Condo Renovation Almost Complete

Everything about the condo is small. It weighs in a little over 500 Square Feet, but luckily has tons of storage space a  larger storage space in the basement and a small patio off the bedroom.

Bathroom Renovation. The bathroom is almost masculine in both the lines and color choices, but I love it. It’s crisp and clean, no dainty girlie fou-fou stuff is in there. The bath is only 8×6 but it seems roomer because the previous owners installed french doors between the bedroom and the bathroom. 

The bathroom is about 95% finished and it looks beautiful. The only other work that needs done is selecting the blue/gray paint for the walls and finding a softer less yellowish/greenish white for the wainscot.  Once the painting is done, the room will be finished. 

   I used a chocolate brown 12×12 ceramic tile on the floors  and a richly tinted jerusalem gold limestone on the shower surround. The rain head shower looks great and the lines on the new spa tub blend quite nicely with the existing sink.  It’s a very beautiful room.

To keep costs down I reused/recycled most of the existing fixtures (i.e.,  toilet, fixtures and sink).  I will eventually change the faucets out since they are a polished nickel and I prefer a matt finish-but that’s for next year. Ditto for the lights, but I usually dislike most lights made specifically for the bathroom, so until I find something I like I will keep the exisiting lighting in place.

I did notice that the plumber failed to install a 3-way adapter for the handheld shower spray.  I prefer it this way although my contractor told me it makes clean up easier if I have the spray. I just think the older shower head (it slides along a bar) was very ackward and ugly, so I am glad it worked out this way.

                                       

Original Shower/tub surround       New Surround

The contractor’s crew refinished the heart of pine floors.  The previous owners had them bleached and they look scandinavian.  I think the job was done poorly and the floors looked terrible once all the funiture was out. I had my contractor take the floors back to the original color (there was spot of the original stain under a kitchen cabinet). 

 Old Floors                 New refinished floors

              

Once the floors have cured I can get a better gauge on what wall color to use and pick my paint color for the living room and bedroom.  I start moving in on New Years Eve.  Ideally I will be in my new home around the 6th. Oh happy day. 

Christmas Time

Shopping and NYC

I just spent four wonderful days hanging out in New York City returning to DC on Christmas Eve. 

Most of the days were filled with shopping, eating and hanging out. On the first day I had lunch with a dear friend at the MoMA’s Modern Restaurant.  They have a $45  fixe prix menu  that was amazing.  If you plan on visiting the museum, make a point of calling for a reservation at the Modern, you will not regret it.

While I was eating lunch I  thought I spotted a celebrity who was also eating with friends. My unobtrusive photo only proves that I need a zoom lens…sigh.

I discovered the absolute joys of shopping in NYC was stumbling into ABC Home, I think I want to buy one of everything in the whole store.  It was a shock to see sheets selling (at 50% off!) there for a final price of $350  per sheet and some sheets that were running about $400-1000 a sheet, a cost that is mind boggling to me.  In the sheets defense they were egyptian cotton and had a thread count of 1000 per square inch. Maybe it’s me, but I doubt my skin would notice the difference after oh, say 500 threads per square inch? I do know that the key to buying cotton sheets is to look for the egyptian cotton since the threads are longer hence softer sheets.

I was also able to see Crate and Barrel’s CB2 store as well as Muji on Broadway. I bought tons of stocking stuffers, a gorgeous linen duvet cover from Muji and lusted after some of the wonderfully affordable furniture at CB2. The only reason I didn’t purchase any new furniture for the condo is because I am not sure what will fit in there, both style-wise and size-wise.