Archive for October, 2011
Houston, We Have Liftoff
We made a big kitchen purchase. We ordered the floor! Wait, we should back up. We originally hoped to find hardwood floors running all the way under the linoleum in the kitchen (after finding out that it ran under the fireplace side of the room here)…
… but we removed the transition between the kitchen and the office on the other side of the room to find… booo!… plywood. So no refinishing for us. Gotta start from scratch.
But there were a few limitations off the bat. We learned from the previous owners that the kitchen floors couldn’t handle tile (they would need to be reinforced/leveled from underneath = $$$), so tile was out. Even laying down new hardwood worried us since it’s thick and heavy and not as flexible as some other options. So based on the limitations, we honed in on these three options (any of which we hoped to install ourselves if we chose it):
- cork
- floating wood laminate like Pergo
- vinyl or linoleum/marmoleum
At first we loved the idea of laying some sort of sleek eco-friendly linoleum in some chic tone-on-tone stripes. Candice Olsen does it sometimes, but I couldn’t find any online pics. And I’m sure it sounds really tacky but I promise it looked really good and that lady spends five thousand dollars on sconces so she’s not exactly about compromising when it comes to form. But after checking out a ton of local places /online stores we just couldn’t find anything that we liked. And we didn’t want to give off that “we upgraded the whole kitchen but forgot to update the floors effect” (which is a pretty embarrassing result if you do, in fact, upgrade the floors but no one can tell).
So we were happy to move on from the whole striped linoleum thing. We also realized that we prefer when our floors fall back and let other things be the star (like the wall paint, textiles on the chairs & windows, light fixtures, art & accessories – etc). Next was the possibility of: 1) a Pergo type wood-look click floor or 2) cork (since it was substantially lighter than hardwood and even bamboo). So we looked at a bunch of options in both materials and zeroed in on two options that we liked best.
One was a whitewashed Pergo from Lowe’s (for $3 a square foot called “Driftwood Pine”) that looked so much like the hardwoods we already had in the house, except whitewashed – which could have been a fun choice for the kitchen. The planks were the same size as the existing ones and it still had warm wood tones underneath so it would almost look like we had the same hardwood running through the kitchen that we had in the office, dining room, and bedrooms, but decided to whitewash them in the kitchen.
The other option was a rich mocha cork from Lumber Liquidators (called “Porto” by Libson Cork) that was on super sale for $3.26 a square foot. Which is an awesome price since cork usually starts around $4 or $5 a square foot and can go all the way up to $10+.
We realized we might have initially been attracted to the whitewashed Pergo because it’s similar in tone to the existing vinyl flooring in our kitchen (so our eyes are just used to seeing that tone underfoot), but once we paint the cabinets white and add stainless appliances and make a bunch of other upgrades, we realized that we might appreciate a warmer toned floor (so the whole room wouldn’t be white and gray). Boom, option one was effectively eliminated. Buh-bye graywashed Pergo.
The funny thing was that when we checked out nearly all of the inspiration kitchens that I pinned on Pinterest, they all had one thing in common: rich dark floors. Talk about subliminal messages. Can’t believe we didn’t pick up on that sooner.
Those floors are actually similar in tone to the mocha hardwood ones that we added to our first kitchen, which we still miss on the daily. Oh and it bears mentioning that while some folks prefer lighter wood for shows-less-dust reasoning, we never had any issues with that (or keeping them clean in general) since they weren’t super dark/ebony, just deep enough to be called “mocha.”
Decision made. Mocha cork it is! Especially since we planned to refinish the existing hardwoods in a similar tone for an even more seamless whole-house feeling down the line. But before pulling the cork trigger we googled around for cork pros and cons – just to be thorough. We learned it’s warm, quiet, naturally fire & water & bacteria resistant, soft underfoot (for less dish breakage and sore knees from standing), and eco friendly. The cons were that the finish could be scratched (like hardwoods) and it could be dented over time by heavy appliances or furniture if you don’t put those felt feet on them (like hardwoods). But if scratched or dented it could be sanded down and even restained and resealed (yup, you guessed it – like hardwoods). So it didn’t sound too out of our league since we’re definitely not strangers to oak flooring, which is apparently pretty similar.
But because we’re neurotic, we took it one step crazier further. We emailed four people we know and love who have cork and asked them to be brutally honest with us and tell us what they hate and if they’d recommend it and what they’d change and all the bad stuff. Well, not a complaint among them. Everyone said they loved their cork and would make the same choice again. Whew. So we (finally) went for it.
