it's getting warm

This table will sit on the deck for lazy summer dinners and drinks...



We're thinking of getting a couple of these lounges for sunning. We would get them in chocolate with green cushions. When we had a lot of people over we could put the lounges flat and use them as benches. What do you think? Buy them or no?

some of the most ridiculously funny signs ...

(via Dooce )

so close - and right on time (so far)

The very, very dark pocket door.


The sink goes in - but we're going to ask if there's a way to make the hoses a little cleaner.

The trim detail has gone up around the room. It will be painted white and will provide a clean transition between the tile and the wall. Everyone told me it wasn't necessary since the glass tile is finished, but I still wanted something to visually break it up.

Part of the grout has gone up - "dove grey."

Is this for real? I'm going to be watching Jasper's rear end a lot more closely...

The New York Times had an interesting article about Crown Heights today...

brunch at bubby's

We had a great time celebrating Thom's birthday with his family yesterday.

Tulips in the backyard...

Some new pear vases for the kitchen...

again, thank you nor'easter

Since Thom brought up all the boxes of books from the cellar during the flooding, I thought it was the perfect time to sort through them and give some away. A few of these books will be displayed on our new built-in shelves.

I've been giving our contractor a bit of a hard time about the door stain. Whatever color we end up with will be carried through the rest of the house so I want to make sure it's exactly what I want. He tested a few different options before we landed on the right one - a mix of "prune" and "black" (not displayed here).

The toilet went in Saturday. Well, at least part of it. How nice does that floor look?

They put the pocket door in to make adjustments...

The faucet arrived this week too!

jasper hates the doorbell

No evening is complete without a Jasper freakout thanks to someone ringing the doorbell. (Please note - Thom's new swanky shoes)

birthday dinner

At Thom's request, we made asparagus risotto and eggplant towers for his birthday.

we're engaged!

After a relaxing day of brunch at Tom's Restaurant, a stroll through the Botanic Gardens and a yummy dinner for Thom's birthday - he asked me to marry him. (And I said yes!)

Anything to deflect attention from his birthday, I swear.

Thom commissioned one of my favorite artists ( Ashley G) to create a painting for the occassion. And Jasper is even there!



The painting is constructed with pages from an old book.

A special note from Ashley.

fun in the sun

We found these chairs buried deep under the weeds when we first moved into the house. Thom spray painted them white and created new seats for them. And we found these slightly too large cushions at Lowe's.

Nothing's better than free!

The first of two shelves went up today. It's awfully high up there but with the nook, sconces and everything this is the only real spacing option we could come up with.
The first of the tile went up today. Look closely - there's already an issue. They'll be fixing that tomorrow.

And this is what the bathroom looks like with the walls up. The pocket door will go in last. As it happens the stain on this door will end up dictating the stain throughout the house as we renovate.

thank you nor'easter

I always wanted a waterfall in my house.

sweet, but vicious

Jasper got a new haircut, a new pig to chew on and a new sweatshirt this weekend. That's right - the sweatshirt says "Vicious" and has rhinestones. Needless to say - he loves it.

it's starting to look like something

The bathroom has been roughed in and it's small but a comfortable space. We saw far smaller at open houses. We decided on a pocket door which will conserve space in the den as well.

The nook that will be created by removing the full sized bathroom is also taking shape. It will be just big enough to fit the daybed currently in the front parlor (the black west elm one - not the new tan one).

it's here! it's here! it's here!

Yesterday the tile and sink arrived. The tile is the perfect minty green. They're "mini bricks" at 1" x 3". The sink is also very cute and impossibly small. I wish I could post a picture of the sink held in place on the wall but I'm home alone at the moment. So noone to hold the sink in place. But it looks great in the space.

Another score from Tiny Showcase last night - an Amy Ross . This is actually 2 prints.

Look closely - they're not flowers...

time for a vote

I'm really torn on the mirror. Do we go old, older or modern? What do you think?

(I'm intentionally not showing the source of these mirrors - I wouldn't want that to influence your opinion).

We also chose this very narrow rectangular sink for the new bathroom. But so far no faucet...

it's easy being green

It'd be a stretch to say that we're really a green household. If we were we'd likely have replaced our windows by now. And our roof would be made of plant life or solar panels (instead of porcelain). But it's definitely in our minds as we renovate this house.

We've decided on the Toto Aquia dual flush toilet for the new bathroom. Unfortunately dual flush toilets aren't that popular in the US quite yet - but they're all over the rest of the world. By providing two flushing options we can save a whole lot of water.

Plus it's cute.

all in a day's work

Some old, old wallpaper that was behind the bathroom wall.


Thom pretending like he helped demo.

Jasper taking a peek.

We're having the full bathroom on the middle (parlor) level of the house replaced with a very small half bath. This will allow the rest of the room to be opened up. A couch will sit in the inset left by removing the bathroom.

In the meantime, we have a big empty room (except for garbage)... Hopefully, in a few weeks we'll have a brand new bathroom.