West Annie Street

My brother-in-law, Alex, took these pics of the house over the holidays and they look great! Check it out. Thanks Alex!

to be continued…

…that is, if you happen to be reading this blog chronologically.  Otherwise it takes f - o - r - e - v - e - r   to do anything.  Like this table, for instance: my god, weeks!  After we made the decision this particular table was pretty painless - order on website, delivered to Scott’s office, put it up, bam, done.

The rug that we inherited from Scott’s grandfather Nicholas is a good example of the prolonged, snail-pace, slow-mo process.  Scott’s mom, Kathy, has it packed up and shipped to us from California. It is delivered to Scott’s work.  Scott takes it to rug cleaners.  We pick it up in a few weeks.  It sits around - does it fit?  Where should it go?  Should we have taken it in the first place?  Needs a rug pad - look around on different websites, compare prices, call Home Depot, Loews, BBB (Bed Bath and Beyond), finally go to Home Depot, but wait, the guy said they had this size but they don’t, so you buy two smaller ones instead.  Bring the pads home, now we’re too tired can’t do it tonight.  Okay, now is the time, move the couch, lay out the pad, get it straight (!), cut it down before the rug is put on it or after?  After.  Lay the rug down, crawl around all on hands and knees around the rug trimming the pad, move the couch back, wait move it again it’s not straight (!), okay we’re done.

Here is Scott riding his new (used) bicycle to the bakery down the street to get us some pastries.  Bon appetite!

We need a table at the Entry under the mirror (see the faint green outline in the first pic). The following are the tables we are looking at. Unfortunately, nothing is screaming “I’m perfect!!” like it should, and the one that I like Scott really doesn’t (the first white one). Sigh. Why are there no perfect tables out there? I know I’m not the only one going through this. My sister has been looking for a perfect media console for months.

And for some reason I am really into velvet these days. Anything I look at - chairs, drapes, pillows - I go straight to the velvet. Mohair too… soft… I wonder if kitties like velvet too… like are they going to tear these apart?’

I guess we’re lucky that we found some pretty perfect light fixtures. Here is the first one that arrived. It is the glass disc Vistosi fixture. Each disc is separate and gets hung (loose) on a metal armature.

When you open it all up and start hanging it this is how you feel:

Almost done….

Ta Da!

These are some pictures we took of the interior before we moved in. I think it was the day before, actually - and it didn’t look this clean and serene again for… well it still doesn’t.

When my sister and brother-in-law (Alex) were visiting I asked Alex, who has a professional grade digital camera, to take some photos of the house. It turns out that we’re not nearly ready and so this is what he ended up taking. (Yes, he is doing what you think he’s doing)

Oh, and not to be outdone, here’s a really cute Joey walking down the Hallway:

Scott and I have been cooking dinner at home everyday for the last two weeks (except dinner out at for sushi once) because:

1. we really enjoy cooking in our sparkling new kitchen and cleaning up in our HUGE sinks and

2. we have to save money so that we can pay for the major landscaping (concrete planters, pavers, water feature, gravel), decorative lights and necessary (and I emphasize NECESSARY) furnishings, like stools at the island.

I have been looking all the time for all the loose bits we need to fill the house and this last week I hit pay dirt!

We bought this 1960’s Murano glass disc chandelier by Vistosi for the dining area. There are bigger and crazier versions out there, i.e.:

We also bought this sputnik fixture for either the Entry or Master Bath (over the tub)

We are going to get these old, beat-up, chipped paint (just the way we like it )metal stools for the island. Unfortunately the colors were sold out, so I am getting 3 grays and a white stool. I love the four pronged feet.

Update:   These stools were sold out from under us.  I am so sad.  I did manage to get the last one - a gray…  sniff…

Thonet side chair - vinyl upholstered. This one I’m not sure about. They might be hard to reupholster and I think they are a bit overpriced at $495 (for a pair).