It’s not a party without penguins and a leggy blonde
Posted: March 13, 2014 Filed under: Lurayville, Renovation | Tags: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, dining room, vintage sideboard, yellow is a happy color 3 Comments
Well, we’re back.
That was a long ten days, that was. The flu fairy came to visit. Everybody’s better now. That’s all I’m saying.
Last night we hosted a potluck dinner to celebrate a committee that BluesRay’s been chairing for nine months, who have now successfully finished their task. A dozen people came.
It was the first time since we’d started renovating that we’d let anybody in the door who wasn’t family or close friends or a contractor. I cleaned for three days. It’s amazing how paint cans and brushes and tools and extra doorknobs can spread themselves thin all over the house. Just like plaster dust.
And there is nothing like the threat of “company’s coming!” to induce a panicky rush to tidy it all up. We can’t have anybody thinking that we’ve been actually living in a renovation project now, can we?
How I stopped swearing at my towels
Posted: February 5, 2014 Filed under: Lurayville, Renovation | Tags: Delphite blue, linen closet, paint, storage & organization, Textile 1 CommentI’ve never wanted to live in a huge house.
Tried that, once. My parents moved up from a tiny suburban ranch, their first home, to a massive 1920s three-story in-town stone house.
Even with five kids, it was a huge house. It had a music room, inexplicable wall-to-wall carpet in the kitchen, and two maids’ rooms on the third floor that became Janeray’s and my bedrooms. (We didn’t become the maids though.)
And when my mom realized that huge stone house had 40-plus windows, all of which she washed twice a year, I think the glamour must’ve worn off pretty fast.
I do, however, want a house that’s livable. For me that means rooms that are inviting, even if they’re small. Details like light fixtures and hardware that are high-quality. Utility spaces that are actually useful and don’t make me swear with frustration.
Month of Makeovers Day 4: And there was light! Um, sorta.
Posted: October 4, 2013 Filed under: 31 Days, Decor, Lurayville, Makeover, Renovation | Tags: 31 days, Benjamin Moore, Bingley, Color, Darcy, Glass, LED lighting, paint, renovation, stained glass, stained glass window 3 CommentsHard to believe, but we’ve been renovating LurayVille for nearly a year now. The foundation for the addition was poured early last November. We’ve had the plans for eight years, drawn up after many many back & forths with an architect friend, so it’s been a long time coming. And a long time getting built!
That’s our builder there. We’ll call him Mr. Darcy, because he’s British and good-looking and single. I don’t know about the “income of 10,000 pounds a year” part.
As Mr. Darcy set up the framing for the addition, the first impact it had on our old living space was in the stairhall to the second floor. Read the rest of this entry »
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