Our New Home at 7A

Furniture for Adults

2007-09-04T12:38:00.000-04:00

During my week off Colin and I puttered around a few furniture stores. We browsed every floor of ABC Carpet & Home, the majority of which was filled with items very much out of our price range, not to mention that everything seemed sized for massive 5000 sq. ft. lofts in SoHo. We did eye an antique vintage light fixture that made use of the edison lightbulbs that Colin likes so much. But any lighting for above the dining room table will have to wait until the table has arrived -- only then will we be able to determine what is most fitting.

The hightlight of the puttering about was an antique store, Brownstone Treasures, on Court Street in Brooklyn. A number of pieces in the store impressed. While our home has the requisite furnishings to function, we are looking to slowly replace the Ikea stuff with longer lasting items. We'd like a bench for the entryway, a place to land upon entry. There is also a wall in the large hall area that is in need of something. We have yet to find or identify the missing piece, something unique but with a bit of function.

We're most desiring a wardrobe to replace the ugly Ikea beast that currently lives in our bedroom. We saw a magnificent oak wardrobe at Brownstone Treasures, spacious, smooth with lovely curves, but heartbreakingly it had already been sold. Despite the sticker that said "Sold" I still had to ask: "so this one is sold?" (The sticker did not stop another customer from asking the same question and despite knowing the answer, my ears still perked up hoping to hear something that would indicate that it was back on the market. Of course, it wasn't).

So no go on the wardrobe but we did eye another beautiful item -- a 1940s four-drawer dresser. And while we didn't need a new dresser, this one was simply too nice to pass up, especially considering its price and good condition.

What I'm most delighted about is that there is now a place for the few palm-size family heirlooms that I'd had packed away for the past few years. I never found an appropriate place for them in my last two apartments -- the first apartment was already furnished, cramped and cluttered as it was. Our last place, a reaction to the cramp and clutter of our first apartment together, was very minimalist and modern.

Finally these heirlooms, passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me, have a home on the new dresser. One item is a small white creamer from a tea set that my grandmother played with as a child. On the bottom there are Cyrillic characters that reflect my family's Georgian and Russian roots. My grandmother's toy became a memento for my mother, something she could carry over in her suitcase to America. Today it finally has a special place in our new home.

The To-Do List

2007-08-21T08:51:00.000-04:00

I have next week off from work, which means no travel back and forth to DC. I'll be home in NYC for 11 consecutive days. I have not been home for 11 consectutive days since goodness knows when, so to have all this time on my hands is rather exciting but also daunting. There is a running list of things in my head of errands and home projects I'd like to tackle, and the fear that I won't have the time to do them all. I know having a reasonable plan will help:

1) Order the dining room table
2) Sand and repaint the patch of windowsill that was damaged due to the tornado-related rain a few weeks ago
3) Measure all the prints and photographs in prep for framing
4) Ikea trip (doormat, picture frames, other odds and ends)
5) Furniture browsing (coach, landing strip for the entryway, wardrobe for the bedroom to replace the horrible Ikea one we have in there right now, small desk for bedroom, bedframe)
...to be continued...

The Table

2007-08-16T14:01:00.000-04:00

I love the idea of people around the dinner table. There is nothing nicer than sitting down to a meal with someone, whether it's a dinner for two, or with your family and friends. A good meal you've taken the time to prepare (whether 10 minutes or hours) should be eaten at the table, not on the coach in front of the television. Colin didn't have the luxury of a real dining room table in his flat in Edinburgh, while I on the other hand, was spoiled during my three years at Eleanor's house, where the dining room table was really the center of most everything that went on. It was a place of solitude at times, especially in the mornings as we worked our way downstairs on our various staggered timelines. That's where I would sit and eat my oatmeal and read the paper before work. A few times per week it was the setting for our group dinners. The table was where we'd all lazily congregate on Sunday mornings, each eyeing the other's scrammbled eggs or toast. It was where Eleanor's Thanksgiving dinners were hosted, where we'd have birthday dinners, and pre-holiday gift exchanges. And even now and then maybe a romantic meal for two. All that made a dining room table the real thing.

