Midwestern Malaise

Set your shampoo here

Or in our bald-headed cases, your soap, shaving cream, razors, etc.

I just ordered this double niche from http://www.tileredi.com/, and had an email within minutes saying it would be received in 3 to 7 days. My local tile shop had similar products, but the sizing is what I like about this one. 16" X 20", so it should fit between existing studs and minimize any framing I need to do. I'll verify that for you once it arrives. Just screw to studs, install underlayment, silicone the seam between the niche and underlayment, and tile over.

UPDATE: Ordered at 930 this morning, email around 3 this afternoon from UPS letting me know it had shipped. We like fast.

A few more pieces of the puzzle

The medicine cabinet from Resto showed up today. Just a simple frameless mirror, so not really worth a photo. I will say its solid and heavy as hell, should be very nice when its installed.

It took HomeClick a few days to process our broken basin, but the replacement ships out tomorrow. Thankfully they told us to just pitch the broken one so we don't have to deal with sending it back.

We gave Westport Glass approximate measurements for the frameless shower enclosure and door and they called with their quote today. It was less than I expected, but more than Brett thought it would be.

This weekend we'll order tile and the Schluter products. The only thing remaining is the tile-in niche for the shower, which I need to buy tomorrow. The plan is to have the dumpster delivered Friday for demo next weekend.

Damaged

We unpacked Lloyd (the pedestal sink) tonight and he's beautiful, except for the back left corner of the basin, which got crunched in shipping. The pedestal was double-boxed and made it just fine. So we'll call HomeClick tomorrow morning and see what we need to do. I wish it wouldn't have happened, but I will say this is giving us a full and complete experience working with them. If this gets resolved quickly without a hassle it will virtually guarantee we'll use them in the future. I need two more bathrooms and a kitchen, and likely a new washer and dryer, so our business is theirs to win.

Update 1, Thursday 10am: They've asked that we email a photo of the damage.

Things I love: Silver foliage

Isn't it great when a plant likes where you put it? Everything in the little side bed is looking healthy, we've had a lot of rain so I'm not surprised, but none of the plants are especially fast growers, save the two artemesia I surrounded Mr. Cement Frog with.

I'm a sucker for most any plant that leans to silvers and blues, this finely cut, bushy variety being my favorite. They like some sun and I was worried they wouldn't get enough on the east side of the house, but it appears to be working out just fine.

Now if the big varigated grasses I put by the garage and the porch would stop looking so dry and scraggly I'd be perfectly happy. The smaller dark green maiden grass seems to be doing well, but the big guys look like they're having a hard time of it. Buckets of water seem to help, as did all the rain, but a few dry days and they're looking iffy again. Fingers crossed.

Mad Props

Just a note to say I'm very happy with HomeClick.com. First, when we called to see about cancelling the first sink it was no problem at all. Then the shower head that wasn't supposed to ship until next week arrived at Brett's office today. He also received an email letting us know that the sink (ordered this past Wednesday night) shipped this morning.

Not only was shipping on the sink free, there was a popup promotion when we pulled the trigger and we got an extra 5% off.

I'm a fan.

Longevity in design

It's an embarassment of fixtures and fittings here! Everything arrived from HomeClick today save the shower head, which is scheduled to show up in a couple of days. Also a surprise was the box I found on the porch when I went out to get the mail, the pair of Albion single sconces from Restoration Hardware.

We've opened all the pretty things and I'll just say again, Kohler makes some beautiful products. The Purist suite is simple yet visually substantial, and the gleaming polished chrome is gorgeous. I thought about a photo but each thing seems to have a lot of pieces, all of which are wrapped safely in foam envelopes and bubble wrap. You'll see everything in the after shots, hopefully very soon.

Thank you all for your thoughts on the sink dilema. As you likely said to yourselves, there just wasn't much difference between the Barclay and the Porcher. And while the Toto stood apart, its still a white pedestal. More contemporary in feel, but retaining some classic lines. Especially when you look at the pedestal itself. It's the shape of pedestals past, simplified down to the basic elements. In the end, the Lloyd by Toto was the winner.

Martha asked the question I think I needed to hear: how would either look in ten years?

I think they'll both look good in a decade actually. But I also recognize that over time my taste has changed, and it seems that it's been a movement toward simple and more streamlined. The materials in the room, the black and white marble, white porcelain and polished chrome, are timeless and should hold up as well as they always have. The toilet and sink especially recall the lines of their predecessors, and hopefully that influence, pared down to the essential shape and proportion, will keep them looking both classic and fresh for a long time to come.

A little wrench

Ok, we've hit a slight hitch. The pedestal sink we ordered is on backorder, and won't ship until September. Sure it happens, but in this case it's going to require a replacement. So, here are the candidates.

