AbbeyK — On Interior Design

Great Reasons to Hire Licensed Contractors

At a New Year's Party, a friend told me that he was working with someone to renovate his Victorian. She wasn't a professional, just did it as a hobby...had a crew she worked with. The prices were good. I had a feeling he wasn't planning on pulling permits and that the workers were either undocumented or un-insured. I guessed right and then kind of lost my mind over it.

(Here's a picture from the renovations in progress at This Old House.)

He's looking at a 100K + renovation for his kitchen and bath. Probably more like 150K if he decides to do 2 baths. Victorians are tricky. There's horsehair plaster, old old wiring and plumbing, and bringing it up to code is expensive. The only way to do it right is to pull permits, not to mention that it's the law in MA that past a certain percentage of changes, permits must be pulled. It protects the homeowner, and offers recourse against damage.

Un-insured labor?

• What if someone falls down the stairs and gets (God forbid) a head injury. In the absence of a workman's comp policy -- which is also the law in MA -- that contractor sues the homeowner to cover medical expenses. Home owners insurance won't cover that since it's labor w/o a permit. That's a 1M suit, easy.
• What if a neighbor or someone sees work being done without a permit in the window?  Not sure you can hide a dumpster in an urban neighborhood. Neighbors will see it, not to mention anyone else who happens to be on the street. If you get caught, not only do you get fined, but then you have to pull a permit and now the building inspector is mad.
• What if the house has a fire because the wiring isn't done right? What if your house burns to the ground or someone dies or is injured in a fire because you decided to save some cash by having your cousin do the work?
• What if a pipe bursts and the plumber has no insurance and it floods 3 floors of a condo below? (This actually happened to a client. Thankfully we had  pulled a permit and the plumber's insurance paid for ALL repairs on ALL 3 floors below!)
• What if the next home owners decide to go to the building inspector's to make sure that permitting was done? I know of more than one real estate deal to fall through when there was no permit or when the final sign off never happened.

Point of fact: I won't work on a job without permits. Maybe people who do this type of work as "a hobby" feel comfortable with out a permit, but I know of not one professionals who would. 

If that's not enough, here's one more reason why you shouldn't attempt wiring on your own -- from th Boston Globe, Do-it-yourself books recalled over risk, an interesting article about recalling DIY books with faulty instructions for electrical wiring.

If you have more reasons why you should pull a permit, or a horror story from unlicensed labor, please do share.

What are the Best Towels?

What towels do you think are the best?

When I moved into my last apartment, I bought some very luxurious Christy Renaissance towels at Bloomingdales. They were the perfect shade of navy and the sales woman told me the towels were great....Well, however "fabulous" they were, my boyfriend hated them. Hated them. His claim? While oh-so-soft to the touch, they didn't do what a towel is supposed to do. They didn't get the water off the skin. It was like a fine layer of water was left sitting on the skin.

So I bought another set. Where did I get these? Kmart. Martha Stewart Everyday.

Truthfully, I love the Kmart towels. They take care of the water problem better than the Christy. They have also held up better than the Christy in the washer and dryer. The Christy loops have pulled all over the place making them look shabby. Plus, the  Christy's color has faded dramatically, while the Kmart look fresh.

The Kmart ones look as good as the day I bought them.

In my work life, I have a new client whose new home is empty. One thing on the list is new towels. My assistant and I met to go over details and she'd do the retail shopping. We discussed this exact issue with the client -- softness versus wick-ability. He agreed his current towels don't wick. So we are to find him a second set in a shade of medium blue for his bathroom. He's going to test them out; then we'll buy towels for the rest of the bathrooms. I am going to try Target. I have good luck there, and it's close to my house. (K-Mart doesn't have the right color.)

So what do you think about towels? Buy the most luxe, soft ones you can find? Or the scratchier ones that actually take care of the water? Curious. Or maybe a happy medium?

Nothing Like a Deadline to Make you Make up your Mind: condo progress

I get absolutely no joy in decorating for myself. For others, it's fun. I love it. But for myself, it's painful. I just want it done.

My painter is coming the first week of December to paint my office, my bedroom, and the bathroom. He said he wanted paint colors the week of Thanksgiving. Here are the front runners -- taupe in the bedroom, blue or green in the bathroom.

