Thursday, May 30, 2013

Open House - Sunday June 2nd, 11 - 3 pm


$399,000
26 Coolidge Ave, SoPo
4 Bedrooms/ 3 Full Baths
2019 Sq Ft
Double Lot - .26 Acres


We're frantically finishing the last few details, but will have everything done in time for the Open House this Sunday from 11-3.  This is a wonderful house and we can't wait to show it off!

The kitchen is amazing.  It's truly the heart of the home, located right in the middle of this open concept floor plan.  Everything is new - except for the hand hewn, antique beams that we added to the ceiling.



 The living room has a gas fireplace, built in bookshelves and a large double window with southern exposure, for lots of light!

The Master Suite has lots of space and includes a walk in closet and a beautifully appointed master bath.

 There are 3 additional bedrooms - 2 on the second floor and another on the first floor


The upstairs hall bath has a double sink and lots of storage space with the large vanity and a separate linen closet.


There is also a family room with sliders to the large backyard, a study/office and an oversized one car garage.  I'm only sharing the photos from the rooms that are complete - there will be more to come in the next few days.

If you're local, please stop by, we'd love to meet you!!


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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Master Suite - Complete!


This is typically where I show 'before & after' photos of a finished room.  But, because the entire second floor is new construction, there really isn't a 'before' to show.  And while we love old houses, new construction provides the perfect opportunity to create a full Master Suite - something that you don't usually find in this neighborhood.

With it's south/west exposure, this room gets lots of light.  It's a large room, with space for a queen or king sized bed.











The walk in closet has a built in storage system along one wall and room for lots of hanging clothes on the opposite side.





















The master bath features a marble mosaic floor, dual flush toilet for water efficiency, and a shower system with built in bench.



What do you think?  Will this appeal to a potential buyer?  

Resources:

Vanity:  Home Decorator's Collection
Vanity Mirror:  Pottery Barn
Sconce:  Restoration Hardware
Shower Doors:  Maax
Shower Fixtures:  Toto & Moen
Bedding:  Pottery Barn Katherine





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Monday, May 27, 2013

And......the First Room is Done!

You guessed it.  Once again, the first room that got completed is the upstairs, hall bath.  Bathrooms are just easier!  No furniture, just decorative accessories :-)

We love how this bathroom came out.  It's a good sized room - 5 x 13, with a double sink vanity and additional storage cabinet.















The floor is carerra marble with mosaic inset.  The tub walls are subway tile, with a carerra and glass border - to jazz it up a little bit.








My favorite feature - this Restoration Hardware glass towel bar.  Is that cool, or what??

So, what do you think?



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Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Finish Line is in Sight!

With each of our projects, we go through months of mess, decision overload and extended schedules.  There's always a point in the project when it just doesn't seem like it will ever be done.

And then, suddenly, we turn a corner and it all starts to come together.  This past week we hit some big milestones and had that 'ah-ha' moment.  Here are a couple of the highlights:

-  The brick porch steps got repointed and they look like new.  The guys got rid of the 2x4 supports and installed new columns.   With the punch of red on the front door, the new porch is really making a statement on the front of the house!



-  The last of the tile is grouted and it's all complete.  We used some different patterns and designs in this house and love how they look.
Glass and marble mini mosaic


















Shower in Master Bath
-  Getting rid of the naked light bulbs that were hanging out of the ceiling was a big step.  The team from Elldee Electric got all our fixtures installed.  I do love light fixtures!!!!  And these are pretty distinctive, what do you think?

Library Sconce - Restoration Hardware



Island Fixture - Restoration Hardware
Steve's installing the Pottery Barn rustic fixture
So we're not at the finish line yet, but we're getting close!  We have a few more items on the punch list and will start staging soon!
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Friday, May 17, 2013

Can This Vanity be Saved?

When we bought this house, my first thought was this vanity had to go.  Orange formica, mismatched doors, and an unusual shape.  Didn't seem like a keeper.

But as we got into the project and I looked closely at the bathroom, I realized this tired old vanity makes excellent use of space.   If we put a modern vanity in, it would be too deep and you couldn't comfortably walk past it.  And this one has lots of storage and lots of all important counter space.  So....... we decided to save it.

The talented team from Waterhouse Builders made new, all matching doors.  We had a custom shaped granite countertop made (love that rounded edge on the front), new sink and hardware, and voila!  It's practically brand new.

So what do you think?

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Our Longest, Most Complicated Milestone is Done - Gas Heat!

At long last, we have gas heat!  Gone is the antique furnace, metal ductwork, brick chimney and the oil tank.  But it was quite a journey!

We submitted all of our paperwork to convert this property to natural gas back in October.  We got approved in November.  And then we waited for the spring thaw.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally, in April, we got the hookup.  And in May they came out and inspected and gave us the approval to fire up the new furnace.



