I haven't forgotten you

 
I know, I know, it has been a long damn time since I posted anything. Why is that? How about a top 10 list?

Reasons I Haven't Posted on Lucy's Forever Home for Over 2 Months

1. We moved back in on December 19th and then there was Christmas and I feel like I never got organized.
2. My job keeps me far busier than any other job I have had in about 20 years so I am a little tired when I get home.
3. Now that rooms are finished it is even harder to get photos that capture some rooms. We don't have a wide angle lens and trying to get decent angles on smaller rooms is next to impossible.
4. We have tons of decorating yet to do and don't want to show rooms that don't live up to the images we have in our head.
5. We got a giant TV that can be quite enticing.
6. I focused a fair amount of blogging energy on my book-centered blog My Porch.

Well that really isn't a top 10 list is it? Maybe I have fewer excuses than I thought.

Here is something to tide you over until I get my act back together.

Until this past week we had a folding card table anchoring our kitchen. We had to put something there because the pendant light in the center of the room was hanging at a height that guaranteed running into it unless there was something under it. Finding the right piece of furniture can often be elusive. But when John came across this table on Nickey Kehoe's website, we knew we had found the one. It met all of our kitchen table expectations: round, sturdy, solid, and simple. In fact it was like an updated version of a table that John's aunt has had in her Greenwich Village kitchen for 40+ years.

If you are wondering where the fourth chair is, it is down in the basement where I am working on a jigsaw puzzle.
I notice the floor is kind of muddy from the delivery men. At some point there will be an area rug.

This was a very big deal indeed. One of the most important things for us in designing our kitchen was that it have room for a table. We could have easily had a very nice island that would have been handy in many ways, but we really wanted a table to make it feel homey and give us and our guest a place to sit that was part of the action without being in the way. Ideally it would have been a great big farmhouse table but since we weren't building a great big kitchen this was never a real option.

As the kitchen took shape we began to worry a bit that we weren't going to have room for a table. It seemed like it might crowd things a little too much. I got even more anxious when we committed to the location and height of the pendant light. What would happen if we couldn't actually fit a table in the room. Mapping it out to scale on paper and even having our contractor cut out a mock-up 48" circle out of fiberboard didn't given me comfort. I kept telling myself it would work but it wasn't until the table was delivered that I began to really believe it.

The table at Nickey Kehoe is 50" but they did a custom 48" size for us for the same price. We began to question whether the 2" would really make a difference, especially since the store had a 50" table in stock that could have been shipped immediately, but we held on for 8 weeks while our 48" table was built and shipped. It was the right decision. The larger table might have worked but the one we got is pretty perfect.

It immediately changed the feel of the kitchen. A kitchen that I already loved felt so much better and cozier. The room also feels more expansive with the table than without it. And it is wonderfully solid and sturdy. It is perfect. Incidentally, The chairs are another matter. John ordered them from Finland without having had the chance to sit on them and although they look really good, the seats are somewhat shallow and they feel just a tiny bit too small. I guess the Finns have daintier butts than Americans. Still, they were fairly inexpensive so they will be swapped out at some point.

The large round 'bowl' is also from Nickey Kehoe.

   

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a punch list

There is not much left to do. I don't know where the time went. When I started this blog I planned on doing much more in the way of process photos and explanations. But by the time things started to get really interesting, I went back to work and there just didn't seem like the time or opportunity. Still, as we get settled (in 9 days time) I am going to try and go into depth on some design elements and details.

The only things left to do are paint touch ups, replacement of a few items that were nicked, scratched, or broken, exterior hardware for three doors, screen doors...hmm maybe there are a few more things than I thought. But nothing that will keep us from being able to move in.

The shutters have been installed on the garage, the bean pulls are on the doors. It is looking like the carriage house we hoped it would.

The inside of the garage. I'm not sure if this gets a coat of paint or not. If it doesn't that is an easy enough job for me after we move in.

The tar and chip driveway has been installed. I was ambivalent enough about the driveway that I let John take the lead without really giving much input. I really like the way it turned out. It looks like a gravel drive.

The exterior of the mudroom door painted in Farrow and Ball Pigeon. Hardware is by Baldwin in unlacquered brass. The deadbolt is missing its rosette.

The library. Paint is a Benjamin Moore color match to Farrow and Ball's Hardwick White.

I think my books are going to be added this weekend.

I'm glad the driveway and retaining wall look so nice since the library (converted from a garage in the 1940s) looks out onto it.

From the Family Room at the back of the house looking through the Dining Room into the Living Room. The chandelier is Thomas O'Brien for Circa Lighting but the bulbs are without their shades at the moment.

The French window that leads from the Dining Room out to the screened porch. The knob and lock on the door still need to be swapped out.

The Family Room taken from the Kitchen.

The Kitchen from The Family Room. There will be a round table under the pendant light.

