Life’s a Beach…

Or so they say

This Los Angeles Life, , ,

Another beautiful Southern California day. A little girl and her corgi drawn carriage.

Comments { 0 } April 30, 2013

Kitchen Cabinet Installation

Kitchen design by proxy

Kitchens, Restoration Diary,

Note: This post was added after the fact.

A slew of texts messages and images fly back forth from my hospital bed, where I am strapped to a fetal heart monitor 24 hours a day, and from David who is overseeing the installation of our kitchen cabinets. I get asked lots of questions…where is the cabinet hardware, how thick should the base molding on the cabinets be?

David: Your idea for the pullout pantries won’t work.

I send David a drawing of how it WILL work.

David: The guys say your idea won’t work. Oh, wait. Yes, it will. You are getting exactly what you want.

Me: Ya know it! :) {yes, I do text annoying emoticons}

Back and forth, this goes on for hours.

We have made peace with the electrician. After the fact, I will admit there was a slight chance I could have been a tad hormonal. He paid for the labor to have the wallpaper installed. We had the paper installed before I ended up in the hospital. Everyone is happy.

The electrician is super cool and doesn’t press us for a final payment until I’ve been out of the hospital for a few weeks. It wasn’t that we were delaying on purpose, just tired from lack of sleep and still trying to get the hang of this parenting thing.

I hope that things are cool with Juan. We had a disagreement over what he would be paid since a lot of the work was jobbed out to other vendors. Juan comes back and finishes a few major carpentry issues and sends over his tile person.

He still needs to come back to finish up a few things but we haven’t pressed him. Hopefully he’ll come back! Please, come back…we miss you.

This leads me to the real hero of our kitchen remodel, Jeff at The Limey Woodshop! Jeff came in and saved our project. He got the cabinets built and installed within 3 weeks…and they are absolutely beautiful. The cabinets are traditional in style with inset door frames and soft close drawers.

Once I was in the hospital Jeff kind-of took over. He arranged the countertop installation and found painters to spray the cabinetry. I really cannot recommend them enough.

Note: The Limey Woodshop company name may be changing. Jeff is from England and his family doesn’t really see the humor in the name “Limey”. Being an American, I thought the name was memorable and didn’t realize it can be considered derogatory. You do what you have to do to keep the peace within your family. The name may change but it is still the same owner and wonderful work.

Of course, the project supervisor was on hand to make sure the kitchen cabinet install went smoothly!

Comments { 5 } February 1, 2013

FLOR: Fun Modular Floor Covering

Installing modular carpet tiles

Restoration Diary, , ,

We needed an odd sized rug to fit underneath our desk, something durable that could stand up to lots of wear. FLOR carpet tiles fit all of our criteria, plus they come in multiple shades, textures and fun patterns.


FLOR samples

I ordered samples to see which worked best in our office.


It’s a plaid, plaid world

We chose a grey plaid called Pop Tartan.


Jack, project supervisor

Our cat Jack overseeing the carpet installation.


Attaching FLOR dot

The tiles are held together by adhesive stickers called Flor dots. It is as easy as peeling the backing off the Flor dot and attaching it to the back of the tile.

The tile is lined up and dropped into place. Easy!


Tah-dah!

It took us 15-20 minutes to install the carpet. Now all we have to do is finish moving into the office.

Comments { 4 } March 31, 2011

When Animals and House Projects Don’t Mix

Bad Kitty!

Restoration Diary,

Look who decided to walk across the still wet cement floor, leaving tiny paw prints in his wake. The Project Supervisor, otherwise known as Jack and more recently other names that I won’t post here, decided that he needed to look out the bathroom window now, right now.

The bathroom door is being stripped in the backyard, so I put up a barricade to keep Jack out. It is going to take more than my feeble attempts to stop him. Now that he is successfully inside the bathroom he refuses to budge. I am reduced to opening cans of cat food outside the bathroom door, but he is having none of that.

He is lying underneath the window on the still wet cement, safely out of reach, and I swear he is laughing at me.

Comments { 4 } July 21, 2010

Alternative Cat Perch

Restoration Diary,

Jack's favorite new sleeping spot.
Jack’s favorite new sleeping spot.

The bathroom sink isn’t hooked up and hasn’t been operational since we have lived in the house. I’m glad the sink finally has a purpose.

Comments { 5 } October 19, 2007

Cat on a High Bungalow Roof

Nothing Important,

Last night I spotted a dark gray cat perched in the very center of our roof. He looked like a Medieval gargoyle, waiting, keeping a watchful eye on the neighborhood, hoping to catch a pigeon for his dinner.

Comments { 0 } May 1, 2007

Lulu, we will always love you.

Our beautiful pet corgi and restoration buddy has passed away

Restoration Diary, ,

Written by David:
I remember the first time I saw Lulu. It was about 8 years ago at the pet store. Heather had seen her there previously and thought she was the wierdest looking puppy she had ever seen with short legs, big paws, big ears and a missing tail.

I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to get a dog but after driving around and talking about possbile pet names we decided to go back to the pet store to see her again. I asked one of the pet store employees if they could take her out of the cage and they handed her to me. She was so tiny and her fur was so soft. You could just tell that she had a great little personality. Lulu won me over and we took her home that day. She became a part of our family.

Lulu was the sweetest dog with such a great personality and calm demeanor. I used to take her to work with me everyday and she would just hang out in the office and contently lay by my chair as I worked. She was much loved by everyone who came in contact with her because she was so quiet and well behaved.

(more…)

Comments { 16 } February 4, 2007

Happy Easter!

Holidays, , ,


Simon & Lulu

Wishing you a Happy Easter from 1912 Bungalow.

It has been a big week at our house. Simon slept through the night and didn’t make any noise to go outside until 8:30 a.m. (FINALLY!) instead of his usual 6 a.m.

We left him out with us instead of keeping him in the bathroom with a baby gate and no accidents or destroyed property. The only bad thing is that Lulu doesn’t like Simon to sleep by her so she keeps sneaking into bed with us after we are asleep.

Comments { 3 } April 11, 2004

Den & Dogs

Walls painted Great Barrington Green from the Benjamin Moore Historic Colors Collection

Paint, Restoration Diary, , ,


Simon

Yesterday we got a male corgi puppy. We are calling him Simon. At first Lulu, our 4.5 years old slightly spoiled female corgi, seemed to accept Simon. They even briefly played together.


Lulu and Simon

Once she realized that he was staying she changed her mind. She is showing her teeth at Simon any time he comes near what she considers her territory – which is almost everything. Of course, the cats are less than thrilled and we are getting the cold shoulder.

What does that have to do with our den? Not a whole lot except that all the above is highly distracting. The woodwork in the den has been bleached, stained and varnished. Paint is on the walls. I picked the color on my first try this time! Real progress. The color is Great Barrington Green from the Benjamin Moore Historic Colors Collection.

The walls above the picture rail and the ceiling still need to be painted.

Comments { 4 } February 11, 2004