First, the Lutezia pedestal from Porcher. Not all that different from the original choice. I'm a bit bugged by the curved deck below the spout but can probably deal with it. This ships from HomeClick in 4 to 5 weeks, so it would have to be purchased elsewhere. I've found it on eBay at $318 with free shipping.

The other choice is the Lloyd pedestal from Toto. Ships in 2 to 3 days, for free, from HomeClick. But it's $538. It's also more contemporary, which isn't what I had originally envisioned, but also isn't something I mind. One thing that I do like a lot is that its 34 inches tall. Both Brett and I are around 6 feet tall, so we like a little extra height.

The Purist faucet would work just fine. Also we bought a pair of the Albion bath sconces from Resto. They're seriously minimal, and would also work really well with this sink.

Alright, lets hear what you think.

House in a box

Thanks to my buddy Russ, I've discovered something you might be interested in. Most people know that Sears used to sell entire houses, everything you needed to build, right down to the nails. All cut, packed and shipped to your building site.

Well they've got most of their old home plans archived online here.

I've spent a huge chunk of my evening looking at renderings and floor plans, and wondering if any of the countless little bungalows and tudors I've visited might not have started out as a Sears & Roebuck Modern Home.

Rooms are generally (but not always) small, and some plans don't contain bathrooms (outhouse plans were available too), but it's surprising how well the designs hold up. Many of the decades old exterior elevations seem especially graceful to me still. There was even a fourplex apartment plan that could be any number of apartment buildings around KC.

Bathroom in a box

What better way to celebrate a distinctly American holiday than with some good old American consumerism! After exhaustive research and price comparisons, we ordered most everything we'll need for the bathroom this morning. HomeClick.com was the winner with an average of 37% off manufacturer's list and free shipping on most items. We compared with Lowe's and HomeClick was lower, plus theres no tax for the online purchase. Then on top of that, they were taking another 8% off for the holiday.

Barclay Constitution pedistal sink

Kohler Persuade dual flush toilet

Kohler Purist widespread faucet in polished chrome

Matching Purist shower mixer and head

Tissue holder, towel ring and a pair of bars (below)

We've found an oversized Carrera subway tile for the walls, floor to ceiling, and a black 12x12 marble for the floor, and will be measuring and figuring out how much we need today. We also need to order the Schluter shower underlayment system this week.

The electrician's bid is in, now we just need to find a plumber. And hope that there's nothing horrible awaiting us when we start demolition. I can't wait to call for a dumpster!

Prada: Resort 2010

While her daddy is back in Michigan celebrating his nephew's first birthday, Prada has been hanging out at our house! She's run Alex ragged but I think he's been happy to have some company.

Tom and Prada moved to Brookside in April and it seems like he's having her groomed more. She must have been matted on her legs though because they've shaved her down close, but her little bit of a beard is coming in nicely.

Happy holiday weekend everyone!

Auction score

I didn't go to the auction this week, but I saw this pitcher on the website and ran down over lunch and left a bid that turned out to be successful. The manager at the auction house said things went cheap, I'm kind of bummed that I didn't go, there were a few other pieces I would have bid on.

I think that this is redware, but I'm going to have to do some research. The unglazed bottom, rim, and scrapes on the applied handle all have that dark reddish color. I'm pretty sure its old, the interior glaze has crackled like you'd expect, but that's all I know. I feel like I've seen the orange color and/or polka dots before, but I'm not sure.

If anyone has any redware knowledge or knows of a good source let me know.

Tool

Elena Kagan refused to roll over yesterday in response to Jeff Sessions' (R-Alabama) badgering about her handling of military recruiting while the dean the Harvard School of Law. After her succinct explanation that ended with her clearly stating that they did exactly what the Department of Defense asked them to do, Sessions said "I'm just a little taken aback by the tone of your remarks."

I couldn't hate our nation's congressmen more. Mr. Sessions, who the hell do you think you are?

Better

So it was like this, only with more weeds:

Now it's like this.

SO much better. Should be great when it fills out.

In the dirt

We couldn't stand it anymore. We've had Brett's associate from the firm mowing the grass (he likes yard work, and he's cheap!), meanwhile the yews and bushes of uncertain lineage that ring the house have grown to epic proportions. They started out old and huge anyway, now its starting to look like the Munster's house, so we've had him begin pulling them out.

I felt like some shrubs beat no shrubs, but I was wrong. Even the dirt and stumps look neater than the six foot high yews out front and the big hairy whatevers blocking the dining room windows.

Brett went to El Dorado for his reunion over the weekend, and left to my own devices I stopped by the nursery and picked up a few ornamental grasses. I did wait until he got home Sunday to make sure he agreed with their placement, and they're now softening the the corners by the garage door and the side porch.