I can't wait to break this lovely in.

You can see why it was important to make the garage look pretty. It's right in my line of view from the sink. I can't wait to see it once John has his garden in.

We are quite happy with this light from Allied Maker of Glen Cove, NY. They seemed to have stopped making this exact version since we ordered ours this summer. It was pretty much the only light fixture we were really enthused about. Although I must say that most of other decorative fixtures that looked cheap online look quite nice in person. Which is a good thing because lighting is expensive.

I love the size of this sink. No problems getting pots and pans in this one. I also think it is really good looking. It doesn't have zero radius corners (really sharp inside corners) but I prefer the little bit of curve that they have. Especially since Franke sink was only about $380 when every other sink we looked at was two or three times that amount. And if you want this particular model, you have to buy it from a big box retailer. For some reason Franke doesn't sell this version to wholesalers/contractor supplier firms. And its better looking than the ones they do sell to wholesalers.

Sigh.

Closer and closer

 

The Butler's Pantry getting closer to finished. Can't wait to take the plastic off the walnut counter
and the hammered nickel sink.

 

The range has been in and out of place so many times. Can't wait until it gets put back for good. Hood enclosure finished, open shelving installed, tile backsplash installed.

We went with a matte subway tile for the kitchen. Didn't want any gloss on the wall since the room is open to the family room.

Fridge finally pushed into its final resting place.

The polished nickel knobs being installed on the master bath vanity.
Paint color on the vanity is Benjamin Moore color match to Farrow and Ball Shaded White.

Mudroom door starting to look closer to finished.

 

All of mitered joints have biscuit joints.

Lights! Camera! Wrong Bulbs!

A lot of our decorative lights are in but most of them don't have the right kind of light bulbs. Here is a random selection.

Master Bedroom hall. Thomas O'Brien for Circa Lighting.

Same as above.

Bathrooms. Thomas O'Brien for Circa Lighting. In polished nickel.

 

Mudroom light in brass from Cedar and Moss.

We have this same fixture in the basement in oil rubbed bronze.

Mudroom porch from Cape Cod Brass.

Two of three Thomas O'Brien sconces in polished nickel without their shades.

 

Master closet from Schoolhouse Electric. Again with the wrong kind of bulbs.

Guest bath, Thomas O'Brien for Circa.

 

Italian light from Ferroluce purchased through German store Manufactum.

 

We have these in three bedrooms.

Barnhouse Electric

Weekend Update: It's almost looking like a finished house from the outside

  I'm sure that headline must be trademarked by SNL, but I doubt there are any NBC lawyers among my readers, so I won't sweat a lawsuit.

Things are reaching fever pitch at the house. We are having a walk through with our architect and our contractor on Tuesday morning so they are trying to tie up all the loose ends. It is one of those situations where it seems to get messier and messier as things get closer to done. Today while we were there they were installing door hardware, painting, and putting in more retaining wall next to the driveway since the new finish grade is quite different from that of our next door neighbor. We saw most of the plumbing fixtures in place, most of the decorative electrical fixtures, the banister has been stained, tile is up in the kitchen as are the open shelves, the exterior railing is up...you get the picture, its just too bad we didn't actually take pictures of all of that. Maybe tomorrow.

So, in no particular order...

You've seen the railing before, but not in this location. It certainly helps anchor the old porch (still waiting for its screens) and helps balance out the house.

The shutters that we had made in 2011 have been painted and reinstalled. The door surround has been installed. The new copper scupper for the two downspouts on the right sure looks nice.

Good spot, if not the best shot, to see the relationship between the old screen porch and the new master bedroom deck over the new family room and kitchen. You can also spy the new Bevelo lanterns on the first and second levels. And there is no missing the shiny new copper.

Lanterns in place as is the hardware on the French windows.

Add caption

Can't wait for the construction junk to go away and for the board to come off of that window on the garage.

I'm not thrilled about this light. In general I liked it and was happy to choose it, but something about its location doesn't work so well for me. This may be something that gets swapped out in a few years.

Glad this light is on the back of the garage where we won't see it much. It will be useful however, as there will be garbage cans, a grill, and eventually pool equipment hiding back here that will occasionally need illumination.

Rail against the machine (these babies were hand made)

Just when we thought most decisions were made little things with big consequences keep popping up. And now that I am working full time, they are especially hard to take care of. Instead of worrying about it or going into more detail, I  am just going to show some pretty pictures.

As with most things on this blog, I will have more to say about these gorgeous Chippendale railings, but for now I will just say they are a triumph of craftsmanship. One attempt was made to procure these custom designed railing panels from a company that specializes in such things, but in the end the design was too particular for them to pull off. So our contractors put their carpenters to work making about 16 of these modules.

I thought the railings would be nice, but they are much more impressive in real life.

Even a portapotty can't distract from the beauty of these railings.