Potential

Remember in that last post about a month ago when I talked about that big empty space under the mirror where the couch used to be? Well, we've been struggling with what to do about it. Then, about a week or two ago, Dave spotted an old piece of miscellaneous furniture something at this consignment/resale store in our neighborhood on his way home from the gym. Today we finally went back to a) make sure it was still there (it was), and b) to see if I liked it. I wasn't sure right away if I saw the same potential in it that Dave did, but I trust him, and I thought we could definitely figure out a way to make it work. There was enough about it that fit the basic gist of what we needed (length, height, width, storage...). It needs some sprucing up, but it definitely has some character, and we're excited to finally take on a new project and see what we do with it!

It'll soon be getting a new coat of paint (something in a dark wine-red type color, we're thinking...), and some new hardware at the very least. We'll see if anything else gets "refreshed" about it as we go. But here it is in "context" in the space:

We'll also be getting taller bookshelves to help fill the space up better around the mirror.

What do you think? Now that it's home I can see more of the potential Dave saw right away. Get ready for an update post in the next week or two!

Upgrades!

It has been an awfully long time since I last posted anything, and I am as dismayed and disappointed as some people have expressed to me that they are. Sorry. The truth is, on the home-improvement front, not a lot has really been going on since early November (when I last posted, though that was not a home improvement post). And on all other fronts, LOTS has been going on, and we've been busy. On top of that, the winter hours and lighting made it difficult to take photos, since it wasn't so bright and well-lit in the morning before work, nor was it light out at all by the time we got home at the end of the day. And our weekends have been busy. All of this is excuses, but also explanations. And that said, we have done some stuff, and it's all been in the upgrade department. So, here I am at long last with a little post regarding our recent upgrades.

First, in the fall we updated the second bedroom with a day bed, which serves as a couch during the day/when we have no guests, and which has a pull-out pop-up tucked below it so that two people can sleep comfortably when YOU visit!

(I also waited to photograph it until I'd done all my pillow shopping. I have one more pillow to buy - I have a pretty cover and just need the stuffer for it. It will go in the middle there, front row. It'll be worth it.)

Then we treated ourselves to a trip to the 21st century and got a new TV in our bedroom! Woot!

(It's a Bravo marathon kind of a day...)

So inspired by that purchase were we, that we also upgraded the TV in the living room. You can now enjoy a 55-inch movie experience thanks to the TV and new stereo system Dave installed:

(Millionaire Matchmaker Marathon Sunday. Forgive me. You can see two of the speakers for the stereo there in front of the screen - there are two more on the bookshelf on the back wall)

And then we rearranged the living room a bit, and moved the couch off the wall, pulling the living area closer together.

(cozy)

We're planning to get some taller bookshelves and to find a long console-like couch table (under which we'll have some storage something or other) to go on this back wall under the mirror where the couch used to be:

And finally, the most shocking upgrade of them all for anyone who's been in our home in the past five years... we have a microwave!

(what?!)

Look at us crazy folks go. We do have some more upgrading and actual work on the dock. Some more furniture updates are in the pipeline, and then a bathroom update (one, not both yet), and a balcony refresher are definitely lined up to go. And somehow we'll do all of that before our most dramatic HSS upgrade to date...

(I'll leave it at that for now!)

Floor Update

We'll file this one under trials and tribulations! Here's the quick update. Thanks to a great suggestion from Dad (why didn't we think of this ourselves? because we've never done this before!), we called our homeowner's insurance. And they jumped on board! Over the past few days Dave has been in touch with our claims adjuster who's instructed our every move. Today, an insurance-directed floor company came over to assess the damage and pull up the flooring so that the drying process can begin before the adjuster himself can come next Tuesday.

Remember these floors?

I have to say, it truly never occurred to me that we'd be seeing them again... or so soon!

They pulled up the warped flooring (as you can see, it was a good portion of the dining room and front hall) to reveal mold already growing on the subfloor beneath the damage. They sprayed anti-fungal stuff over the affected area, and set up several large fans and a giant industrial dehumidifier (that's it in the second picture above)...

(Lanie just does not understand what's going on!)

