Snapshots and Some New Art

I thought I would post a few snaps to try and get in a better habit of posting. We have acquired a few new art pieces to add to our 'paint-by-numbers' collection and other thrift store and estate sale finds. Hope you all enjoy! And please don't forget to submit your email to the right if you would like emails when we update the site - thanks. C+K

The Desk Area: We finally framed the Gene Davis and we think it looks pretty good. Please excuse the unfinished trim under the desk. I still haven't gotten around to finishing it. You can also see one of our paint-by-numbers pieces and a thrift store litho just to the right.

 Another snap of the bench area. You can see the built in planter is flourishing. I highly recommend mother in law tongue plants. They are very hearty and beautiful. Again please excuse the unfinished trim.

 A little corner of the house with our wedding plant - looking like it needs a little work but it is almost 7 years old. We have collected some brass animals along the way and one of my great estate sale finds - a lithography stone. That puppy weighs a ton but it is a beautiful art object.

 A close up of an unfinished paint-by-numbers painting that we got at an estate sale for something like a dollar or fifty cents. I am eventually going either mount it on a wood backing or frame it somehow.

 This is our latest paint-by-numbers find that we picked up yesterday. Please excuse the red and blue splotches on the frames. I was trying to get the thrift store prices off with vinegar. They write with those lithography crayons. Usually I can get them off but we have seen some valuable objects destroyed by those crayons.

 Two more from our paint-by-numbers collection from thrift stores and estate sales. They are next to our Greg Murr painting.

This is a corner in the front room. The print is one of our best [in terms of value] art find thus far. It is an etching by Luigi Kasimir from the 20's I believe. Kasimir is considered the inventor of multi color plate etching. Ain't Google grand sometimes.

The Kitchen Update: How to Drag Your Kitchen Out of the 80's/90's and Into the 50's

Hello Everyone,
First of all I am sorry for taking so long in updating this blog. I know I say that every time but I think it will be worth the wait. We finished the kitchen several months ago but I have just now found the time and inclination to take some images to share with you all.
The first group of images will be the dreaded 'Before' pictures. Most of these pictures were taken from the MLS listing when we were buying the house so that isn't our furniture. They are followed by the beloved [hopefully!] 'After' pictures.
Another note is that the floor couldn't have been completed without our pal Joe T. who flew in for a visit and took point on the project. 15 hours later, hands covered with stickiness, and yours truly exhausted and unable to see straight we are very pleased as we hope you will be as well.
And now..... Enjoy.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

















 I think the pictures are fairly accurate. I took these images at night and the colors are a little darker than when the sunlight washes them out a little. The light here is very 'white' and not golden yellow which produces the best natural colors. The cabinets are what we call a '57 Chevy color. I think this represents a vast improvement all around.
Thanks,
C+K

Look. We got a lamp.
Yes, yes we went full on arc light. It is a reproduction but I gotta tell you that marble base is a monster! I am glad we were able to place it near a exterior wall as the thing weighs as much as a piano. Weight aside the arc lamp gives off excellent light especially during a dinner party. Everything is well lit and there is no harsh glare! We are very pleased! The banners are for a birthday party [which was a blast btw!].

The Hall Bath Gets Refreshed

Hi all - Sorry I haven't posted anything in forever but sometimes life takes over and the digital world just has to take a back seat for awhile. We finally tackled the hall bath trying to freshen it up a bit. The transformation isn't the most dramatic but I think it looks a little better. The wall color is far darker than anything we have worked with before and I worried that we may have fallen prey to one of my pet peeves - going a little paint crazy in a bathroom as opposed to a main room because you can close the door on the craziness in the bathroom. But I don't think we went too far. We also tried to match the blues of the Japanese print we put on the back of the toilet to try and get a third color in the room - yellow, sea foam green, and navy blue.  Most of the work was painting - cabinets and walls. And we adding new hardware and swapped out the hinges as the others had been painted over [who does that?]. I think the change is for the better.

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We have finished the kitchen as well and as soon as I can get some images taken I will post them as many people have been waiting to see the results. But for now please enjoy: The Hall Bath.

Before:

During:

After:

A nice bourbon drink to finish off our work!!

The Bookcase Planter Comes Together

We have struggled for a long time trying to figure out what to do with the most mod part of our house - the front room planter bookcase. There used to be some sort of a screen screwed into the top of the bookcase right next to the planter acting as a decorative room divider. K and I go to tons of estate sales and we see lots of these planter bookcases in all sorts of shapes and forms and usually no one does anything interesting with them. We bounced around ideas like making our own screen using colored plexiglass or wood. We looked into a company in town that does wrought iron work thinking that we could find something appropriate and affordable.
So after thinking about it for almost three years the answer came to us - go with the original purpose. We had put the books in, that was simple. We decided to put in plants. I have been looking for long twisty plants for a long time and finally found some at a local nursery that has a happy hour once a month. There is nothing like plants and free beer and cheese. We bought two long plastic window box planters at Home Depot to use as a liner along with some plastic. I had to cut them a little narrower on the table saw but other than that they pretty much slid right in. The plants are called Monther-in-Law Tongue - or something like that.
So for about $50 we have pretty much finished off the front room. Enjoy!

Before:

During:

Voila:

We hope you enjoy our choices as much as we enjoy living with them!!