Travel Time

I am taking a break from renovation, and all the rest of my usual routine, to go visit my daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Japan for a week. You might be wondering why I did not say I will be visiting my son, and so here is the reason. There is a lot to say about that, but that is all I will say for now. My grandson is now 4 1\2 years old, and my granddaughter is his adopted sister who is 13. She is a great kid, and they are all very devoted to each other. I have only known her for the last 4 years, but enjoy spending time with her when I visit. She speaks great English, but my grandson does not yet. I have learned a little Japanese, but don't make much progress because when I am there I need to speak English with him as much as possible so he is exposed to a native speaker.　 I am in Haneda airport in Tokyo right now, at an　internet cafe waiting for my connecting flight.

So, no pictures of renovations today. Instead I will just report that my prospective carpenter came to the house yesterday to take a look at two projects. I really like the guy, and he seems like he will be easy to work with. And he got it right away when I explained what I want done. 　The two projects we discussed are the pocket door for the powder room/half-bath that is nearly complete except that it still has no door (minor problem for a bathroom), and the shower in the guest bedroom bath.　　He has a guy who works with him who can probably do the pocket door in June. 　The sooner the better, but June will work just fine.

The shower will be something he won't be able to get to before July or August, but that is fine, too. There is no burning need to get that done soon; it is just something on the list that my husband is now saying he wants to be able to check off. So here is the plan:

1. remove all the old fixtures in the bathroom.

2. take up the linoleum.

3. lay the new floor tile (whatever that is - - - need to pick something out).

4. he will then rebuild the shower pan and walls, move the shower drain to the center, and install a window above the shower on one wall.

5. he will lay the tile on the floor of the shower. maybe. or maybe i will.

6. I will tile the walls, for sure.

The bathroom currently has no windows, but there is a window in the adjacent walk-in closet. So putting a window up high in the bathroom will allow some natural light to come in from the closet. At first we thought we might change the footprint of the closet and bathroom to make it so the bathroom extended to that exterior wall, but then a lot of the plumbing would need to be moved around and that would get crazy expensive. We are willing to go the distance for the new master bath, but not for this guest bath. I think we can work within the space we have and make it a nice bathroom. Just removing that abominable fiberglass shower insert will allow the shower to be about 6 inches longer and a couple inches wider. I am also now searching for the right base for the sink. A pedestal sink would be good since that would make it feel roomier in there, but I hate to lose the storage capacity. However, there is a fairly ample walk-in closet in the bedroom, and there is an additional closet just outside the bedroom. So that can be the storage spot for extra toilet paper, etc. I would like to find something that is somewhat open, but has maybe one drawer and an open shelf. Then I would use the square white porcelain vessel sink I already have.

Lots to think about. Damn, I am tired. Stayed up all night before I went to the airport at 6:00 am for my flight to Atlanta and connection to Tokyo. That was a total of about 17 hours of flying, plus another 45 minutes to the airport, 1/2 hour wait, and a heartstopping connection time in Atlanta of about 25 minutes. In Tokyo I took a bus from one airport to another (1 hour trip), and have been waiting here for another 2 hours. So that is about 22 hours so far. Only 2 hours until I board the last flight, which will be about 3 hours. Finally, I will get a cab at the airport in Okinawa, and if I am lucky and the guy knows how to get where I am going, it will be about 30-45 minutes. So let's call it 28 hours of travel for the entire trip. But, hey, no whining. It is worth it.

My Laundry Room, The Butterfly

The laundry room has undergone a metamorphosis . . . . what was just an empty room is now a functional space for sewing or other craftwork. I had Diane Hailey from the local Closet Concepts design an installation that includes floor-to-almost-ceiling linen closet, fold-out ironing board, drawers, shelves, and work countertop/laundry folding area. Here is what it looked like before the installation:

Basically just an empty box with a pathetic folding table opposite the washer and dryer. If not for the excellent tile job, this room would have been a total negative. But now.......it's a wow. Check it:

The cabinetry is a pretty close match to the walls, which enhances the "built-in" look, and the countertop is a good match for the accent tiles in the floor and wall. Actually, I wonder if I ever posted a picture of the finished tile? In case I have not, here is one:

The room is now really making that utility tub look particularly sucky. I may have to replace that someday. In the meantime, i am looking forward to filling up the shelves and drawers and hanging some artwork.

Drilling Down

I am so proud of myself . . . . . I mounted the towel bar and toilet paper holder in the half-bath all by myself today, and they both look very cool. Here is the towel bar, which is particularly cool with this half-circle shape.

You can see the mirror in this picture also, and a bit of the spots where the light fixtures will go on each side of the mirror.

Those lights should be in soon, but I will be on vacation for 10 days, leaving in just 3 days, so that will be something I deal with when I get back. I will have a bunch of lights to install, so will set up a date for that with the electrician.

