On vacation

We have gone away, and I can’t stop noticing housethings, even at a motel. (The sinks here are from Kohler. Some of the toilets are from Kohler and some are from American Standard. My children are stymied by 34″ vanities, so it’s a good thing we got a 32″ for the powder room, as I am still learning to call it.) I have also noticed some recreational opportunities here, but I’d have to stop looking at plumbing fixtures to avail myself of them. So no.

Before we left, I spent some time making decisions so work could continue full throttle at the house. It was the biggest joint meeting so far: Lou and Laura from Sagatov, Heather from Steponkus Interiors, and Dan from Dan Stone, Wondercarpenter. (Not his actual title, or that of his show, but he should have one. He could solve the mathematics of framing and provide designs for staid homeowners and . . . well, I’d watch it.) After all my grumping about the tile, it was nice to have some things fall neatly into place.

I was so puzzled by the difference between C2 Banff on the chip and C2 Banff on the wall that I took my little sample can back to the paint store, where the staff was equally baffled, because C2 chips are actually paint sprayed on cardboard. There shouldn’t be any difference between the chip and the can. Their solution was to create a custom match of the color on the chip. Ingenious or twisted? Whatever, the color is perfect with the fabrics Heather chose, so that was settled.

The paint in the master bathroom is the custom Banff lightened 50%, so that was settled.

Then we needed a light blue for the ceiling of the dining room and the walls of the kitchen. I’d grabbed a few Benjamin Moore samples when I was attempting to unravel the mysteries of C2, and as Heather and I went through her fandecks, she pulled out Mystical Blue. “That’s on the wall over there,” I told her. We held up the opal schoolhouse fixture with the blue band, and it looked great. “It’s that simple?” Heather asked. I think we’re owed a little simplicity.

The other happy event before our departure  was meeting to discuss the built-in bookshelves for the third floor. We’d expected to fill one wall with bookshelves, but that wall runs under the shed dormer, so a tidy rectangular bookcase was out.  After we all agreed that bookcases at two heights was the way to go, Lou asked if I wanted a CAD drawing of the plan, a sketch, or something else. I said I’d be fine with just a rough drawing, and Dan offered to do it on the wall. The rest of us went down to the kitchen to discuss the work in there, and before we were done, Dan called us up to see the bookcase:

We need a better photographer to do this justice. One with a better camera.

 

Do all design-y folks learn to do that handwriting somewhere? Does it just happen?

Details, details

 

I am awed by people who do long-distance remodeling. How does that work? What happens at each Unfortunate Discovery? Each Delaying Event? Each Necessary Substitution? But while I am gone, Heather is picking the color for staining the hardwood floors, which also went in last week.

The deconstruction company wanted to know if we wanted them to save the old wall-to-wall carpeting. No, thank you.

 

I appointed proxies for any other decisions that need to be made in my absence: Dan, who likes traditional design, and Heather, who is much more contemporary but can channel my tastes like a champ. Together, they could probably come up with an entire remodel that I would love. But that’s assuming I could become a laid-back, control-ceding sort of person, and I doubt that’s possible.