We're not allowed to open the windows at all, or to turn any of the equipment off. Also, there's a large drainage tube running from the industrial dehumidifier to our kitchen sink:

Clearly this presents a challenge to our routine and comfortable living... so what're we to do? As of tonight, we'll be housed, thanks to our insurance company, at the Marriott downtown (less than a block from my office, as it turns out), until Tuesday. Lanie will be comfortably living at her second home with Dave's parents'. Since we won't be back here until Tuesday, and since nothing can really be done until everything's dry and the insurance adjuster comes to look at it and give us further instructions, we won't be able to provide a next update until next week. So... that's where things stand for now. We'll post what we know as soon as we know it! (Happy Anniversary to us!)

I'm off to pack my bags...

By Request: Rug Close-Ups

I've had a couple requests for closer-up shots of the colors and pattern of the new living room rug, so here you go:

I like it more every day...

Sit Down and Let Me Tell You a Story... About Buying a Rug

Long ago I purchased a rug for the living room that I got really excited about. But it was too small (see here), and after I conceded that fact, I also decided I was really just all excited about *a* rug, not *that* rug, and so it was returned. Once we determined we were replacing the floors, we decided to wait on the rug-hunt and find something then. The hunt started back up again a few weeks ago. First we went to peruse the selection at Home Depot (thumbs down). Then we went to a local shop, The Exposition Flooring Design Center (which sounds fancy by name, and which looks fancy by website, but which is pretty busted in person). Then we decided to take a nice long walk with Lanie and make our way down Chicago's Devon Avenue.

Devon has been settled by many immigrant groups throughout Chicago's past. Along Devon was or is an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, a Russian American neighborhood, an Indian American neighborhood, a Pakistani American neighborhood, and a Bangladeshi American  neighborhood. Locally, though, it's known most, I'd say, for being Little India. Block after block is punctuated with sari stores, Indian restaurants, Indian video stores, grocery stores advertising Indian spices and other imported goods, and more. In between these there are Orthodox Jewish bookstores, Chinese restaurants, cell phone vendors, furniture stores, and RUG SHOPS!

Our first outing in the rug hunt included Lanie, and it was more a research expedition. We went into at least four different rug shops, and found they were filled with great items, very comparable to what we'd seen in other stores and online, and generally for great prices, or at least reasonable prices that seemed fair. So this was the spot. We found a shop we liked and decided we'd come back another day with the car to make our purchase.

Then it started raining. For days. DAYS! Today, finally, the sun was shining, we decided it was the day, and we drove back over to our shop. After wandering about the store a bit, looking through some of the piles of beautiful (and less-beautiful) rugs, and listening to Indian customers bartering with the shop employees, we were finally approached by someone and asked if we could be helped. After showing us somewhere in the range of 30-40 options in the size-range we were seeking, we finally landed on our pick. Previously we had been looking almost exclusively at more traditional, Oriental-style designs. Our choice, while traditional, is not in that style at all. But we both really liked the colors, the look, and the feel.

But I digress. Bartering. The rug we picked was out of a pile with a "fixed price." Once we'd agreed on a selection, Dave looked up at the guy and said a price $50 lower. The guy looked at us and chuckled out loud, and then repeated the "fixed price." Dave repeated is offer. The man scoffed, audibly, and told us "no, no. We set fixed prices so they are fixed, you see." We saw. But still, Dave was unrelenting. "You can't do anything for us?" He asked. "We'll walk away with it right now." He said no, and walked away. "Fixed price." We mumbled between us a bit. I was feeling a little like it might be time to let go. We either buy the rug at the fixed price, or take a walk. There were at least four other rug shops we'd already been to on this very same street that we could revisit. But Dave persisted. He went up by $25 and told the man he'd pay in cash. "Cash, credit card, no matter," the man said, "the price is..." Fixed, we know. Dave's eyes twinkled at him. He came back over to the pile and lifted a few rugs to show us another we'd considered and said he'd give us that one for the reduced-by-$25 price. "That's not the one we want," we said. "Come on," Dave said, and repeated the price. The man began walking away again. I was squirming. Let's go, I looked at Dave and silently insisted. And then, suddenly, the man turned around. "Okay," he said, "but plus tax." We won! (sort of.)

So that's the story of buying a rug. Now see what it looks like in our living room:

(Go Bulls! Go Celts!)

(Lanie approves)

What say you, dear Family and Friends? Do you approve of our selection? What about Dave's skills?