We put in an order for 265 square feet of it to cover the entire 25′ kitchen and adjoined laundry room (and account for about 10% of extra cork, just in case of a catastrophe cork-tastrophe). Of course I haggled with the Lumber Liquidators guy to get $15 off our $863 cork order (down to $848, baby). Haha. Every penny helps. It’s definitely not a drop in the bucket, but we’re excited to install it ourselves (it should be pretty simple since it’s click + lock and doesn’t call for any adhesive). The awesome thing is that refinishing hardwoods usually runs around $3-4 a square foot around here, and our new floors were $3.26 a square foot – so we’re psyched that new cork floors are about the same price as refinishing what we wished we had found under that old linoleum. In the words of Clara: yoi! (that’s how she says yay).
The only ironic thing: installing the floor is one of the last things we’ll be tackling (floors usually go down last so they don’t get dinged up by demo or painting or appliance installing) but the price was right so we pounced! For anyone wondering what we have to get done before cork-ing things up, here’s a brief rundown:
- Switch out/alter some of the existing cabinets & relocate some appliances
- Order/install new appliances (since we have some bisque mixed with black going on)
- Open the doorway between the dining room & kitchen (still working on permits/contractors)
- Create a peninsula out of secondhand, built, or purchased cabinetry
- Upgrade the counters (possibly with some DIY concrete ones if the floor can support them)
- Redo the backsplash (we have something pretty fun planned… more on that later)
- Paint the old and new cabinets white, so they look nice and seamless
- Add some open shelving (that’ll go along with our fun TBA backsplash idea)
- Completely upgrade the lighting (goodbye florescent tube lights!)
So yeah… we might not have after kitchen pictures for you until 2013. Just kidding. But maybe not. Have you guys purchased flooring lately? Gone crazy for cork? Or whitewashed wood (or faux wood)? Or realized that there’s a subliminal common thread among all of the kitchens you’ve been pinning on Pinterest? It was kind of hilarious when we noticed they all had nearly identical floors.
Psst- Inspiration kitchen images found via Pinterest from here, here, here, here, and here.
The (Joss &) Main Event
So… our afternoon post is a few hours early. Surprise! Fancy meeting you here. Anyway, after teaming up with Joss & Main on one of our most entered giveaways (apparently you guys love you some Joss & Main), they asked us if we’d be interested in curating a sale event over on their site. Which essentially entailed doing some virtual window shopping (sifting through hundreds of items in their database) and telling them everything that we loved, which would then make up a “Young House Love collection” over on their site.
Uh. Let me think about it. YESSSSSSS!
Never in a million years did we think that the title of “curator” would ever be used to describe us. Except maybe Curator Of Too Many Pins On Pinterest for me and Curator Of Too Many Soda T-shirts for John. Of course we screamed yes while holding hands and jumping up and down calmly told them we were game as any proper “curator” would do, and promptly called our parents to beg them to buy something small, like it was some elementary school bake sale that we were worried would flop.
But seriously, getting the opportunity to open up a little virtual decor store of sorts over there for the next 72 hours is the stuff of dreams for me (which usually also involve Nate Berkus, Eric Northman, and fried oreos). And although we didn’t set the prices ourselves, we did our best to find a variety of items in a nice wide price range (from under-$25 accessories to $250+ furnishings). So without further ado, here’s just a part of our little collection that you can find over at Joss & Main through October 6th (there’s a lot more over there). If you’re not already a member, just click here for an instant invite (so you don’t get wait-listed). Then you can find your way to the sale by clicking here:
Oh and because we like to be 100% transparent with you guys, it’s Joss & Main’s protocol to offer a small commission to the folks who curate sales on their site (and a small referral fee, which is actually available to any Joss & Main member). So it’s just like any other side gig that helps pay the bills, like writing magazine columns or our book (more on those here) except more fun. Way more fun. Speaking of fun, what would you select if you could “curate” your own collection? Typographic prints & maps? Punchy fabrics a la Amy Butler? Faux books & magnifying glasses like the “Library Decor” section at HomeGoods?
Oh man, that picture never fails to crack me up. Yes ladies, that man is all mine.
