Samma's got a brand new Blog

Thankful for Moving In

I know I'm behind on the blogging and a lot has been going on.  Not the least of which is we moved!  But first, we hosted Thanksgiving for Richard's family.

Loving the new Dining Room table that actually let us seat 6, with room to spare (ok not a lot, but still). 

So what did we do to prepare?

First, I hung the kitchen grasscloth wall paper, after practicing on some paintable beadboard wall paper in the guest bath.  Even without the learning curve, I think the grass cloth was MUCH easier to do!

I love the texture, and the way the horizontal lines in the cloth visually open the space. And, you can see Richard and Edd installed the cabinet hardware too.  Love the oil rubbed bronze slashes of color against the natural maple! 

We also took down the not-working for no explicable reason kitchen light and replaced the original one 'for now', and hung the 1940's dining room chandelier. 

I was worried it was too big for the space, but it's smaller than I remembered.  What do you think of the scale?

We brought in the circa 1962 sofa and chair I found on Craigslist for $200 (with the shipping label still in it!  FUN!)

And Richard, plus his mom, and a little bit of me, cooked like crazy!

We were so eager to get started we missed the pre-carved bird, but it looked great after Leon was done with his knife work (green is the sauteed brusselsprouts w/ bacon)

We were happy to have family in our new place!

More, More, MORE!

I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves

Glass & Copper Dreams

There are more than glass countertop pictures here but I wanted to put this story down now.  

Richard's offer on the Mead St house was accepted 11/4/09.  And, sometime between then and the Saturday after T'giving last year, he decided it was "OK" to indulge my desire (soon to become an obsession) with having a copper apron front kitchen sink, and matching copper back splash.  I began searching for just the right color granite for counter tops to match (or maybe stained concrete, or ??). I knew I did not want a dark color because the kitchen isn't big.  It's bigger now, but I couldn't really picture the reality then.  Any rate, we decided to go wine tasting in Napa Valley after the family T'giving at the ranch last year.  Richard was on EST, so he zonked early. I'm a nite owl anyway, and was on PST, so I stayed up cruising the internet.  And I found an image.  I was transfixed.

It was cool, clean, contemporay, striking, and I kept imagining copper instead of steel.   I wanted to wake Richard up and say WHAT ABOUT THIS?!?!?  but I practiced restraint, and told him about it in the AM.  And he was open to the idea.  My research said the cost was about the same as a mid to high end granite, and as a non-porous surface, it was easy to keep clean, hard to mar, and really a very surprisingly low maintanance option. 

So, with the idea that 'maybe' glass would be our option, off we went to go wine tasting and meet up with some friends.  And, at our 2nd winery of the day, we saw THIS ...

Copper countertops, not sealed, so we got to see a living copper surface in action.  And that green glass tasting bar!  OH!  Love Love LOVE!  I don't remember the winery, or the wine, but I went crazy taking pictures.  And the face of that bar?  Light natural maple, with some fun darker inlay.  Basically, the inspiration for our kitchen.  And now, flash forward a year, and 11/04/10, our first glass countertop install went in.  The back story on why it took sooooooooooo long to get there is a blog post for another day.  But here is our copper sink, copper backsplash, plain slab maple cabinets and LED lit glass countertops.  Love Love LOVE!!!!

& yes, the faucet and refrigerator went in this weekend YAY!  Cabinet handles next, and Tuesday the rest of the countertops and the art piece of the copper backsplash should be in. 

More pictures:

Creeping toward the finish line

 Here are some updates. We've been stuck at 'Two Weeks Out" for coming up on 2 months now.  But we've graduated to "One Week Out" about a week ago, and it looks (fingers crossed) like our counter tops will FINALLY go in Friday.  Then all that is left is a few minor plumbing things, and a few minor painting things, then MOVING IN! WootWoot! 

Here is the cat window for Kona to have easy in/out privelges.

 

Paint Chips -- we decided the guest bathroom needs more of an ocean vibe.

Very cool find from our local ACE end of season clearance.  It is a table, for the front porch.  But lift the lid (which locks at the new position) and there is a cooler in side for weather-proof storage or beverages/snacks!   You can see the beginings of turning it a better color at the bottom.

And here is the finished product in position!

Remember my teaser about the breakfast bar pendants? 

This pair was hand made, and signed, by a local glass blower.  His work won best of show at a local art fair the day after we commissioned these two pieces.  Fun, right?

Here is a paint sample with for the guest bath.   

These are  the waterproof LED light strips that will shine thru the glass counter tops.  Should make a lovely look!  The electricians couldn't figure out how to make them work, but Richard got them going.  You can also see the new brown switch plates.  We'll replace the switches after the electrical inspection later this week. 


The Seagrass Limestone kitchen flooring went in, we're super happy with the color and the look. 

The big  decision won't be made until the glass counter tops are in, but here is a sneak peak of the grass cloth wall paper we're looking at.  What do you think?

We will surround the door and the window, so fairly small area.  One thought is the color is too close to the flooring color so we should go for contrast and 'pop'.  Another is that by having the color so close to the flooring color it will visually extend your eye up and outside, making the kitchen space feel bigger and more open. 

We love your feedback!

Wide Open Spaces

The floors are finished (ok, 1 more sanding and layer of shiny stuff) and they look MAHvalous!  The color is rich, warm, and homey, and suddenly we don't look like we're a destruction zone any more. 

 

Doesn't the copper look great with the new floors?

WhoDat?

