usually assess someone's skills and aptitude pretty easy. Especially someone who is a good communicator. That is something I always look for--communication and clarity. Transparency. The industry has been forever plagued, and continues to be, by secretive practices. Basically a lot of them function behind a veil acting like their knowledge should be clandestine.
Electrical is a prime example. Fear mongering industry insiders want everyone to be 'afraid' of electrical so that they can keep the market cornered. Can it be dangerous? Of course. But it is actually one of the easiest jobs to do yourself, if you just do your homework and seek advice. The information is now much more available than in former times. Still, every god damned light fixture or electrical device states to 'hire a licensed electrician.' Not everyone needs to do that.
Well, I look forward to hearing more Renee, thanks for sharing.
BTW--did you mix to get that green paint in your photo or does it have a name?
The ceiling?
Yes, the ceiling.
It begins to day. And we're doing shit all out of order, because we got a good price, so wish me luck!
Here are some before pics of what we're fucking with today:
We're knocking all of this out, installing a gasline and putting in a range/oven:
Then that cabinet is being reworked to fit the dishwasher in which will go here:
Which now looks like this:
I was going to do before pics of the whole kitchen but I had to move a ton of shit to the main counter to get it out of the contractor's way. He'll be here any minute.
So basically pulling stuff out showed us some issues. Not going to plan. Ah, well. It's all part of the experience, right? And not having a range to cook on means no cooking! Silver lining!
That is one odd stove.
Where were the cakes made?
Y U ain't cookin' no cakes in thurrrr?
I like Chesties cat.
I'll upload my cats in a bit.
Oh yeah, I will rename this the House and Home and Cats and Dogs thread.
@Renee: Yeah, I had to custom mix the ceiling green to go with the light shade that had that color in it. I think it is a Devine color, just lightened up with white. But that was a few years ago.
Whoa, cool before and during pics. I love that shit. Yeah, there are ALWAYS surprises. Just roll with the punches. This will be fun to watch.
I will have to load some more of my bathroom pics soon.
Hahahaha Laurance, I have a wall oven. Don't worry, there are plenty o'cakes made up in hurr.
@Chester--bummer, it's a nice green. We're looking at yellows and greens for the kitchen, unfortunately it is becoming apparent that Husband and I have different interpretations of what that means.
Nice locks on the cabinet doors for the little one. We didn't use those and boy was that a mess at times. Pots and pans and flour everywhere.
Do you have a slab foundation?
As for colors and design calls fortunately my wife lets me handle those, and fortunately as well, we tend to have similar taste. But there have been times when I shook my head.
Yes, we have slab foundation. Gasline is going in today and we looked at countertops. I guess I am the only person in the world who doesn't want granite? I mean, I'd love granite...in a bigger kitchen...
I don't like granite because it is everywhere and unoriginal and other than the solid, more opaque varieties, it just isn't all that appealing.
I LOVE solid surfaces though like the terrazzo recycled glass ones:
Which can be controlled palette wise.
I think it might be around the same PSF. Shit, I even like Formica laminates, very inexpensive and tons of colors.
I like that a lot. We were looking into Formica originally, but Husband found some salsa verde or somesuch green granite on sale somewhere and he wants me to go look at it tomorrow. He is having the time of his life bargain hunting this stuff, but I sort of feel like if we can't afford butcher block or poured concrete, I'd rather have something inexpensive. This house is going to be a rental in a couple years and if/when we move back to retire we're looking at remodeling again, I really don't want to blow a whole load of cash.
Oh, I like green granite though.
It is the brown speckly black stuff that is everywhere in the track houses now that drives me nuts.
Well, I always have a really hard time 'holding back' while I am working on a project and always blow the budget (I also have gotten others to spend way more than they originally planned-Ha!) but bargain hunting yields marvels.
I must confess I have a treasure hunting addiction and can't drive past a Salvage yard, Goodwill, Thrift Store, Antique Shop, Estate Sale, Garage Sale without going in.
Exciting about the gas line.
Aruba something or other is what you are thinking of. My parents have it because they got off cuts cheap ;)
And we are salvagers as well, having a husband who is into as much as I am is a blessing and a curse. He's recently taken over my first edition collection by finding all the good stuff at thrift stores/Goodwill while I am elsewhere ;)
Aruba Tuba is the granite color. The black with the brown/gold speckling. #1 selling in America.
This is what we are looking at being able to get for about 10/psf
Aruba Tuba. My Dad and Stepmom have it. Great name though. And I would probably like it more if it weren't for the ubiquity.
It is like IKEA. I really like a lot of their designs--and I still shop there--but when design starts to be about what everyone else has, then it is dead to me. That is when the whole thing ceases to be a creative process.
I wish my bride would pile up more first editions for me.
Now that I REALLY like. That is what I was talking about as far as the 'other' more opaque or more consistent varieties.
And that has so much color to cull from for compliments.
Yeah, I have to see it in person. In my head we're painting with green like the one on your ceiling and pale yellows...but we've decided to build the colors around the countertop and not the other way around because we don't want to limit our options when it comes to cost. Sigh.
Here's Karl the Bulldog. He's a real hot shit, hard at work as usual. You should've seen the look on his face when I threw out this couch.
@Otis: Your pic is not showing up. I want to see Karl!
@Renee: That is the way to go. Granite is pretty hard to alter, whereas paint is easy. Besides, that is so beautiful, it is going to dictate a lot--to the extent of 'talking' to you guys and guiding some of your other finishes. The thing I love about having a central material like that is that once you have committed to it, you can place anything next to it--mockups if you will--and see if a particular combination 'works' or gives you a direction.
Fun!
I can't see him?
Here's my fat orange tabby:
Here's Black Betty (bam a lam). She's older now, but camera shy:
And here is my shepherd/lab mix (roughly the size of a mini-horse):
Awww I love pitties!
Those are some nice lookin' pets.
That Turtle is Awesome---Names?
Pit Mix - Meisha
Great Dane- Kahlua
Tortoise- Chico
Aren't they just the cutest damn things you've ever seen?
This is my boy Zeb, still rockin' the shades at 13... (with a friend's daughter)
Angus, My Ginger Wizard:
Mark, the pointy yet lovable bastard:
And these aren't my dogs, but I like to hang out with them a lot... L-R Edgar, Hunter, and Chevy.
Awesome pets! I had a turtle once.
But can anyone explain to me the easiest way to upload a picture? Chester I know you explained one way to do it, and I tried it and didn't get too far... When I click on the picture icon here, it gives me a Latin text. Am I just too dumb???
Get a www.photobucket.com account and then where it says direct link copy and paste that line into the URL image button here above your message in this box and then it will pop up.
Great Pets! I really love pet names too. They just crack me up--and I knew you guys would have good ones.
Yeah, Vraj, what Gonzal said.
- Get a photobucket account (imperative)
- upload pics to photobucket
- click on the pic you uploaded in that album or whatever
- a menu of options appears and one says 'direct link'-click on it and it will flash 'copied'
- come back to this window
- Now click on the image icon
- paste into window (you have to use ctrl+v I think)
- Post and we get to enjoy!
Am I the only person in the world that still right-clicks to paste?
I DO!!!
BFFs?
Avery, don't you go getting too chummy with my hubby. I'm extremely possessive and hard to deal with. ;)
I do combinations of clicking and ctrl-ing.