Between the side porch and the garage door is a little 3X5 bed wedged between the house and the sidewalk. On a whim tonight I ran to Lowe's, thinking I'd get some landscape fabric and weed the empty bed and put down some cloth and think about planting. Then I walked out among the plants in the garden center.

It took me a few hours, but the bed has been weeded, tilled, covered with cloth, and now contains an azelea, a coreopsis, a pencil holly, two artemesia and a curly reed grass. It's all looking a bit small now but I planted planning for everything to fill out. The one thing I completely forgot to buy was mulch. I'll get a bag of that tomorrow and post a photo when it's down.

Jedi masters

Sunday night Rachel had us over for dinner to celebrate her son's 4th birthday. His name is Jack and he's into Star Wars (among a number of other things) at the moment, so the light sabers Brett bought him (with light and sound effects!) were a huge hit.

Me blowing bubbles with the birthday boy's little sister

Popular with us was the sangria and the huge platter of grilled veggies, steak, chicken and fish we all enjoyed together before presents were opened.

Jack and Uncle Brett doing battle in between dinner and cake.

The meal was so good in fact, that I recreated it here at home tonight for Brett and I. We're still working on our pitcher of sangria. I was pleased with my mixed grill, but then I grilled some peaches to have over ice cream, and it kind of fell flat. The little doughnut peaches aren't optimal for grilling, lesson learned. Last night Rachel served the Chantilly Berry Cake from Whole Foods. Or as we like to call it, The Crack Cake. I'm generally opposed to store-bought birthday cakes (my mama had mad kitchen skills back in the day) but their berry cake with its whipped cream frosting is amazing.

A time for turquoise

A weird blog thing just happened.

I've not been to an auction in ages, but tonight was the spring art & antique auction at KC Auction Company. I wasn't going to buy, but there were a few things I wanted to see. One was this turquoise crackle glazed Pisgah Forest Pottery pot.

There were also a number of good old painted pieces, all in the blue family, strangely enough. Nothing I could use here, but definitely ones I wanted to see and touch. This hutch was the best of the bunch. It could use a cleaning but was in pretty good shape overall, with great paint as you can see. I left before it hit the block but checked the online catalog later and it sold for $675. That's the most I've ever seen a painted piece sell for here.

Oh, so what was the weird blog thing? I got on to upload these pictures and post, and noticed Mrs. Blandings had a new post up, so I took a look. George Terbovich, David Jiminez, and Emily Evans Eerdmans, three gorgeous shots, all related by color. And that color is turquoise.

I feel even better now that the pot came home with me.

Another shopping opportunity

I'm probably late to the party on this, but I just discovered OneKingsLane.com. Much like Gilt, only for home furnishings. On Saturdays they have "Tastemaker Tag Sales," and today's was Bunny Williams.

Prices were obscenely high even at half off, but I thought the above pictured hand-forged saw horses were supremely cool. Retailing for $2900 and sold for $1429, its a game I'll never be able to play. Still, it's entertaining to look. It also sent me scrambling to eBay where there was nothing even remotely similar to be found.

I signed up and got right on, but I do see that there's an invitation mechanism too, so if you can't get in and you'd like to shoot me an email (davidallen1967@gmail.com) and I'll send you an invite.

In praise of summer TV

I love (some) summer TV. My favorite summer show of all time starts next week!

We also enjoy

I've picked my pony and will be rooting like hell for adorable 18 year old Kent Boyd.

If the dancing thing doesn't work out I have some ideas on how he can still achieve fame and fortune. Looking at the photo above I wonder if the show stylists aren't thinking the same thing. Either way, he was first out of the chute on tonight's contestant introduction show and performed beautifully. Fingers crossed.

Metal of Order

I mentioned buying a metal box at the monthly Bottoms Up! antique sale Saturday after the big sale at Nell Hills, and tonight I realized I hadn't posted a picture. So when I went into the kitchen to grab it to shoot, what was sitting there with it but the metal basket I bought at the Sparks show just before Memorial Day.

The dealer at Sparks told me it was a crab basket. Being a midwestern boy I have no idea if that's true or not, but it's round and metal and in good shape which was enough for me.

I love metal and steel, and have a bit of a thing for baskets, especially metal ones. I also love a bit of industrial salvage, which I'm certain that heavy handled box is. And finally I've started putting some things to use to do some organizing around here.

A pair of metal locker baskets I've had for ages were perfect for holding hand towels and wash cloths in our old steel medical cabinet right outside the bathroom in our new bedroom. The new box and basket will be ready for our next organizing effort.

Also, how nice it is to take a shot of things in a clean, new room rather than the sickly yellow paint covering most every other room in this house.