But it helps if the table is sturdy, that it's natural, and that it's timeless. So one of the first things Colin and I have focused on, even before we moved in, has been the table. We agreed we wanted it to be made of solid wood. No compressed woodchips and wood veneer. No glass and stainless steels legs. Nothing trendy or too stylized. What we found was that we were both attracted to tables that were a little rustic, a little rough around the edges, something handcrafted with character. Our trolling around stores rarely led to finding anything we really liked, with only one exception (an oak French country table) but we realized the dimensions would not work in our space (too wide). But I kept seeing glimpses of a table here and there in photos on blogs, in magazines, and on the screen, but of course with no way of knowing who designed them and where to look. Until the other day when I saw one on brownstoner. It was a table that was pictured as part of a kitchen renovation. I posted a comment asking where it came from, and as luck would have it, the owner divulged his source. And the source happens to be a woman in Vermont, who handcrafts the tables, and delivers them to our door in NYC. Pictured to right are examples of her work. We've gone with the one with the light stain. 5ft long by 30inches wide. It will seat six.

It's exciting to find a table with all the features we value and to know we're supporting someone's craft in the process. The table has soul already and we hope that the many meals and conversations we have at the dinner table will only add to its character.

We're Back

2007-08-16T12:12:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the long absence of posts. Between Washington, DC, packing, unpacking, there hasn't been much time for blogging about the new place. Packing wasn't too awful and the actual move was fairly painless (it helps when you pay three strong men to help). Unpacking, though, has been the challenge as we work through where everything should go, especially in terms of the closets and storage space. We had plenty of closet space in the old place and there is a fair amount in our new home, but we just need to be a tad more thoughtful in how we organize everything. With only a few boxes of unessentials left to unpack (and thinking do we really need what's in those boxes anyway?), we can now begin the actual nesting process. The rationale behind not spending too much on furnishings for our previous apartment was that it was a rental and why be generous in buying nice pieces that may work in a temporary space but not in our eventual home. Now that we own our place and we'll be sticking around for a while, we want to invest in furnishings and art that make it a real home for us, reflecting a place that is serene, functional, comfortable, and classic.

It's not Personal -- It's Business

2007-07-16T12:49:00.000-04:00

Colin told me a story about when work was being done to his flat back in Edinburgh. Colin's dad, kind and generous father that he is, organized the work while Colin was at work. This was no convenient task, as his dad lives two hours from Edinburgh and had to make the drive there and back on a regular basis to oversee the work.

One morning Colin's dad rearranged some appointments to accomodate the painters. But when they buzzed to be let in over an hour past schedule, Colin's dad told them they could just go home. In other words, they could get lost. He preferred to find new painters for the job, rather then have to work with ones that were late and did not have the courtesy to call in advance. While it may seem harsh, that's business. It's nothing personal.

And so that brings me to our decision on a painter.

As things were looking bleak at the end of last week in regard to who we would get in to paint, I contacted an additional painter that was recommended via the brownstoner. Someone on the post receommended the two-man operation of Greg and Koji a.k.a. www.paintyourapt.com. When I called on Thursday, Greg wasn't optimistic that they could take on a job this week because they were waiting to confirm another job. We agreed that if that job fell through, he would be back in touch. Saturday morning he contacted me to say that he had not heard back on the other job and that he was happy to come by and take a look at our place and give us a quote. Unfortunately, because the floors were still wet we waited to arrange it for Sunday morning.

In the meantime, since Thursday I had left a couple of messages for Painter #1 to confirm that should we move forward he would be available to start on Monday. I also e-mailed him. But I did not hear back from him until mid-day on Saturday to say yes he could start on Monday and for him to apologize for not getting back to me sooner. At that point I was debating whether we should just go ahead with Painter #1 or wait until we gave Greg and Koji an opportunity to submit a bid. We decided to wait.

Greg and Koji were on time and professional. As a small operation they would be doing all the work. They would not have a hired crew. Greg and Koji would be accountable for their own work -- if anything came up, we could go directly to them. That seemed like a plus to me. When their bid came back at the same price at Painter #1, we were torn. As much as we wanted to give Painter #1 the business (we really liked him as a person), we were concerned we could have problems reaching him. We want the job done well and by professionals. We feel confident that Greg and Koji will fulfill those expectations.