Floors: Near Completion

All of the flooring is installed! So why "near completion" you might be asking? Well, I'm not sure. But all of our contractor's equipment and stuff are still out, so it looks to me like he's not quite finished yet. Also there's an interesting taping situation going on in the front hall, which equally leads me to believe that there more work to do. I think he needs to do some finishing work on the thresholds and the baseboards, but beyond that, I can't figure it out. Guess we'll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, it really looks transformed. Here are some new shots, including a few "perspective" shots for my dad...

(from the front door looking in)

(aforementioned taping situation... we'll call it a tape crop circle)

(mysterious tape crop circle markings - arrows pointing at... well, nothing except the middle of the circle.)

(from our bedroom door, looking down the hall toward the dining room)

(and looking into the kitchen...)

(look at that beautiful, seamless hallway situation! ignore the edge of the tape crop circle...)

(living room)

(perspective shot: looking into the living room from the balcony, by way of the new door! (forgive the mess))

And on a side note... how great is it to still have day light at nearly 7:00pm?! Hooray Spring!

Floors and a Door

Good news! After some set-backs (a few additional set-backs while we were away... but they're in the past now, so they need not be regurgitated), we have some serious floor progress! Hooray! And they are really looking great. So far, the floors are installed in the living room, dining room, most of the hall space, and some of the kitchen. All that's left is the rest of the front hallway, including the closet, and the rest of the kitchen. One or two days more and we're fully floored--literally and figuratively. We also got a surprise phone call on our way home from our travels letting us know that the replacement slider for the living room had come in, so the new sliding door is also in place, and it looks fantastic. Bonus: it opens and closes easily! Great day at the HSS! Enjoy...

(living and dining room: complete!)

(hallway through to the master suite door: complete!)

(front hall -- complete up to the closet area)

(kitchen: just barely started... say goodbye to those amazing laminate faux bricks!)

And here's the new slider (I promise I'll provide better photos in daylight):

(ooh la la = easy access to grill)

Lanie thinks it smells funny in here, but I think she appreciates how sleek it's looking!

Hopefully there will be more exciting news to report on tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm off to consider running for the condo Board (oh, man...)!

Lessons in Customer Service and Deep, Calming Breaths

Some of you know (and were probably expecting updates already on progress) that we *should* have been in the midst of our flooring renovation. So, we ordered our new floors (bamboo, in a beautiful, warm, honey-oak color) about a week and a half ago from Lumber Liquidators (after some extensive research and price-comparisons). Our contractor, Danny, who did the work in our kitchen, was on board to do the work, and we were ready to go. The guys at LL "expected" the delivery to come to the Chicago store by this past Tuesday, but said it would "definitely" be there by "the latest" Wednesday. It did not come. Dave called every day, and finally Thursday afternoon they said it was in the store, ready for pick-up. This morning Danny came by to pick up our keys and went to LL to load the flooring. The plan was to bring it here so it could sit out and "acclimate" and work would begin Monday. HOWEVER, when Danny got there today, they let him know that they'd GIVEN AWAY OUR ORDER TO ANOTHER CUSTOMER. Really? Who does that?

The past few hours have been spent trying to deal with LL-Chicago's incredibly inept customer service, but ultimately I was able to convince the guy that the right thing to do would be to get his manager to call us today so we could come up with a solution, as our project has now been pushed back, and we have to now coordinate a delivery with our building for Monday (and the office is closed until Monday). All the while, I was practicing breathing techniques so as not to get ugly on him on the phone. I have always said, good customer service is easier to deliver than bad. You know what to do. You have to actively decide to give bad service. You don't have to go over the top to give great service, unless you want to, which would be nice, but GOOD, SUFFICIENT, DECENT, ACCEPTABLE customer service is really easy to provide.

SO. Long story short, the manager called us. He immediately took responsibility and took an overall discount off our flooring per square foot for the inconvenience and error on their part. He also offered to personally pick up the product so we or our contractor could come get it tomorrow. But tomorrow's my birthday, and that's not how to spend a birthday, right? So, we found our building manager in her unit (that's a story for another day) and got approval for a Monday delivery, with receipt by our contractor, so we don't have to take a day off from work. They've guaranteed Monday (on their lives, apparently), so hopefully we'll have pretty updates to share in a matter of days. This change will be fantastic! and dramatic! Now we can release the frustration and be excited again.

For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the bamboo sample of what's coming:

And now we're off to maybe order some new dining furniture!

