i love patterns!

for our dining room, our plan is to build some benches in an L shape for seating
(more details later). i would like the benches to be deep for more of a lounge feel, since we are definitely not the formal dining room type.

i recently started looking at fabric patterns and i'm all over the place.
here a just a few. i'm not sure i've found "the" fabric, but there are
some good ones here.

click on image to view larger...

the patterns in the first couple groups are what i would typically go for... all fabrics available at jcarolinecreative


these are all available at contemporary cloth

but i'm open to some others...

available at jcarolinecreative


available here contemporary cloth


available at jcarolinecreative


all available at repro depot

wall coverings

for quite some some time i've been struggling with wallpaper being back in style.
sometimes for just a moment, i think "that looks really cool". i've even considered buying and framing some of it. there are some really cool patterns out there.

carpenter and I stayed at a hotel in Brooklyn this weekend.
they had a product on the walls i've been considering.


hotel le bleu

this product is one of my favorite. i had completely settled on a paint color
for my dining room and now i'm thinking one wall in this could be fun. plus it's environmentally friendly–made of bamboo paper pulp.

maybe a cool gray on one wall and this on the other...
available at inhabit

snowy scene

well it's a good time of year to begin indoor projects.
the snow has arrived in minneapolis.

the view out our windows today

the view from our balcony when we moved in at the end of june.

local artist trunk show

local artist, tia salmela keobounpheng of silvercocoon is having a trunk show
this Friday. her handmade jewelry is being featured at the walker shop.
check it out. bring a friend!

www.silvercocoon-handmade.blogspot.com
walkerart.org

rug temptation

until the destruction actually begins (yes. i know you are dying to see demolition photos), i'm going to have to continue with my decorating blather.

with the addition of hard wood(grass) floors, we will need some rugs to protect the floors from furniture or as i see it....an opportunity to add more color.

jonathan adler rugs are always a temptation (if i had the money) and then today i had news of a sale in my in box...


this one would be great in the bedroom


and i would love this one in the hallway


The sale:
Spend $150 - save $20
Spend $250 - save $40
Spend $350 - save $60
Spend $450 - save $80
Spend $550 - save $100

Enter code holidaylicious upon checkout, offer expires 12/31/07
jonathan adler

The "Vanilla Box" Syndrome

I was speaking with a rep from Green Building Supply Co. who is getting specs on 1/2" Cork underlayment. The underlayment comes in 2'x 3' sheets and can be glued down after the application of an appropriate primer for sealing the subfloor. The bamboo can then be glued down on top of the cork using an environmentally friendly adhesive from Bostik. In the meantime I was checking out some possible cork alternatives on line and I thought that Cork might be a unique option for a finished floor in the bathroom or laundry. The laundry room might be a better option since unlike the rest of our condo with it's open timber ceiling, the laundry has a sheetrocked ceiling. A finished cork floor will add contrast in our laundry room, which can best be described as a "vanilla box". (A term carpenters like to use when describing a room or building with white walls, floor and ceiling.)

$20 art

on tuesday i purchased our first piece of art work for our condo! i'm not even sure where i'm going to put in yet...maybe in my yoga corner of the bedroom...we'll see if brandon likes it.

20 x 200 emails a new piece of art every tuesday and wednesday. the small print is always $20 and they go up from there $200 & $2000.

the web site is 20x200 by jen beckman

radar, by aili schmeltz

a proper place to hang your hat

or coat for that matter.
with the cold weather here, i realized there isn't a good place to hang our guests coats. of course, our bed works fine, but it's bit out of the way and there is always the risk that the dog will make a party of his own on top of them.

i don't want an actual coat rack due to other plans we have for the entryway,
so i found some fun alternatives that can hang on the wall.



i'm completely in love with this one.
the designer is AlissiaMT and it's available
at elsewares


at least your guests can't confuse this one.
get it here at lekker


the "hookbox" would be a great place put keys,
cell phones, dog leashes...available at design within reach

the whimsical eames® hang it all available at design within reach


ok. way out of the budget, but i thought i'd show it anyway.
it's from desu design and available right here

Turning a 2 Bedroom into a 3 Bedroom

The demolition of our existing closet in the den/bedroom allows for the addition of a third bedroom in our condo. With the final dimensions on the third bedroom being 4'x5', I know the space may seem a bit cramped but it's new resident should find it quite roomy.