Greg came back on Sunday evening to drop off some of the materials and for us to pay him the materials deposit and the first half of the fee. We signed the contract and so here we go...

Shoes off - Socks only, please

2007-07-16T12:38:00.000-04:00

The floors look fantastic!

On first glance, the floors were in okay shape. But upon closer inspection they appeared just so-so, mostly due to a lazy refinish job when they were done previously. We knew the best time to refinish floors is when an apartment is empty. Thus we decided to get them done now and enjoy them in the years ahead.

We didn't expect to see a huge difference between the old floor and the new floor. We were surprised and the floors certainly exceeded our expectations. They are so smooth, much lighter, and no longer that shiny yellow tint that is common with poly oil-based finishes.

It took the floor guys from Shalom Floors a day and a half to sand and put down two coats of the water-based natural finish. The last coat is scheduled for next Monday, the 23rd, four days before our move-in date.
Colin and I stopped by the apartment on Saturday but couldn't go in because the floors were still moist. We did pop in yesterday, though, but it was shoes off and socks only. And that's the way it's going stay.

As a side note: We had debated whether to do the floors first or paint first, and settled on something in between. We did the floors first, now followed by the painting, and then one last coat of finish and touch-ups as necessary. As fas as I can tell, this was the right way to do it. Although the floor guys took pains to clean up the job site, there is really no way to get rid of all that dust. To have had to deal with that dust after the paint job would have been tough.

Painting Quote from Painter #1 in In!

2007-07-13T17:54:00.000-04:00

We finally heard back from Matt and his quote came in at $2800... We're sure we'll pass on the high bid of $8250, but now we have to decide whether we should continue to shop around for a better price. We really liked Matt, but he was so slow in getting the quote in and hard to reach today to discuss a possible start date that it worries me.

Painting Quote from Painter #2 is In - Yikes!

2007-07-12T08:42:00.000-04:00

Wow. When Colin and I first started thinking about painting the new apartment, we thought that we would be indulgent (perhaps realistic is more like it) and hire in painters. As we realized how much would go into such a project, we knew that trying to do it ourselves would be a disaster. We neither have the time, nor experience, to do a competent job. While we had no idea what this would cost, we assumed we'd need to spend a couple thousand dollars. As it became apparent that it was not just about filling a couple of holes a rolling the paint on, we prepared ourselves for quotes of up to $5k. Well, painter #2 has come back with his quote for the job and it's $8,250 which includes labor and materials for a 5-day job with a 5-6 person crew. Should we decide to skim coat the living room, entry, hall areas, we'd be looking at an additional $1,750, bringing our grand total to $10K. That's quite a leap from the initial $2K we had in our head. I'm not saying it's not worth it, but I now realize why people decide to paint themselves. A little imperfection here and there is charming, right?

What starts to figure into my head is how much is too much to spend on a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment? It's not a $1 million brownstone, where maybe an investment of $20k-$30k for a decent paint job is worth it if in the long run it increases the value of the property. But then I remind myself that this is not purely an investment, we're going to be living in this space, it's going to be our home. This isn't about increasing value, it's about increasing our enjoyment of the space. There has to be a balance.

I've once again turned to the Brownstoner Forum for their feedback. The feedback is that the quote is on the high end, but that it would reflect what should be a high quality and top notch deliverable.

Quote Delays

2007-07-11T08:37:00.000-04:00

Who knew it would take days to get a painter to quote you on a job. It's reasonable to think they're just busy and procrastinating a bit. But then I think maybe they don't actually want the job -- they're stalling for some reason or another.

Painter #1: Matt came by last week, Wednesday, July 4th, and took extensive notes and made a bunch of color recommendations. We both really liked him. And I loved the fact that he took so much time to go through the color wheel with us and make recommendations. We would have likely hired him on the spot if he had quoted us price right then and there.

While we waited for a quote, doubt started to set in that if we never hear back from Matt, then what? We had no Plan B. Another painter on my list was booked through August. Maybe all the good painters were booked. But then I heard back from one of the painters that I'd left a message with, Marcel, and we agreed to have him come in and also quote us for the job.