Office Chair Makeover In Progress…
Our $35 secondhand chairs – found here – aren’t quite done yet (picture me tapping my foot as I not-so-patiently wait for the paint to dry) but we thought we’d share our makeover progress in the interest of real-time fun. First a quick rundown of all the colors that John & I talked about for the office chairs at one point or another:
- emerald green
- turquoise, aqua, or dark teal
- dark gray or light gray
- plum
- navy
- white or light celery
- lime green or grellow
Oh and here they are in the office before paint and new upholstery (from a few different POVS), just to refresh your memory:
Here’s where our brains went when we continued to debate each of those color options over the last month or so:
- when you look into the office from the dining room there are two bright teal bookcases on each side of the doorway, so we thought turquoise or aqua or dark teal would be too “everything’s-teal” from that view
- after going with gray on the walls, we abandoned the light or dark gray idea for the chairs since it felt a little too blah
- navy was close to the color that was already on the chairs and it felt too dark for us
- we worried that white or light celery might be a bit too safe (and could skew a little too palm beach) so we decided to go for something bolder and more cheerful
- we worried plum would be just as dark as the original navy-ish color that was already on the chairs
So then we were left with emerald green and lime green or grellow. And I’m not gonna lie- I was rooting for emerald green for a while. I thought it would be nice and not-too-matchy when it came to the light grellow in the stencil and on the adjoining kitchen walls. But we held up ten million emerald swatches and stepped back and they all looked sort of… wrong. That’s the only way to describe it. The not-yellow undertones just seemed to clash with the adjoining kitchen and even the pop of color in the stencil since they were such warm greens and the emerald was so cool-ish and not-golden.
And the winner is…. grellow! Who is surprised? No one. Ok then. We figured why fight it if a super saturated & bold grellow would fit right in and reference the lighter kitchen walls and the soft grellow in the stencil while playing well with the other nearby elements (like the indigo light fixture, the teal globe on the file cabinet, the dark teal bookcases in the dining room, and the green runner & curtains in the dining room). The key was definitely hunting down something distinctly different (& bolder!) than the soft color on the kitchen walls and in the stencil so it didn’t feel bland and too monochromatic. Enter Sue the Napkin, stage right:
Since Sue is pretty much responsible for a ton of the color decisions that we make around here, we figured she couldn’t do us wrong in the “what green should we go with?” department. So we plucked a deep greeny-yellow right out of the napkin by holding up swatches until we landed on one that looked the most like it: Benjamin Moore’s Olive Tree. Then we taped that swatch to the chair, stepped back, and started singing kumbaya. It was magical. Everything was getting along swimmingly. Done deal.
But we needed to get spray paint in that color (since all the weaving in the chair definitely wouldn’t be easily coated with a paint brush) so the plan was to go to our local Benjamin Moore store to get them to make some custom spray paint mixed in that color (they can actually do that, well some of them can – just call to see if yours is one of them). Late last week I actually called to make sure ours still did it (they did) which is when I learned that it was too late in the day for them to make any (they closed at 6 and it was around 4 when I was calling). Bummer.
I planned to just wait to head over there the next morning but lo and behold while we were at Michael’s later that night we came across the spray paint aisle there, and what did we find? Krylon spray paint in “Ivy Leaf” which was – I kid you not – almost identical to the Benjamin Moore swatch of Olive Tree that I had tucked into my purse. So we bought two cans of it at $5.99 a pop. Hooray! Update: I just called Benjamin Moore back to see how much custom spray paint would have run me and they told me I would need to get a minimum of six cans of spray paint at $7-10 each! So glad Michael’s accidentally came through for us.
After we got home with my beloved spray paint I just removed the seat cushion on each chair (it was held in from the underside by four screws).
Then I wiped everything down with some liquid deglosser (we like Next Liquid Deglosser by Crown since it’s non-flammable, biodegradable, and low-VOC) and set them outside on cardboard for some spray primer. If the chipped paint had been rough and bumpy I definitely would have sanded to smooth things out, but the paint was worn down in such an oddly smooth way, there wasn’t anything for me to sand. Then it was primer time.
I applied a few thin and even coats (picture me misting it from 8-10 inches away, always keeping my arm moving to avoid drips) and let that dry for about 40 minutes.
Then I thought to read the can, which informed me that the topcoat should be applied within an hour or not until 24 hours later. So I impatiently decided that I didn’t want to wait. I quickly misted both chairs with about four suuuuper thin and even spray paint coats until they were happy and grellow. I snapped some photos of each thin coat so you could see how they’re very light (there’s almost zero coverage at first) and they build up to full coverage.