Most paint stores are closed on Sunday but there's one in Quincy that is open, Drive in Paint Mart. They have C2 so I could get a super chip to confirm what I wanted for the bedroom. When I got home, I knew immediately: C2 Cappuccino Froth it is. (That's the taupe.)

For the office it's Ben Moore Acadia white, an off-white.  It will be a subtle contrast from the stark white desk tops, file cabinet, trim, and shelving. (No chip shown of Acadia white.)

The bathroom is a bit of a challenge. Hate the acidy-green in there now. (I'm typically such a green fan, just not THIS green.. The stone is green marble. It's perfectly fine. The floors are 12 x 12 black and white -- which I don't love, because I have to sweep every day. I have black, curly hair and that's not a good combo with the white tile. It just looks dirty .

Snide comment alert : Hmmmm.....Black and white 12 x 12 on a bathroom floor. What was the developer thinking? (Oh wait, he wasn't thinking -- meow.)

My grandma's paintings seem to be at home in the bathroom. As do the mini quilts. I made them about 15 years ago and they make me happy. They are a modern take on a traditional, log cabin pattern. It's all top stitched.

Stan Tasker, my freshman drawing teacher taught us to put our work up on the wall in our dorm rooms and then to look at it first thing in the AM. He told us that whatever jumps out at you is what you need to work on. Don't think, just trust. First thing in the AM, your brain is not thinking so much. So I will follow Stan's advice and decide tomorrow AM whether it's blue or green in the bathroom.

So that is the plan, Stan: Either Haddon hall or Argyle, both by C2.

Any votes?

PS. Other things are in process. The Craig'slist find, the new Dining Room hutch, is at the re-finishers. That will be ivory on the outside with Wedgwood blue on the interior. For the office, a whole bunch of progress over the last few weeks...My formerly black file cabinets are at the metal re-finishers. Those are soon to be all white. The wall cabinets are ordered. They will be white, too. The free standing shelving from Room and Board will be painted white. Are you sensing a trend for the office? All that's left is ordering the desk tops.... Big surprise: they will be white, as well. So I really am making some steps. Hopefully by January everything will be in. Start the year fresh!!! 

Antique Saris Quilts from Sundance

These quilts from Sundance are just beautiful. 

 

They remind me of a project I recently worked on. A client of mine is a world traveler. She has brought back some really great stuff and has a collection of incredible textiles from Egypt (I think). Like many travelers, she likes to surround her self with items purchased from her many trips. We re-arranged photos, made groupings of her wonderful African objects. We determined a consistent eye level. That helped a lot. We edited a bit too. She has great instincts so it was really fun to work with her.

Up in the master, she had lively apple-green walls with a sleigh bed and brown bedding. From a trunk at the end of the bed, she pulled out these amazing textiles and wondered how she could use them. So we came up with some really fun ideas: swapping out the dark bedding for cream or ivory and then making pillows and a cafe curtain for the master bathroom out of the beautiful multi-colored scarves. Like the quilts, each scarf was a bit different, but all were bright and happy. Then we decided it could be interesting to put a throw at the end of the bed that was geometric ivory and black. Somehow the bright scarves and the black and white geometry were nice compliments.

Maybe you don't have a trunk full of scarves to re-configure.... But don't you think these quilts would look so beautiful folded at the end of a bed? Like the jelly rolls we used at camp.

Is it Wrong to Love a Rug?

Full disclosure. I think I need therapy. I have become obsessed with decorating my new condo. But I haven't done much yet. Just made lists of what I can afford, prioritize what I can do now and what I can do later....And think about rugs. And think about drapes and think about blinds. Over and over again.

A friend came by the other day and said: this is ALL you've done? From the looks of things, I could see why she said that. Not much has been done since right after I moved in. Steps, just not much to show for it yet.

Here's what I have done:

1) Taken down the God- awful vinyl shutters in the DR and kitchen. They literally shattered when I took them down so to the garbage they went. They were not even re-installable somewhere else. What a shame.

2) Had my electrician over to take down the equally God-awful sconces in the DR and the LR. Take down the bathroom sconce to see if there is enough slack in the wiring to move up the fixture so I can get a Robern Medicine Cabinet in there. Those are the Rolls Royce of medicine cabinets. The answer by the way is yes. So now I need to order the Robern and the sconce. I think I am going to get this Ginger light fixture. One of my favorites.