Painter #2: Marcel came by this past Monday and we were both impressed with him as well. Marcel, unlike Matt, introduced the idea of skim coating some of the walls. We know this will be a major added expense, but we're curious to see what a final quote will look like. In fact, we're very eager to receive a quote.

Marcel said the soonest he could give us a quote would be by tonight. Matt said we'd have his quote in yesterday, but nothing so far from him. So now with the painting due to start on Monday, July 16th, we're still not sure which painter we're using and how much it will cost. I'm trying to be zen with it and realize that we still have a few days before Monday to get this all sorted out.

Reassuring Feedback from Brownstoner

2007-07-11T08:19:00.001-04:00

Turns out all those holes in the ceiling are par for the course. Four brownstoner readers responded in the forum to say that the Swiss Cheese effect was typical and that it even looked like a clean, neat job. That's a relief! Being new to all this I just assume we're being taken advantage of...cynical, I know. Things are moving along very nicely. Floors start tomorrow!

That's a lot of holes!

2007-07-10T16:31:00.000-04:00

Um, are there really supposed to be this many holes?

We specifically asked them not to re-plaster because our potential painter said instead of paying the electrician an extra $100 to plaster (that's what the electrician said he would charge), it would be better to just have the painters do it. But who knew they would make so many holes! Is this typical?!

We paid them $400 to install two boxes in the ceiling and replace a light switch to a dimmer (corresponds to the new boxes). Did they go overboard with the holes because they knew they didn't have to plaster them up?

[Update: The feedback is in... and apparently I'm just a tad paranoid.]

Final Color Choices

2007-07-09T19:16:00.000-04:00

We did another batch of testing and have come up with our final choices (all in Benjamin Moore with a matte finish):

Living/Dining Room: Accent walls: Portland Gray (2109-60)/ All other walls: A La Mode (2109-70)

Kitchen: Greenmount Silk (HC-3)

Bathrooms: Silver Satin (OC-26)

Master Bedroom: Accent wall: Misted Green ( 2138-50) / All other walls: Gray Lake (2138-70)

2nd Bedroom/Study: Calm (OC-22)

By the way, if you'd read an earlier post about the Gray Lake looking pinkish, it turns out it was the wrong color. We exchanged the quart for the real thing, and as expected, it works much better with the Misted Green. We both like that it's not a pure white, but that instead it has some hint of green.

Wiring the Living/Dining Room for Overhead Lights

2007-07-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today we're meeting with an electrician. We'd like him to wire the living/dining room for future installation of dimmable lighting, most likely some sort of pendant lights above the dining room table. We were quoted $350 for this job. I checked on the Brownstoner forum as to whether this is a fair price and it appears we're in the ballpark. As two of the walls in the living room appear to be concrete, we're hoping the other two walls will suffice for this project and there won't be any complications (and added expense).

Dismantling the Beast

2007-07-08T01:27:00.000-04:00

To do the floors and paint the walls, we knew we had to do something about the Ikea wardrobes in the bedroom. What was an act of kindness by the previous owners in leaving these pieces behind, now appears to be a big mistake on our part. These wardrobes are typical Ikea -- they are beasts that cannot be moved without serious risk of injury to themselves and others. The plan was to dismantle one of them, and then move the other two into the kitchen while the floors were done. Then move them out of the kitchen for the painting. And then move them back into the kitchen when it came time to do the final coat of finish on the floor. And of course, one last move back into the bedroom.

The dismantling went so-so. There was some breakage in areas where the wardrobe's own weight caused some splintering in the faux-wood panels. Colin and I managed to work fairly well together as a team on this. And maybe even laugh a little (afterwards). I even let him use the drill (once)... Did I mention I love the drill?

Once the first one was dismantled, we tried to see how we could move the other two. Well, it didn't go so well. W could barely move these two inches without serious swaying and creaking and overall menace, we knew that moving them three to four times in the course of two weeks would be a nightmare. Thus, we're getting rid of them. We'll redesign the walk-in closet and see how it manages to serve our needs. And maybe we'll add a single wardrobe at some point if necessary. This is an ultimatum for the both of us to get rid of cloths we never wear.

Our First Toolbox

2007-07-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

Colin and I took a trip to the Red Hook Home Depot in Brooklyn today. What became very apparent, this was not your Chelsea Home Depot. This was a serious business Home Depot, not for novices. Our mission: put together a toolbox.

