The husband has been pondering the idea of building a dramatic chandelier out of eight desk lamps mounted to a central hub. I recall mentioning the idea to a friend of mine while we were still in our old place, and she said something like, "But your place is so......nice." Also, every time I think about it, this post from Unhappy Hipsters comes to mind:
A coworker mentioned this tool, which looks pretty cool:
http://www.roomsketcher.com/
Some DIY projects to harvest rainwater, reduce water use, and reuse water:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Water/Water.htm
main site:
http://www.builditsolar.com/
Seriously pondering these for the front walk & driveway:
Update: ok just showed the first photo to husband. He digs it big time. Posed this idea: putting some of these pavers in the backyard too...
I don't know why I so dislike evenly spaced, same-height lighting above a bar. But I do. So I like aspects of this idea:
Husband also ordered four books on gardening/landscaping/edible plants:
Labor Day weekend also = discuss landscape plans. Husband has ordered two books on green roofs and living walls:
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Roof-Manual-Professional-Installation/dp/1604690496
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Green-Roofs-Living-Walls/dp/0881929115
For finding and selecting vendors, a quick-and-dirty planning technique is creating and sharing maps under Google Maps. I created one for our local remodeling vendors, and shared it with the husband. A decently diverse selection of location icons and colors allows you to classify and color code your location types. You can add notes for each location, which I use to keep track of general summaries, how I found the vendor, etc.
One of today's goals was to find a tub to try stepping into and sitting in—to see if the dimensions of the tub we've picked out are adequate, and comfortable to navigate. The ADC showroom was closed for the entire Labor Day weekend, so we hit up Fixtures 'N' Faucets' Redwood City location. We found a similar height tub which was unfortunately mounted about an extra 7" higher, but this was enough to give us some confidence that we might not need a step for the tub. Overall, Fixtures 'N' Faucets has a nice high-end selection, and we collected a few ideas from their showroom:
mount separate sink above cabinet:
A thought for the master bath: two small separate sinks, mounted above a wide cabinet in between. Lots of counterspace, and an interesting way to fill a wall width that doesn't match your available cabinet widths.
single large swing-out door for master tub:
We've currently penciled in a swing-out glass door flanked by two stationary glass panels for the master tub. I wasn't a total fan of this, so here is a much more appealing idea. If the temperature mixer is still at the end with the shower head, you can reach it since the glass swings open.
separate temperature & flow controls for shower:
We're not fans of shower controls what don't let you control the volume of the flow separately from the temperature. This setup appears to have temperature below, and flow above.
better sample of the 3-way mirror medicine cabinet arrangement:
Just a better sample of the 3-way mirror medicine cabinet thing we're thinking about. The manufacturing quality of these units is much better than those at IKEA...and we like the idea of setting the cabinets into the wall cavity, if it's feasible.
thinking bout places for outlets:
cut-out drawer handles:
If we ever built our own bathroom cabinetry...this cut-out idea for drawer handles is fun (we can skip the chrome accent, and the blue rubberized finish).
drawer separators:
things i covet, but will not get:
1. the shallow front slope to this sink basin makes me think of placing my hands onto gently sloping sand shaped by waves lapping at the beach. I know, I got a pretty strong visual from this sink. Filling it (something you need every once in a while for soaking/hand-washing something) would not be very productive, but maybe that's ok if it's a powder room sink.
2. this tub. But I think I might drown in it...its height is impressive, though.
3. these onyx & stone materials...soooo pretty, but I wish to avoid mining raw slabs of material just for my countertop needs:
for fun:
Today we stopped by Fire Clay Tile , a local manufacturer of hand-made "eco-friendly, beautiful sustainable ceramic tile". They have some very nice stuff, albeit pricey for our budget ($24/sq. ft. and up). Their Boneyard selection of overstock, 2nd quality, etc. appeared to have some of the black river rock we spotted in the photo from this post. We like the look, but just wonder if this tile is comfortable on bare feet. Anyone out there have experience with this style of flooring?
The discussion of open on-wall storage reminds me of the pegboard in Julia Child's kitchen:
I believe the pegboard was an idea from her husband, who also drew outlines of the items to make it easy to see where each one belonged:
Via @WarnersStellian, "A beautiful (but small) working kitchen in St. Paul":
http://www.midwesthomemag.com/media/Midwest-Home/August-2011/Petite-Patisserie/
Likes:
- against-the-wall pot rack by the stove
- use of open shelving above the countertops
For fun, this week I've also been doing an informal survey of friends: for a kitchen, do you prefer light or dark cabinets? Light cabinets currently have a significant lead (8-3), with one person making the no-cabinet suggestion. And while it doesn't solve our light vs. dark question, we're seriously pondering open shelves since we might have plenty of under-counter storage (as well as a sizable pantry). IKEA has some rail systems:
We noted that pots on an on-the-wall pot rack will probably dent drywall (the owner of the St. Paul kitchen doesn't have this problem since her walls are tiled with carrera marble). We're considering some custom-placed strips of wood. It could create a fun rhythm of materials on the wall...