3) Had my window treatment guy to measure for new blinds and hardware. Good news: my DR drapes look great in my bedroom and my old LR drapes work in the new LR. I'll make some pillows from my old bedroom drapes. Cuz I love the fabric and they are not faded. They will become euro shams. (How recycling of me.)

4) Had my carpet guy come to measure the bare stairs to the basement. Made calls around to find a remnant (hopefully for a good price).

5) Ordered bath accessories and a water filter for the kitchen and called my plumber about installing it.

6) Made a call to my contractor about doing some built-ins and installing the accessories, getting a screen door and other misc. stuff.

6) Hung the DR drapes. (OK had them hung.)

7) Took down the closet doors in the office. Better with them open.

8) Put in a garden

9) Put up (and moved) art on the walls. not that much up yet. a lot of things leaning.

But mostly I have been obsessing about rugs.  Here is the rug I think I might get for my DR. I thought I would get a new table and chairs. But now I am thinking, I might be happier keeping the table and chairs for now and getting new drapes and a rug. It's sort of one or the other.

Renovating a Bathroom: grab all space you can

When your bathroom is only 5 x 8, the case in many urban homes, every inch counts. I recently renovated a bathroom and stopped by to see the finished room. We had also done the living room and the master and the office and I'll post those soon. (I am completely in love with how the bedroom drapes came out!!!)

So the bathroom was original to the 1920s brick building. I do love the classic look but this one was tired. Mold was coming through the tiles in the shower. It didn't feel clean any more. Homes have life cycles just like everything else and for this bathroom, it was just time. Plus, water was leaking into the unit below. That pushed my client to re-do. Here are before pictures.

One of the chief complaints of this bathroom was the lack of storage. Where's a girl to put all the products? She had a low free-standing storage piece, but it was spilling over. This client is very neat and it was driving her crazy. It would me too!

Many homeowners attempt to solve the space dilemma with a vanity. But truthfully, in small space, a pedestal sink makes the space feel bigger. Clients are not usually convinced though. For this space, the tape measure informed the decision. You wouldn't be able to open the door to the vanity. The tub was too close. We even considered some of the vanities with drawers. Ultimately it was the same issue. No room.

So we solved the storage issue other ways. We put in a 40"high Robern medicine cabinet over the pedestal sink and built-in a storage closet to the left of the sink. My contractor maximized the space by stealing every single inch. He was able to build 8" deep for most of the cabinet, but he had to go around heating pipes (which could not be moved) so there was about 4" on the inside in front of the pipes. That 4" space is perfect for small items like make-up brushes. While the deeper space houses baskets and larger items. Don't the baskets just look great? Love them!!!

Good-bye plastic bins on the floor. Good-bye spilling over of "stuff."

The tiles in the wet area are 3 x 6 tiles from Sonoma Tile. The cushioned edges give them a bit of dimension so they have some interest beyond a standard subway tile. You can see this better on the front of the tub. Walls are a nice Ben Moore soft green. (We used their Aura brand low-VOC paint.) Porcelain floors from Tile Showcase were a pleasant surprise. I thought the tile was consistent in its color, but they actually varied to look more like stone (which delightfully also hides more).

Anyway, it's fresh and clean and feels happy and is a huge improvement. Client is happy. So am I. YAY.

How to Be a Barefoot Cobler

One of the hardest things to do as a decorator (for me anyway) is to decorate my own home. Here's what my place looked like the day of the close. It's been 3 weeks -- the first week I was out of town, so that doesn't count. Every day I wake up happy that I bought this place. It's clean and bright and fresh and although not HUGE in square footage, its open and airy feeling. I'm all Goldilocks on it. It's just right.

View DR to Kitchen.
PS While I sell this brand of chandelier all the time, I hate this one in my house. It's on the list to be replaced.

The bathroom is fine. I do need some towel bars and other accessories and also maybe a medicine cabinet. Will see how I do without.

View from the LR through the kitchen. The fire place works. The art I just put up there to keep it out of the way of the movers. The B & W print is a litho done of me and my cousin Elysa when we were kids. The other art my grandma did.

Finally, here's the sun room which I plan to use as a yoga space.

How Do You Like Your Toilet Paper Holder?

Seriously, this is a question I ask homeowners all the time: How do you like your toilet paper holder?

Options?