(deep, calming breaths)

Mirror Project

Months ago, our good friends E&Z came over to see our then-new place. I remember we chatted about how to try to compartmentalize all of the things we wanted to do, and how to begin thinking about the things we knew we wanted, but couldn't yet picture as we tried to prepare to make this crazy place our own. E had a great idea about reflecting the water throughout in our design... an idea that's sort of taken over as the guiding principle for much of the work we've already done. It's almost like every change we make is done with the idea behind it being a thank you to whatever stars aligned to make it so we could live here, and have the view we have, and be able to wake up and go to sleep each day by the water. So, thank you to E.

We found a huge mirror yesterday at a thrifty shop in the 'hood, which we've hung over the couch in the living room. We've been searching Craigslist, the numerous vintage/thrift/resale stores in our city, online shops, and anywhere else we could think of for just this find. Yesterday, Dave took Lanie for a long walk, and in the aforementioned neighborhood shop, he found two huge mirrors that he thought could work. We went back together later, and agreed that the bigger of the two could really look great. It's HUGE. It actually used to be a sliding mirrored door, maybe for a hotel closet if that helps you imagine it better. It's about eight feet long, and maybe three feet or a little more wide. We could only get it home by sticking it into the car through the sunroof. I sat in the back and held it, while Dave drove, at approximately 3mph with the flashers on, the five or so blocks home.

The plan is to spray paint the frame... probably black? Maybe a brushed silver? White? Thoughts? But for now, it's up on the wall, and it's amazing to see the lake from the front hall in the reflection when you walk in... and to see the blue hues in the paints we chose in the reflection from the living room.

Curtains

In honor of a visit this weekend from our good friends R&R from sunny Florida, we did a bunch of cleaning up to show off our Home Sweet Schwab and mostly to make room for guests! As a result, I was finally able to put up one of the sets of curtains I bought a few months ago at IKEA. I have been thinking about painting the living room a gray shade for a while, so even though we hadn't yet reached the paint purchasing or application phase, I knew I wanted a gray compliment for that room. I also knew that our curtains would probably stay open most of the time for maximum view-enjoyment. So, they needed to work as framers for the window and to help complete the room. I went for a heavier, dark charcoal-y, heavier linen material. They are simple and straight-forward, classic and lovely (in my opinion). Here's Lanie modeling the well-framed, curtained window:

 

Living Room

As promised, today I present the painted living room. I mentioned in previous posts that the three paint colors for the connected open spaces (kitchen, hallway(s), and dining/living rooms) were related. The undertone to the kitchen and living room colors (the taupe and the gray) is blue - obviously the hallway is blue. Our idea was to refresh the home and reflect the greatest draw to living here: the water.

Last week we were watching HGTV for a change, and an episode of Designed to Sell provided inspiration. As the possibility of buying a home, and then the very real reality of updating a home, took over our lives, we started paying more attention to design shows, photos, spaces we passed or visited etc. Crown molding has always appealed. However, our ceiling is popcorn-y (sigh), so adding it to this place would look neither smooth/seamless nor elegant at all. So we abandoned the idea. Until the aforementioned DTS episode showed us another option. To create an architectural element, as well as an updated designed detail to the space, the designer added the illusion of molding by painting a thick stripe of white at the top of the room. Both of us reacted thusly, "Oh!" So we entertained the idea of taping off a 5-6" strip from the ceiling down in the living room. It sounded great at first, and then we got nervous. We're not experienced enough with paint to add detail, we thought. This is a little too advanced, we believed. We can't figure out how to keep the paint from bleeding behind the tape consistently, we concluded. And so we dropped it. We could add it later. I went away to a work trip in Nashville, and Dave set to work with slapping the gray (Little Falls) on our living room walls. I came home to a beautiful, fresh looking space. We finished up the second coat on Sunday, and were pleased. It looked great!

Then... Dave was off from work on Monday, and was suddenly re-inspired. No reason not to try the stripe now! He bought Frog Tape (better than the standard blue painter's tape -- again, there will be a separate post soon about the merits of investing in good tape!), thanks to his sister's advice (thanks, Lynn!), and white paint, and... check it out:

(forgive the clutter... next time you see this space it'll be put back together better!)

Now to put some stuff on these walls! Tomorrow: curtains. And once again, how great is Dave?!