And, remember a long time ago, when we found the steal of a deal while doing good for Habitat for Humanity at Restore?  Well, the sink installed really opened up that cramped guest bathroom, and it's going to look GREAT!  And, now you can see the faucet you kinda helped us choose, as well. 

Since we're keeping the plumbing exposed, we had the pvc replaced with chrome. 

Another addition today was the garbage disposal under the sink.  By having the plumbing and disposal on the left, we gain the whole right side of the under sink space.  Cool!

Ooops! Someone stained the floor!

The biggest thing my non-visual brain has been struggling with is the floor.  What will it look like, all sanded, refinished, and done?  Getting the repairs done was helpful, but still not enough.  So today, we met our color options.

These colors look pretty close on our monitor.  Richard liked the 2 outside colors (natural and early americana)  I liked the two left colors (early americana & providence).  Both of us thought the dark walnut was way too dark. 

So, Early Americana it is!  Tomorrow is Sand & Stain day.  WOOOHOOOOOO!

 

Here it is playing nicely with the maple cabinet color. 

Both in this image are washed out in this image.

I see you've met my ... faithful HANDYman ....

Richard took all my copper dreams and turned them into an amazing reality. Introducing our beautiful new copper backsplash!  It's turning into a big, exciting finale week at the house.  We're not counting our chickens, but it's POSSIBLE we move next weekend. 

 

First the cuts and line the players up, this was yesterday.

Measure twice, cut once

 

He's PERFECT!
 

This is the copper H joint, to make the seams all pretty and coppery and sealed.
 

Liquid Nails on the copper, and then on the wall.
 

   

Takes 30 min to set, 24 hours to bond.
 

Now that's set, and the (temporary, don't worry) switch plates are back in place.  This is today's work.

Oh, copper sink, how I love you!  Your new home is coming together!

Last chance. Copper in the back corner, we're leaning toward 'yes'.  We have the copper, and Jean's point about possible mess on the grasscloth wall paper is well taken.  

Tomorrow, the countertop plywood templates go into place.  Friday, plumber and hardwood floors.  Saturday &/or Monday more hardwood floors, but no pics cause Richard & I are gone diving. 

Next week, countertop install.  Some minor electrical, paint trim, and other detaily stuff (and kitchen stone tile install).  If all that actually comes together, we can move in next weekend!

Copper Craze

We brought the copper to it's new house today

And after looking at it, we decided it needed a few more whacks

Then, I decided to give it the Ketchup treatment to even the pieces out so the patina will develop at the same rate.  

Before:

Ketchup Splatter:

 

Ketchup Spread:
 

Shiny & new
 

All cleaned up and ready for next steps:

Copper Kraft

First, here's the views Ellenor asked for, literally from the front door Portrait then Landscape. 

We spent tonight after work cutting and taping craft paper into our template for making the copper back splash.  We'll see how far we get with the rest of the process this weekend, but since the countertops are (hopefully) close to ready for install, we need to get them in sooner than later.  Here's the overview.

Check out the LED pendant bulb Richard found at Home Depot!  And yes, since one of the shades for those got broken, we found a fun way to get a new matching set to replace since we couldn't find a duplicate shade.  2 - 3 weeks lead time, but we're excited!!! 

Everywhere you see Kraft Paper, here, picture copper.  Most of it will be mallet hammered, but there will be a show piece over the cooktop of smooth, fun patina'd copper in a hammered copper frame.  That's the little sketch you'll see. 

And now, if you're still with us, a question.  See this original heinous yellow wall spot under the microwave cabinet?  Should we extend the copper backsplash to the edge of this cabinet?  Counter top here will be maple butcher block, and we're currently planning a natural grasscloth wall paper for anything not copper, cabinet or window/door in the kitchen.  So if that place isn't copper, it's grasscloth.  What do YOU think?

And, for Ms Melear, here's a map  :)  We're the 'A'

Things I haven't told you

We are waiting for the counter tops, but meanwhile, the under cabinet lights went in. 

We went LED.  Also notice the microwave and convection oven are installed, and of course, Richard set the clocks. 
The HAC vent also moved from the threshold of the new doorway to under the oven. 

Here's a view into the kitchen w/ the counter lights.  LOVE it!  And, there's a surprise brewing for the breakfast bar pendant light shades .... pretty excited about that too!

We decided since we're getting the super awesome glass countertops, it'd be fun to have led lights running the sides for a very cool glowy effect.  (I am SO lucky my husband indulges my whims!) Any rate, I can't show you that, but here is the transformer and switch for them, hiding under the cooktop base

Outside, there's now lighting for the funky little alcove that got covered up by the new roofline.  And, since the kitchen sink window looks out onto it, we wanted a fixture we could put full spectrum lighting into -- we're thinking either plants, or an aviary, or both out there.  Not sure yet, but whatever it is, we can turn the lights on!

 

and yay, power box in the bottom right corner!

Here's a closer look at our fun Ikea fish light for the guest bath.  And 'someone' found a really great sea urchin door knob to round out the theme on sale at Antropologie -- can't wait to see that whole room come together, but that's much much later!

This window also looks out onto the funky alcove nook w/ the new light, btw.

Here is a couple of better shots of the bedroom ceiling fans now that they and their pretty little collars are fully installed.

 

We had a couple of visitors

And, check out the shutters.  Front Door was painted to match, too!  Next up, all the fun trim bits, but that'll come much later.

Swoon!  I love this porch!