As we're now homeowners, I thought it was time to invest in some basic tools. We bought a screwdriver set, a hammer, a level, and an electric drill (and a box to put it all in). That's right - AN ELECTRIC DRILL! I love it.

We put the drill to good use over the weekend as we dismantled one of the Ikea wardrobes. This was a story in and of itself but as far as tools were concerned, that drill made a big difference. I can't wait to use it again. It's very gratifying to screw and unscrew at the push of a trigger.

More Squares of Paint

2007-07-06T01:30:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned, Matthew from MFO Paints sat with us and went over various paint color choices for the various rooms. Today we went to "Paints by George" on McDonald Avenue (only five blocks from our apartment) and found swatches for all his suggestions. For today we narrowed down our tests to the two main colors to be used for the living/dining area and the bedroom. For the living/dining area we chose to buy test quarts of the Smoked Oyster for the accent wall, and the A La Mode for the remaining walls. And for the bedroom our accent wall color was a Misted Green with the remaing walls in a Gray Lake.

Smoked Oyster -- while we'd really wanted to like this color, we both agreed it came out much too dark and not disimilar to the current chocolat brown color in that room. We've decided to stay on the same test strip, as we like the warmth of the Smoked Oyster, but want a less opaque color. We're going to give Portland Gray a try next, still pairing it with the A La Mode.

Misted Green -- we loved it. It's kind of greenish, kind of bluish, and just very natural looking. We paired it with the Gray Lake that was from the same test strip and I am convinced they mixed the wrong color because the Gray Lake is very pink and looks nothing like the test strip. It was supposed to be a white with a very very subtle tint of green that would compliment the Misted Green but on the wall next to the Misted Green it looks straight out of left field. We'll have to go back to the drawing board.

Daniel from Shalom

2007-07-06T01:00:00.000-04:00

Today we met with a nice gentleman from Shalom Flooring. He informed us that our floors are oak -- that they're not in horrible condition but that when they were previously refinished, they did a rather poor and lazy job. Daniel pointed out places where they used the sander against the grain of the wood, which causes a waviness in the wood rather than smoothing it out. And also several places in the living room where there are slight divots in the wood -- again from misuse of the sander.

The estimate for the job is $2,000. This will include three coats of a natural water-based finish, resulting in a nice matte look, as opposed to the shiny oil-based polyurethane that is on the floors now. It will have a subdued and organic look to it when it's done, which will hopefully compliment and be complimented by our paint choices.

Our Color Hero

2007-07-04T18:30:00.000-04:00

After the not so successful attempt at testing paint colors, we were relieved today to meet Matthew, who could easily become the hero of this project as he gave us many recommendations on colors for the rooms. I e-mailed Matthew after reading a couple of good reviews on the Brownstoner forums. He responded right away and agreed to come and meet with us today. He was on time (good sign) and took meticulous notes on everything. Matthew had very close attention to detail during this initial review of the apartment and we both seemed to think that if his work was as meticulous and thoughtful, than we would be in good hands. We're a little nervous that being in good hands may mean being in expensive hands, but we think that a good paint job, and working with someone that has good taste, will be worth a higher price.

As an added bonus, Matthew said that they would take the wood cabinet doors off their hinges and soak in a solvent to see if we could strip some of the gloppy paint off of them. Finishing them with a coat of matte paint should help smooth them out a bit as well. I think the cabinets add character, so I want to draw attention to them, but not in their poor current condition.

Some of the colors that Matthew recommended:

Mt. Rushmore Rock
Smoked Oyster
Misted Green
Pilgrim Haze
Dove Wing
White Dove
Ballet White
North Hampton Beige
Barren Plain
Glacier White
Silver Satin
Calm
Decorator’s White
White Dove
Pure White
Hollingsworth Green
Hancock Green
Providence Olive
China White
Nantucket Grey
Hint of Violet
Venetian Marble
Pilgrim Haze
Harbor Haze
Gray Cashmere
Greenwood Silk
Soft Chincilla

Finally Closed! Pictures of our New Home

2007-07-02T20:45:00.000-04:00