February 18th -- There is so much going on in the house these days, yet it seems as if the closer we get to the light at the end of the tunnel, the more things remain to be done. I told the contractor today that my biggest fear is that this project will linger on and on and that I really need a "drop dead" date when the project will be done and the one-year warranty will begin. As much as I have become very fond of several of the subcontractors -- and I miss them when they finish their work and stop appearing at my house -- I am very much looking forward to the day when I "take back my house."
Today two very wonderful guys came to install the shower doors. They were fascinating to watch and a very engaging pair. As you can see, I selected a patterned glass for the master bathroom shower called "bubble glass" that is smooth glass on the interior and the exterior has a translucent bubble pattern. The hinge system was interesting as the door swings 180 degrees inside and outside of the actual shower. I selected this glass because I thought that clear glass would be a pain to keep clean and the bubble pattern really looks like drops of water. The installers told me that they really love installing the bubble glass doors and they shared some of the "whacky" things they have seen in their work. First, they told me that about 85% of the doors they install are clear glass, which they think customers later regret because of the lack of privacy/modesty and the water marks that build-up on the glass that are difficult to keep clean. Second, they told me some funny stories about their work to install glass doors in a local swanky five-star hotel (Four Seasons) that also has very expensive condo units. They told me that one condo owner wanted a clear glass enclosure around the toilet -- yes, the actual toilet. Their speculations about what that customer wanted to see or have others see when the toilet was being used could have been a routine at a local comedy club.
Here are two photos of the shower door in the master bathroom. After the clear silicone caulk sets in two days, the blue tape will come off.
Next, they moved to the 3/4 bath off the gathering room to install the sliding glass shower door.
For this type of shower door, the bubble glass was not available, so I went with the next best choice which is called "rain drops." Again, it is a textured glass that is smooth on the interior side and has a texture on the exterior side of the door that is a pattern that looks like rain drops on a window. The sliding doors include a polished chrome knob handle on both sides of one half of the door and a towel rack on the other side.
The "On the rocks" shade of gray paint shows a nice contrast to the white gloss trim. Here is the fireplace in the gathering room with the white trim, platinum slate tile and the newly painted walls.
When I was admiring the work of the painters, the head painter looked at the fireplace and said to me, "You know, it looks very.....stately."
Below is a peek at the mud room with the painted built-ins and the gray walls. I'm really pleased that this shade of gray looks more warm than most shades of gray and at the same time gives off a sense of calm.
I loved the "lupine" blue accent walls in the master bedroom and bath so much, that the painter suggested using it as an accent wall in the kitchen adjacent to the dining room. This was a good idea with so much of the white ceiling and cabinets -- the accent gives a much needed "pop" of color.The contrast between the blue and white looked so good, that we painted the "alcove" that contains the original kitchen hutch and leads to the pantry and laundry room the same blue, as shown in these photos.
The blue accent wall also looks good with the thin brick back splash in the kitchen.
The walls of the laundry room are painted the "on the rocks" gray to provide a nice contrast to the white cabinets, the Nordic black antiqued granite counter tops and the white washer and dryer that will eventually be moved up from the basement.
This photo shows how the "on the rocks" gray also looks good against the white cabinets, granite counter top and back splash in the kitchen.
This next shot is somewhat inspired by looming nostalgia -- I am standing in the guest suite, looking at the open door to the closet. The "hole" in the closet wall will be closed up tomorrow. I am going to miss that "short cut" to the front door. Soon I will "unseal" the tarp that is hung between the "temporary kitchen/living room" and the dining room, as I have been promised that the rest of the sub-contractors who will work on the house -- namely the plumbers and the electricians -- will not raise as much dust as I have been living through.
In addition to the painted walls, the painters put a very nice coat of paint on the headboard that the finish carpenters gave me as my first house warming gift!
Without a doubt, selecting the paint colors was the most challenging and agonizing process out of all the decisions that I have had to make in the course of this house project. At this point I am really enjoying the colors that I selected. The head painter has been incredibly helpful. I think he has given me the confidence to go a bit "out of the box" to select the colors for the two bathrooms on the main level.
He has yet to give me bad advice, so this evening I put a sample of the "graphite" color he suggested for the guest suite bathroom. This room has a white chair rail and white bead board, white ceiling, a black granite counter top, polished chrome plumbing fixtures with white porcelain handles, white claw foot tub and the white hex tile floor with random black hex tiles. Since there is also a big window in this bathroom, he thought that the graphite color would be a fun and dramatic contrast to all the white in the room. He also said that the graphite color looks great when the light hits it. The following photos were taken in the dark, and I can't wait for tomorrow's daylight to see what this looks like and to make my final decision.
I asked the head painter to suggest a color for the 3/4 bathroom off the gathering room, but he has been so busy trying to finish up that he had yet to suggest anything. When I went to the paint store to pick up the sample of the graphite color, I decided to go a bit rogue and I picked up a color swatch of "Edamame" -- an interesting darker shade of green. My thought was to show this to the painter and get his input. This bathroom has a lot of white subway tile, the white hex floor tile with random black hex tiles, white vanity, white ceiling, black granite counter top, and polished chrome plumbing fixtures. The black and white are so neutral that the head painter has encouraged me to have some "fun" with color in this bath. The walls outside this bath are painted "on the rocks" gray, which is a nice complement.
Interestingly enough, before I had a chance to run this color by him, he called me and said he was thinking of a green for the 3/4 bathroom. I asked him to take a look at "Edamame" and he said it was exactly what he had in mind. He picked up a sample and here is what it looks like.
Again, these photos were taken in the dark, so I'll have to wait for the morning light to get a better sense of whether this color will work.
Tomorrow is the last day for dry wall patching and painting on the new construction areas, except for the final touch ups. A longer planning meeting is scheduled with the contractor for tomorrow morning and we will create a schedule for installing the light fixtures and plumbing trim fixtures.