Open, double post, double post with spare, hanging, open with hood.

Oh, I bet there are probably others out there as well. All the products below are from Ginger.

So what do you prefer? Discuss.....

OPEN

DOUBLE POST

  DOUBLE POST WITH SPARE

HANGING

OPEN HOODED

Belmont Renovation and other projects

Had a big meeting Saturday for my Belmont renovation. Reviewed kitchen plan, how to open up the space to the adjacent dining room and discussed options. Made really good progress. Really excited about moving this forward! Next step? Finalize the floor plan so we can get firm pricing on cabinets/granite, and labor including electrical and plumbing and painting. Stay tuned.

Another project is just about to go to order. We did the LR/DR/Master bedroom and office. It's a cozy 2 BR condo in Cambridge and another nice client. But there's a mold problem in the bathroom, and it's leaking to the unit below. Yeah, it's simply time.... so that needs to get done. The contractor is going over tomorrow for a walk through and then we'll pick a date for demo. Everything is quoted. Just have to get it ordered. My plumbing guy says only 3 tubs in stock and the Toto toilets have been running with a lead time too, so I told my client, let's set the date and get everything ordered ASAP. The last thing you want to do is start demo before all your vital items are in, esp. when you have just one bathroom!!! No one likes a delay due to product delays, once demo starts.

Friday I am meeting with another client and her husband to sit in furniture for her kitchen and den and hopefully finalize that. Then we'll be onto her guest room, son's room and bathroom renovation. Wrap up the dining room and lighting.... I can't wait to see how everything comes out.

I have an office project and we need to schedule to look at products, so that's going well too. What else....waiting on a few meetings and proposals out for upcoming work, but current projects are getting exciting and it's going to be a busy winter and spring. Tomorrow I need a day in the office to catch up on small stuff, work on the never ending to do list and start getting on it.

Looks like the renovation projects will be staggered which helps with the manageability. (and luckily, they are all close by too so quick pop overs are a breeze.)

AbbeyK's Advice on Tiling

From time to time, I get emails from readers with technical questions. Often it's a "What color should I put in my hallway?" type of question which is very difficult to answer without seeing the home.

But on occasion I get a question I can answer. Here's the email Q & A with Victoria. Thought it might be helpful info to someone out there.

From Victoria:

I was admiring your beautiful design work on the This Old House Website. We are deciding on tile for our only full (and quite small) bathroom in our house and I was intrigued by your recommendation to tile up to the ceiling.

I am considering the look of a natural colored 12 x 24 tile and then using a 12 x 12 of  the same tile color on the bathroom floor and the ceiling of the shower.

Do you think that it is too big a tile for a small space that is measuring 58'' x 89''? Do you think going up to the ceiling with this type of tile would be too much?

I appreciate your advice. I have been going back and forth with tile directions and this one seems a little different than the classic subway tiles that are very popular right now. It is so hard to make a decision and pick a direction.

Any feedback about if I am making a big mistake with those large tiles would be appreciated.

My response:

I would be weary of a 12 x 24 on anything other than new construction. It's not always possible for 24" to work. Spaces often settle or have sags in a floor and there's no give with a 24" tile. I might talk a client out of this.

That scale is a bit large anyway for a bathroom of your size.

Are you using stone, ceramic or porcelain. The large porcelain is usually too thick/heavy for walls so the install is a bear... all the more reason to avoid.

If your shower is tile on the floor, keep it to 2 x 2 or less. For safety reasons. I am not sure if you have a tub or a stall with a tile floor.

I have done longer tiles on floors sometimes. If you go to Cambridge Renovations you'll see some planky floors.

Victoria responds:

Thanks for the important feedback!!!!!! The tile sample seemed really thick and I am sure our walls are not the straightest in town.  We are far from new construction with a 1914 build date.

We fit a full tub with shower in our space so no worries on the the floor.

Back to the tile showroom I go with this new info in hand.

Again, thank you as I would not have considered this--I wish the showroom rep had as I almost placed the order on the spot.

My final response:

They will sell you ANYTHING!!!

Some porcelain is not appropriate for the walls due to the weight, well it's doable but you have to put a board up below each row of tile and wait for it to set...then move the board. You get the drift. It's really labor intensive and quite frankly not worth it.

With a house from that ilk, I'd stick with something smaller.

Best of luck on your project.