Tne next big thing is coming up tomorrow morning when I get cabinets installed in the laundry room. This is going to create a laundry-folding/sewing desk area, storage drawers, built-in ironing board, and floor-to-ceiling linen closet. Can't wait!

Good News! I am an ideal candidate for remodeling!

Here is a fun test to see if you have what it takes to emhandle the stress of a big renovation project. The good news (for me) is that I passed - Yay!

Here is the analysis of me:

"Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out. Conclusion: You are an ideal candidate for remodeling. You are flexible, patient, can roll with the punches and remain upbeat."

Well, I don't know about all that. But I think I can agree that I am flexible, patient, can roll with the punches and remain upbeat. I also agree that you need to be all those things when renovating, and you better have it in proportion to the size of the project.

I found the test when I was reading a juicy article in the New York Times called "Building Rage" about how some people lose it when dealing with contractors. "Much has been written about contractors from hell, but comparatively little attention is paid to the homeowner from hell, who can make contractors crazy."

I think one of the things that helps me is that I work hard at finding people I feel comfortable working with - when I know we are communicating well, I have more confidence that I will be happy with the results. So far I have found an electrician, plumber, and landscaper I really like, and they are very easy to work with. There is a designer who came and measured everything last week and is working on drawings of the exterior for some upgrades and new siding. I know what genereal contractor I want to use when we undertake a big project like the kitchen or moving walls around in the master bedroom. Now I just need a carpenter who can do smaller jobs, like changing the closet doors or building a shower pan. I talked to a guy who will be coming by in a couple days to see the shower and doors and give me a bid. He seemed nice on the phone, and is currently working on a full kitchen installation in another house, so I think he knows what he is doing. Can't wait to have him come by the house.

Lighting Spree

I went on an overnight light-fixture feeding frenzy ordering the lighting for the entryway and stairwell.

Here is a picture of how the entryway looked when the previous owners lived here, and also how it looked empty:

...................and here it is now, except that i moved that big ship to a different room. It is much more spacious with out the boat parked there.

You can see the old paper-shade-dangley-light fixture that came with the house. I kinda like paper shades, but we have way too many of them here, and I think the new fixture will be better.

Here is what I picked out for the entryway:

I chose this one because the black lines of the metal remind me of the painting hanging in the space. It is an original oil painting that we bought for our 8th wedding anniversary from an artist in Dayton, Ohio. I love it because it is reminiscent of Byzantine or Eastern Orthodox religious icon, but it is a totally modern take on the classical theme of angels. They look both watchful and melancholy with those big eyes that also remind me of those cheezy big-eye-kid paintings from the 60's. The other reason I like this fixture is that it is complementary to the one i have chosen for the stairwell to replace the even bigger paper-shade pendant there:

The Devil is in the Details

I have ordered new light fixtures, toilet paper holder and towel bar, and am searching for someone to install a pocket door so I can finish up the bathroom renovation. In the meantime, I will trim off the bottom of the old door so I can rehang it. I bought a new circular saw at Lowe's - - - a Black & Decker battery-powered one. The rechargeable battery can be used in a bunch of other Black & Decker tools, including a weed-whacker I bought at the same time.

Speaking of weed-whacking, I am going to need to bust a move outside in the gardens. After sitting empy for a year, the plants here are pretty overgrown and somwhat weedy to boot. So while I wait for the stuff to finish up the last details of the bathroom, I will try to make a dent in the garden. This weekend I transplanted a bunch of the perennials, and weeded out some that were spreading out everywhere they shouldn't be. Some of them were moving from the garden spaces into the driveway, and all the tallest stuff had moved to the fronts of the beds. Today was rainy, so I bought some flats of impatiens, ajuga, and petunias that i will put out tomorrow. It is dark out now, so i will have to wait until then anyway to take a couple pictures.

I want to plant some tomatoes and herbs in a sunny spot in the backyard, but i will get someone to cut down one of the trees first. It is right in the way of the view out the back windows, way too close to the house. There wouldn't be much left if we tried to prune it back, so I am thinking it will just be better to cut it down. I will call my landscaping guy and have him tell me what he thinks we should do.

I also have some carrot seeds that i bought in Japan. The Japanese carrots (and NO that is not me in the Japanese carrot video) are so wonderful - short and very fat compared to the ones we get here, and SO delicious. They are so fat you can actually make musical instruments with them, for crying out loud. I am not sure if they will grow in this climate, but it will be fun to give it a try. I am hoping the rabbits I have seen out in the backyard won't eat the tops off - - - might have to frame them up and cover them.

One of the Costs of Unfinished Renovation Projects

Still haven't put up the new toilet paper holder or towel bar, so the roll of toilet paper was just sitting on the vanity top. This is the second day in a row I have come home to find that my little cat Sharky has gotten the brand new roll of toilet paper and absolutely shredded it.

I didn't put out another one today.