Look at our tiny new boiler!!!
So, it took 7 months, miles of PEX, and all new radiators...... but we finally have gas, baseboard heat.  And our new, suitcase sized furnace is up and running (remember, this is Maine, we still have cold nights!)
















Best of all, we got rid of the antique, oil fired hot air furnace!  Over the course of the winter, I developed some expertise on troubleshooting this thing.  It typically stopped working at least once a week.  So believe me, I'm not sorry to see it go!  It will also be nice to get rid of all those big metal ducts that criss-crossed through the basement ceiling.

Farewell to the old furnace!
And, I know, it's odd to be excited about cold nights in May, but we're supposed to have lows near freezing this weekend.  And I can't wait to see how the new furnace works!!

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Monday, May 6, 2013

The Trials and Tribulations of Paint - But What a Difference it Makes!

Our open floor plan is all painted!  
Sigh......it doesn't seem like painting should be so hard.  Pick a color, slap it up on the wall, & done!  Right?  Well, it's not quite that easy.

Challenge 1:  Picking the paint palette.  With the fabrics, carpeting and artwork as our guide, we picked one color for the main living area, another for the bedrooms and a 3rd for the hallway bathroom.  Because this house is going on the market, we wanted something neutral, but with enough color so the beautiful new moldings we've installed will 'pop'!

Sherwin Williams 'Rice Grain'
The bedrooms are going to be painted a Sherwin Williams color called Rice Grain.  It's a creamy beige, with a lot of warmth.  The perfect backdrop for all our furnishings.

The main living space, however, was supposed to be Sherwin Williams Softer Tan.  It looked great on the paint chip, great with the cream colored cabinets and all our fabric choices.   But, when we painted the test sample in the kitchen next to our new cabinets, it just looked drab and muddy ( Of course, that's why we always buy a sample to try in our lighting, on our walls!)  So, back to the drawing board.

Several years ago, we lived in a house with walls painted a beautiful soft green/gray/beige.  I know, it seems odd to call it three colors at once, but as the light shifted in the room, the color constantly seemed to change.  I LOVED the color, but it didn't match any color chips on my pile of paint decks and we never learned what the color was.  But, when we did some remodeling, I kept a piece of painted drywall, because I knew I wanted to use the color again.

Fast forward several years and I whipped out my tired piece of drywall and took it to my friends at Sherwin Williams.  They mixed it up for me and I named it 'Cream of Celery Soup' (does anyone still eat Cream of Celery Soup anymore?  My mother always used it to make casseroles when I was growing up!  Hmmm.....does anyone even make casseroles anymore?).

I put up the sample and it looked beautiful!!!  With the same color shifting qualities I remembered from our old house.  And a nice neutral backdrop for everything else.  Hooray - we're ready for the painters!

Challenge 2:  Color Consistency.   The folks from Backman Painting got right to work priming the walls and ceilings.  Next, they did a fantastic job spraying all the doors and molding to create a fabulous, flawless finish.  Remember our nice new fireplace surround and mantle?  What do you think, now that it's all caulked and painted.  Isn't it beautiful?















Next step was the wall color.  The Rice Grain color in the bedrooms looks beautiful.
Master Bedroom - front view

Master Suite
Repainting the Stairwell
But I couldn't wait for them to start the Cream of Celery Soup.  I left the house for a meeting, just as they were starting.  When I got back a couple of hours later, imagine my surprise to find a very dark hallway.  Somehow, my light, bright Cream of Celery paint had morphed into a much deeper shade.  Yikes, the paint store sent the wrong color!  Now the guys had to repaint - and of course they had done the trickiest part, the stairwell walls.  But first, a trip back to the paint store, to get the right color.

They quickly finished the rest of the space and all the details (and enjoyed a little bit of our nice spring weather!).

The Result:  Beautiful!  With the right paint, the rooms have really come together and the paint now highlights the molding, antique beams, cabinets and trim throughout the house.


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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Master Bath - From Plan to Reality....Almost!

All the elements of the master bath are finally nearing completion!

The floor is in - a travertine basket weave with a mosaic border.  I love how this came out!!!  It might be my favorite feature of the house.










The shower is still a work in progress.  The plumbing is in and tile is finished, but the glass doors and faucet assembly still need to be installed.



We hope to get the vanity hooked up this week - it's a sort of transitional-traditional style with a marble top and undermount sink.  And I can't wait for these beautiful sconces to get installed.

Restoration Hardware - Bistro Sconce
Finally, we'll add a gleaming faucet and a Pottery Barn pivot mirror.

We hope to have it all pulled together in a couple of weeks.....can't wait to see how it comes together!

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