In addition to working at his new job of finding a new job, James has started two home improvement projects. The first project of renovating the downstairs bathroom is a fairly major one, since the plan is to remove the flimsy shower stall and even flimsier shower base, put in a sturdy shower pan that is actually sealed* and then tile the walls.
* It appears that the person who rehabbed our house never sealed between the shower pan and the shower stall, so that water leaks out anytime the shower is used. Sigh.
Just removing those awful sliding shower doors made an immediate, positive improvement to the bathroom by making it appear more open and light. And while we are a long way from painting the walls, we wanted to start thinking about the color. When I came home from my quick trip to Albany, I found a swatch of light blue on the wall. While James liked it - obviously, since he picked it out and put it on the wall - I did not. We went to Benjamin Moore last week and picked out 388 Cypress Grove as a possibility:
That is Cypress Grove painted over both the blue and the ugly color that was in the bathroom. Is it just me or should bathrooms NEVER be painted a color that might be found in a baby's diaper?
Anyway, although you can't tell it from the photo, Cypress Grove is a light greenish-yellow and while very pretty, I've already ruled it out. I was moving a shoe box the other day, remembered that those shoes were a lovely light biscuit color and realized THAT was the color I wanted. I held the shoe against sample after sample and found that AC-7 Adobe Beige is a great match. The Adobe Beige will be a wonderful backdrop to either a black and white toile shower curtain or a turquoise paisley shower curtain - the early frontrunners for a decorating scheme.
Meanwhile, the second and more minor project is taking place in the kitchen. We like the lighting in the kitchen, which has both recessed can lights around the perimeter and a decorative ceiling fixture in middle of the room, but we both wanted a pendant light over the sink. We like the look of a pendant light over a sink and particularly when the sink has a window over it, as ours does, and we like using it as almost a nightlight; just a little bit of light to find your way in the dark. James did all the cutting, wiring and patching a few weeks ago in preparation, then we picked out a light earlier this week and he installed it yesterday:
Gorgeous! After watching way too many episodes of The Bronson Pinchot Project and Rehab Addict, we really REALLY wanted a fixture with an Edison bulb and it looks perfect in our 1912 era house.
The same color in the downstairs bath was used on the kitchen walls. Not only do we just not care for the color but it is too close in tone to the kitchen cabinets - no contrast between the two. We think a nice sunny yellow will brighten up the room and have tentatively selected 339 Lemon Grass. James painted a white primer on the walls yesterday and today, which is already a huge improvement over the previous color, and we have swatches of Lemon Grass in three places. The jury is still out on whether we stick with the color or not, but we will definitely keep to a light yellow. Stay tuned to find out what we do next!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Back on track
It has been a few weeks since I took the time, since I had the luxury of available time, to sit down and post on this blog. August was such a busy, crazy month and since I did not get to do my usual end of month regroup/first of the month planning on the 31st, I am treating today as September 1. Guess you didn't realize that yesterday was the 36th of August, did you?
So what happened in August? Let's see...we went to Ontario for a long weekend to visit friends, Aidan and I rode the train to Albany for an overnight visit with friends, we went camping in Old Forge for a weekend, Mom came for a week-long visit and Aidan started school. Oh, and James ceased to be employed. Yes, unfortunately, you read that correctly: James is now officially between jobs. It was all very sudden, surprising and murky; the reason that was sort of given for his dismissal is that as General Manager of the Syracuse office, he was ultimately responsible for revenue and revenue was down. He was given a severance package so we have no financial worries for quite a while, but we still shake our heads and wonder "WTF?".
The upside (and believe me, there is an upside) is that James is sleeping better, is relaxing more and is no longer aggravated by an odd little twitch in a muscle on his chest. He is also taking on a few house projects BUT LET ME BE CLEAR: he is not working off a "honey do" list - these are projects of his own choosing. You can ask him if you don't believe me.
And we motor on. I am trying to get back into some kind of routine, including setting monthly goals. I am being conservative in September, only setting two goals: walking three times a week, and sorting through my clothes and accessories: putting away the summer items, getting out the winter items and getting rid of what I no longer wear.
It is good to have August complete, all 36 days of it, and be in September, which I hope will be a lot less tumultuous. Bring on normal!
So what happened in August? Let's see...we went to Ontario for a long weekend to visit friends, Aidan and I rode the train to Albany for an overnight visit with friends, we went camping in Old Forge for a weekend, Mom came for a week-long visit and Aidan started school. Oh, and James ceased to be employed. Yes, unfortunately, you read that correctly: James is now officially between jobs. It was all very sudden, surprising and murky; the reason that was sort of given for his dismissal is that as General Manager of the Syracuse office, he was ultimately responsible for revenue and revenue was down. He was given a severance package so we have no financial worries for quite a while, but we still shake our heads and wonder "WTF?".
The upside (and believe me, there is an upside) is that James is sleeping better, is relaxing more and is no longer aggravated by an odd little twitch in a muscle on his chest. He is also taking on a few house projects BUT LET ME BE CLEAR: he is not working off a "honey do" list - these are projects of his own choosing. You can ask him if you don't believe me.
And we motor on. I am trying to get back into some kind of routine, including setting monthly goals. I am being conservative in September, only setting two goals: walking three times a week, and sorting through my clothes and accessories: putting away the summer items, getting out the winter items and getting rid of what I no longer wear.
It is good to have August complete, all 36 days of it, and be in September, which I hope will be a lot less tumultuous. Bring on normal!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)