Riley's room will be the new closet for our bedroom. By relocating the old closet to the other wall it allows for easier flow from the den/bedroom to the dining room. The closet will be framed with 3 5/8", .25 gauge steel studs and finished off with 5/8" sheetrock per code. Inside, shelving will wrap around the closet for storage but the majority of the space shall be occupied by Riley's cage. Riley, unfortunately, is afraid of thunderstorms, so the idea is to create his own personal hideaway. Someplace he can kick back, relax and just be himself. We even plan to install an exhaust fan in the closet to deaden the sound of thunder. In the meantime he'll just have to rough it and share the couch with my sister-in-law.



Sorry Riley.

more lighting inspiration

some more pendant lighting


from tay lighting


early 70s le klint pendant by Poul Christiansen available at y lighting


eco-friendly lighting at design within reach


thomas paul lighting available at velocity art & design

one more at velocity art & design

canned light

as we travel from room to room in our giant remodeling project, we plan to slowly rid ourselves of canned lighting. we have TONS of it. 39 cans to be exact.

of course...as the bulbs burn out we've been replacing them with compact-fluorescent-bulbs

it's fun to look at some of the lighting options that we could have instead. these funnel pendant lamps from galbraith & paul caught my eye awhile ago. they are all hand block-printed on fabric. it's great that they are hand-made and it's looks like fun to do. maybe i'll even try making my own sometime...
they are available at 2modern

What's not on paper

When installing a hardwood, ahem... hard grass floor, in a multilevel dwelling, there are certain standards that must be maintained. The first would be the STC rating, which gives a numerical value to the amount of ambient or airborne sound permeating a unit, such as talking, barking, TV, stereo. An acceptable field test STC would be 45. An acceptable lab test would be 55. This seems to be standard for most underlayments I have come across. Another standard, and far more important when you own a dog, is the IIC rating, which gives a similar value to impact sounds, such as footsteps, dragging furniture, hoof beats or whatever else you are into. For our loft an underlayment with an STC and IIC of 55 would not be good enough due to the substandard flooring in our unit (warehouse converted to condos in 1984) and the lack of acoustical ceiling or sheetrocked ceiling beneath us. The lack of a finished ceiling under us means we lose ten points on an STC or IIC for the underlayment according to most lab tests. In my vast search and contacts with various manufacturers I have found an underlayment product lab tested at STC 70 and IIC 69 landing us well above the minimum of STC 45 in the field and more importantly it is an environmentally friendly product. As work begins I will list links for the products being used, ONLY IF I APPROVE of them.



Close up of our open loft ceiling above the closet to be removed.

It All Looks Good On Paper

Carpenters in the field often have a saying, "It all looks good on paper." It's often meant in a derogatory manner towards architects. Drawing it up is one thing, actually doing it is another. (No offense to the architects out there, I'm sure there are plenty of plumber's crack jokes about us) Here are the almost to scale plans I drew up for our condo. It's simple really. Take out one obtrusive closet and rebuild it so there is a better flow from one room to the other. In the mean time 8 pantry cabinets will be relocated to better homes outside our condo and an old tile floor will be getting jacked up to allow for the new bamboo floor, 621 sq./ft.

bamboo bamboo!

yes! our bamboo floor has arrived. there are boxes and boxes of it filling our dining room. do you know what that means? our ugly tile floor is going bye bye. it also means that my husband (aka carpenter) is actually going to do this.

these are all of the places the flooring is going for the first remodeling phase. the living room will have to wait awhile.

entryway

hallway to dining room

so sad. there will be no more carpet rug in our dining room.
stylish isn't it?

bedroom

here riley checks out how the flooring will look by the window

the color is "kentucky honey."
premium green bamboo floor from simple floors

dining room art

I've become obessed with what type of art we will put on our dining room walls once the cabinets come out. I'd like to do something large and bold and preferably something from a local artist. Right now the biggest contender is Patrick Pryor. Partick is a painter from Minneapolis. I'm in love with his bold use of color.

fancy bamboo doors

our dining room is a very dark place. one of the reasons we are removing the monster closet that separates our dining room from our bedroom is to let some light in.

in it's place i'd like to put these shoji doors that I have been dreaming about for months. we will have to save up a bit for these though