We’ve always wanted to fill our house with art, but we’re extremely picky about what we like. Previously our art collection consisted of one limited edition Twisp and Catsby “Tea with the Moon”Penny Arcade piece (I’ve been a fan for years) and some home made photos. I recently came across LA artist Ballookey ,on Flickr of all places. She sells prints and some really cool handmade fridge magnets through her site but, lucky for me, she had also had the canvas pictured here for sale. So now we have two pieces of art on our walls, and they both coincidentally have cats. Maybe our next piece should have birds…
Archive for the 'General' Category
Our current kitchen renovation project hit a major roadblock when it came time to purchase sinks and faucets. We’ve always had a pretty well defined faucet and sink preference, contemporary stainless. So when it came time to pick these items I thought it would be a no-brainer, and I was completely wrong. Perhaps it was more a mental block than anything else. But it was really difficult to pay upwards of $600 for a sink knowing it was simply a piece of stamped steel. After a week or so of contemplating and procrastinating on various online retailers, I bit the bullet and tried Ebay.
I’ve had luck on Ebay in the past, minus one encounter with counterfeit bluetooth headsets. I was able to find faucets (Danze D457158SS and D457158SS from Buy Plumbing) and main sink (Kindred UC2132/90K/E from SaveALotNJ) for much cheaper than any online store front. Both transactions went smoothly with the items being shipped out quickly and arriving in perfect condition. A matching bar sink was purchased seperately from Faucet Depot.
and 
from With that taken care of, I regained focus to start on the concrete countertops.
To understand where this blog is going, it may be helpful to know where we’ve been. Since purchasing our home nearly 2 years ago we’ve renovated the bathrooms, added a flagstone patio, added more insulation in our attic, planted a back lawn and some minor landscaping.
We’re currently in the middle of the biggest renovation we’ve ever tried to tackle, the kitchen! Somehow that also includes installing hardwood flooring and skylights in the living room.
Upcoming posts will document each of these projects in detail. From selecting the materials to busting out the power tools, and all the thought processes and learning that happened along the way.
Up until now Ikea only carried Blum blumotion (soft closing) hardware for drawers, while their hardware for doors were a lesser quality plunger system. Well no more! While at Ikea this weekend we spotted revised door hinges that are higher quality and blumotion compatible. The system works just like the Ikea slow motion drawers, with the blumotion hardware simply clipping onto the hinge.
Prices are $5 for a set of hinges and $5 for a set of “Ikea” blumotion stoppers. And remember, for regular sized doors only one hinge needs blumotion.
We bought our house in the fall of 2005. It’s approximately 1400 sq. ft. with 3 bedroom and 2 water closets that share a shower room. It was a for sale by owner listing listed on the the MLS with one horrible picture of the exterior and no interior shots. We decided to drive by the place to check out the area and see what it looked like in person. My initial impression was NOT favorable. The house was a neutral tone with nothing distinctive about it and the landscaping consisted of a large number of overgrown rhododendrons.
I immediately took it off the short list, which was extremely short given we were at the bottom of the price scale for single family homes.
Kartell makes some really nice contemporary furniture and we were considering purchasing some of their pendant lights. Their products rely heavily on plastic as a material but that doesn’t stop at least one vendor from spinning this into an environmental benefit.
Under “Helping the Environment” on the Easy Lamp product page we get this description, “Kartell products use a wide variety of plastic materials, thereby reducing the use of living organisms, such as trees, which are difficult and time-consuming to replace.”
Unbelievable.
Much like the inspirational folks at AustinModHouse, our journey of home renovation began with an exit from the crushing home values of California. We left San Jose for the greener (literally) pastures of the Seattle area with hopes that the lower cost of living would allow us to provide a better overall quality of life. The move was not an easy one to make. Although we had dreamed of moving to Washington for nearly three years, when the time came to make the decision to take a job, uproot the whole family, and leave all our friends, anxiety over the unknown set in big time.
Now with three years behind us, I can say without a doubt the move was the correct one. The Seattle area fits our lifestyle perfectly, it’s surrounded by amazing views of natural beauty from every angle and it has a large amount of art and music culture. Best of all, the desire to own a nice home in a good location was achievable, something that was depressingly untrue in California.
By the way if you’re ever planning a move to Seattle, be prepared for one of two comments to come up in every conversation.
“I hope you like the rain!” and “Did you get a job at Microsoft?”
