Balance

As fun as it is to learn about the furniture, building material, and other decorating and renovating related stores in my area, it’s also been a great joy to get to know my neighborhood in a whole different way.  Namely, by venturing out into the great outdoors.  Each weekday, I head out at sunrise to a nearby trail to join the deer, bunnies, and coyotes in their morning jaunts.  The simple quiet of the morning brings a peaceful start to the day.  (Much needed before I hit the freeway!)

And then on weekends, I try to strike a balance between all the home related errands, and really enjoying all the beauty of the area to which I moved.  Because, like most people, I didn’t buy just four walls, a floor, and a roof.  I moved to where I wanted to live.  And on a beautiful spring afternoon, hiking through the hills near my house, I find that I am home.

And the winner is...

It turns out I decorate like I renovate.  One piece at a time.  When I was doing my bathrooms, I went to multiple stores for each type of item before choosing my very favorite one.  I looked at quite a few different tiles, faucets, and slabs of marble before the winners took their place on the podium.

The chair for my reading nook now sits cozily in the corner of my bedroom.  I looked around at several until I found just the right one.  Not too big, not to small, and a color that was just right for the rest of the furniture in the room.  Now all I need to do to make it the ideal little corner in which to read is to find the right lighting, and perfect side table.  I may be the world’s most leisurely interior designer, but I always enjoy the result.  And that’s the best prize of all.

Thankful

With six full days of work done on the master bathroom renovation, I have so much to be thankful for.  I am grateful that all the horror stories you hear about contractors not showing up, and being unresponsive, are mere fiction in my world.  Appreciative that all the elements I picked out one by one, rather than in unison with one another, are coming together very nicely.

I’m perfectly pleased with the custom-made (in the USA!) vanities and linen cabinet.  Custom style, custom color, and of sizes that could not be found anywhere.  You never know if reality will live up to the imagination.  But it has.  In fine form.  They’re gorgeous, and are just what I was hoping for.  And most of all, truly and utterly thrilled at how quickly it’s all coming along.  Each day, amazing progress is made.

And thankful that a friend who has been house hunting for quite awhile finally has keys in hand to her new home.  Everything always works out in the end.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A blank canvas

Tuesday morning, I had a fully intact master bathroom.  When I got home from work, I was greeted by an empty room.  Save a couple of pipes sticking out of the walls, there was nothing left.  Nothing but space.  Space for all the wonderful new things I’ve diligently been picking out for the last few months.

It’s hard to believe, after the many meetings with the contractor, the cabinet maker, the stone yard owner, and various other purveyors of bathroom-related goods, the time for putting it all together has arrived.  So with all the old stuff gone (and anything salvageable donated to charities, of course), I’m left only with dreams.  Visions of the completed, modern, much more functional bathroom.

And just as you would use a true blank canvas, this one will also be splashed with a little paint.  I’ve got a few choices up on the wall, and a couple of days to decide.

All the ingredients

I have a garage chock full of goodies.  From tile (for both shower and floor) to sinks, from faucets to lighting fixtures.  And even a rather weighty cast-iron tub.  So once the vanities and counter tops are delivered, I am ready to go.  And boy am I ready.  After many moons of meeting with contractors, searching out the many stores, big and small, that contained all things bathroom, and scouring the Internet for the very best deals, I am done with this phase, and am eager to move on to the next.  It’s been a blast picking out the myriad pieces, making sure each was just what I’d been envisioning.  But now it’s time for phase two – the take a sledgehammer and a crowbar to it, get the dust flying phase.

But what I’m really, truly ready for?  The finished product.  Which will be fully cooked, and revealed in a mere two weeks.  And I will then feast my senses on the fabulousness of it all.

Doing my part to boost the economic recovery

Over the last week, I’ve been doing some serious shopping.  Some credit card melting, major mile earning shopping.  I have picked up a slab of marble (who knew a short time ago that I would ever be the owner of such a thing?!?), light fixtures, a sink, medicine cabinets, tile, custom vanities, a TV stand/entertainment center, and last but not least, a dining room rug.  Yep, you guessed it, the bathroom renovation is getting ever-closer, and the decorating continues.

Now, I’ve been picking out these pieces one at a time, without carrying around samples of each, like I was instructed by oh-so-many people.  But I have a vision of this beautiful, modern-but-not-too-modern bathroom, and I truly believe it’s all going to come together in a fabulous way.  Because I like each piece.  Individually, each one is great.  Ergo, they will be great together.  At least, that’s what I’m keeping my fingers crossed for…

The Great Pumpkin Festival

Early each morning, I step out my front door, and head to a nearby trail for some pre-work exercise.  It’s one of the great things about my new house – the proximity to a number of great hiking trails.  But, since my neighborhood borders a popular commuting route, a section of my morning walk is generally a bit noisy.  (Nothing that cranking the volume on my iPod can’t handle!)

But, this particular morning, it was calm and quiet.  The road has been closed in preparation for this weekend’s Pumpkin Festival.  I’ve never really lived in a suburban neighborhood, so little local fairs right in my own backyard, a mere short walk away, are a new thing for me.  Although my curiosity will have to wait to be allayed, since I won’t be able to participate in the opening festivities on Saturday.

Nope, my Saturday will be bustling with a cornucopia of homeowner activities.  The new bed is getting delivered first thing, and my bedroom décor will be that much closer to complete.  Then, it’s off to the stone yard to pick out bathroom countertops with my contractor.  And I think for the trip to Lowe’s to pick out faucets, I’ll be flying solo.

But Sunday, I’m definitely going to the fair.  Taking a break from decorating and renovating, and eating high-calorie, high-fun fair food.  Ooh, I hope they have funnel cake…