Here are a few more of my favorite spray painting tips:
- Skip the cheap $2 stuff in favor of the $5-7 quality stuff (my favorite is Rustoleum’s trigger spray nozzle because it goes on thin and even – and doesn’t get all over your fingers).
- Always keep the can moving. If you’re a-sprayin’ your arm better be a-swayin’.
- Keep the nozzle about 8-10″ away from whatever you’re spray painting.
- You really want a mist, not a heavy wet coating.
- Three or even four thin and even coats are better than one thick and drippy one.
- Spray paint has yet to go no-VOC, so apply it outside with a mask, and let it fully cure as long as the can recommends outside whenever you can (usually 24 hours, we try to double that just to be even safer).
- You can “seal” any spray paint (to limit off-gassing once you bring it inside) by applying two thin coats of Safecoat Acrylacq, which is low-VOC and non-toxic.
Voila, I was left with this chipper guy:
Make that two of them. Just chillin’ in the yard.
Oh but it took me three cans of spray paint total, so I had to go back for one more. As for the seat fabric, I had some leftover yardage from my little dining room curtain project.
And after holding up the fabric to the freshly grellowed chairs we were so happy. All systems are go. They look great together.
Originally I intended to use that extra fabric to make roman blinds for the office since that room is so open to the dining room thanks to the giant double doorway that’s flanked by the built-ins. But I got to thinking that it might be too matchy-matchy to use it on the windows and John and I kept dreaming more and more about bright grellow chairs, so it was the perfect compromise. This afternoon’s project is to reupholster the seats. I’ll share all those details along with after pics in a day or two (as soon as they’re dry enough to get jammed back together for photos).
Oh and don’t go very far this morning. We’ll actually be back in a few hours with a rare 11am post instead of our regular 2pm jam. Which is nice because it frees up my afternoon for reupholstering. Everyone wins.
Psst- We’re over on BabyCenter sharing an amazing resource for projects that you can DIY with your kiddos. There are so many fun ideas to add to our “someday to-do list” with Clara.
Fab Freebie: Gone Fishing
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!***
Our two lucky winners as selected by random.org are… Susie (who doesn’t like fish, despite her former employment at Red Lobster) and Sarah (who especially loves Maryland crab, shrimp, salmon, and freshly caught smoked trout). Congrats ladies!
Back when I lived in Brooklyn there was this cool dishware store down the street called Fishs Eddy that I loved. Last Christmas I even bought Sherry two coffee mugs from there. And now, in what can only be called a full circle moment, we’re teaming up with them for a giveaway for you guys. They’ve got tons of fun colorful patterns so we’ve put together three around-$50 prize packages of our favorites: the Food Bank pattern (which benefits the NYC Food Bank), the always-classic 212 New York Skyline pattern, and the playful Charley Harper pattern. So each of our TWO winners will get to pick their favorite collection and take it home.
- PRIZE: One of the following sets of Fishs Eddy dishware: (1) Food Bank set including dishtowel, two mugs, and a set of four sauce dishes, (2) New York Skyline set including salt & pepper shakers, a charger, and a set of four 15oz glasses or (3) Charley Harper set including one fish mug, three fish sauce dishes, and a set of four sunset glasses
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “FISH ME!” and tell us…
- BONUS QUESTION: …where do you stand on seafood? Have you never met a piece of salmon, fried shrimp, or crabcake you didn’t like? Or do you avoid fish like the plague (perhaps because it tastes “too fishy” or you’re a vegetarian)? Maybe you fall somewhere in the middle and only enjoy specific seafood dishes?
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, October 5 at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: Two
- PRIZE SHIPS: The 50 United States & Canada (although we do try to wrangle as many international giveaways as possible)
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday as an update to this post. That’s right, come right back here on Thursday for the announcement of our winner. Good luck…
Note: We weren’t paid or perked for hosting this giveaway, we just do ‘em to thank you awesome folks for stopping in. See our Giveaway FAQ page for more info. Pics courtesy of Fishs Eddy.
Done-zo
My little stenciling project above the chair rail in the office has officially concluded. Woooo to the hooooo! It only took three 4.5 hour installments spread out over four days (so my hand-claws could turn back into hands between sessions). You can read all about my stenciling process here), but in short: it was well worth all that work and a bag of chips. Behold:
Of course since it’s a subtle tone-on-tone effect, the further away that you get the more – well, subtle – it gets. In person when you stand at the doorway to the office you see pretty feathery texture, but of course in photos it’s somehow MUCH harder to capture. Here’s a shot I snapped during the day (ignore the too-dark chairs, non-permanent lamps, bad leaning frames, too short rug, giant placeholder ottoman, random toy basket, lack of window treatments, etc):
And here’s one at night (again, avoid all the weird we’ll-change-that-later stuff going on). I wish the stencil were more obvious in photos, but in real life, yeah, it’s our favorite thing we’ve done so far. Maybe someday we’ll master the Nikon enough to truly do it justice on film.
Here’s the much requested shot from the dining room, where in person you can still see a soft & pretty tone-on-tone texture (you’d swear it was wallpaper from this distance). But again, in photos it’s nearly impossible to capture. It’s a nice amount of subtle interest beyond the bold teal built-ins and colorful textiles in the dining room. And hopefully when we hang some art and add window treatments in the office it’ll be a good balance between those two rooms.
But let’s get closer again. It’s more fun.
Even closer…
Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.
The writing on the mirrors is our weird to-do list madness. Ignore that too.
But don’t ignore this sweet faced chihuahua who just turned five (five days ago, actually). Burger is always my favorite accessory (tied with the bean of course).
But let’s go back to ignoring stuff. Like the just-for-now chair and too-big ottoman (borrowed from the living room) along with the too small rug. Just figured you guys might appreciate seeing the room from a few different angles (even though the only “finished” things in here are really the light, the desk, and the stencil):
As for the wall color under the chair rail (Moonshine by Benjamin Moore color matched to Olympic no-VOC paint in satin), we’re toying with the idea of going a smidge darker to ground the stenciled upper part and add a tiny tiny bit of dimension (don’t want too much contrast since that might look crazy from the dining room beyond the built-ins). Of course we’ll keep ya posted if we make any changes! The nice thing about stenciling is that any other regular painting project feels like a cake walk by comparison. Haha. I actually wish you guys could all come over and see it in person – it’s so much better than these photos! Who’s down for a quick visit?
Oh but before I go back to staring at the walls with the same expression that I reserve for Eric from True Blood, let’s get into the paint color details, how we did it, and the budget breakdown. As for those paint details, here you go:
- Gray paint for stencil: half tint of Moonshine by Benjamin Moore color matched to Olympic no-VOC paint in a satin finish
- Grellow paint for stencil: Sesame by Benjamin Moore color matched to Olympic no-VOC paint in a semi-gloss finish
Oh and how about a time breakdown? It took 13.5 hours over three evening sessions. Definitely not a quick project, but one that makes you especially proud/excited/relieved/amazed when it’s actually done. As for all of our stenciling tips and techniques, click here for a nice long post all about applying the stencil. Now here’s that budget breakdown for ya:
- Stencil (from here): $54
- Martha Stewart Stencil Adhesive (from Michael’s): $2.99 (with 50% off coupon)
- Foam brushes (from Michael’s): $2.50 (with 50% off coupon)
- Quart of gray paint* for stencil (half tint of Moonshine from Lowe’s): $11
- Grellow paint* for stencil: $0 (leftover from kitchen, but would be $3 for a test pot)
- TOTAL: $70.49
I’ll admit it, it’s definitely not a super cheap-o paint project (which normally run us about $15-30. But to wallpaper the entire room above the chair rail could easily have been five hundred beans or more. And the effect is so amazing that – dare I admit it? – I probably would have paid $150 to get ‘er done. But not a penny more. Haha.
And true to form, we we still have about ten million things on the ol’ to-do list in here (one project at a time = sanity, glorious sanity). So we’ll definitely be tackling these things over time:
- adding window treatments
- painting and reupholstering our desk chairs
- hanging art on the walls (no, the oddly small leaning frames aren’t for keeps)
- finding a more permanent armchair, ottoman, rug, etc (there are lots of placeholders goin’ on)
- replacing the lamps (or reupholstering the shades, not sure yet – but we’ll keep you posted)
Anyone else do any stenciling lately? Or make any home office updates in general? Do you have a special expression that you reserve for Eric (or some other celebrity)? Oh yeah, let’s talk about that. Who’s your famous man (or lady) crush? Any Jake Gyllenhaal ladies here? Matt Damon? Team Edward? Team Angie? When I met John he totally had a Britney Spears calendar… and she was wearing leather bodysuits with sneakers. Le yikes.
Psst- Read all about my stenciling process and the paint colors that I used here (there’s even an application video).
