Twelve sheets of drywall and 2 pieces of plywood were brought in today. Must mean its time for new walls! Pete and Papa K carried everything up 3 flights of narrow stairs.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Best money spent
The best $80 we've spent - a shop vac. Sucks up everything! The super cleaner.
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| Mama K with her brilliant idea! |
Countertop Conundrum
What granite do you like?
We can't decide between the two granites shown below. The color schemes are a little different, as are the styles. We are looking to preserve the Victorian style (to a degree). The granite must also go with bright white cabinets, dark chocolate/black wood floors and stainless steel appliances.
Do we go with a browner style with lots of movement? Or a more muted, uniform silvery granite?
Granite A:
A cream base with hints of bright white, veins of brown/black and flecks of silver. This granite has a lot of movement with defined veins of darker color.
We can't decide between the two granites shown below. The color schemes are a little different, as are the styles. We are looking to preserve the Victorian style (to a degree). The granite must also go with bright white cabinets, dark chocolate/black wood floors and stainless steel appliances.
Do we go with a browner style with lots of movement? Or a more muted, uniform silvery granite?
Granite A:
A cream base with hints of bright white, veins of brown/black and flecks of silver. This granite has a lot of movement with defined veins of darker color.
Granite B:
A white base with flecks of gray, brown and black. The granite is uniform and not too busy. It is a medium tone. 
What do you think? A or B? And, what back splash would you choose to go with it?
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Summer is a verb
There were two defining factors in our search for a home in Boston – money and location.
The cost of living adjustment from downtown St. Louis to downtown Boston is 45% - however, our experience leans toward an even greater divide. Pete and I started our search in the South End, Boston’s equivalent to Washington Ave in St. Louis; an up and coming, trendy neighborhood with great restaurants and in the heart of Boston. However, the search quickly ended.
It is truly a depressing moment when parking spots are turning up in a property search. And, after spending all of our money on a parking spot, I’m not sure how living out of our Jeep would work.
We found that in downtown Boston, you get half the square footage for more than double the cost per square foot and it comes with no parking, no storage and prepare yourself for something old. To this day, I’m still trying to figure out who can afford $1,000 a square foot. And, while I love Pete, we weren’t prepared to live in 350 square feet. So the search was widened and it was time to seek professional help.
During our first meeting, our realtor asked us a defining and life changing question - “where do you want to summer?”
“Summer?” I've never known summer to be a verb.
In the northeast it means where you have your summer home – the North Shore (the shoreline north of downtown Boston up to Maine) or the South Shore (the shoreline south of the city that extends to the Cape).
Often families even live in that home and grunt the longer commutes to work. Or at least, you spend every weekend at your home during the summer. Northeasterners leave early on Fridays (or work from home on Fridays) to beat the traffic over the bridges to the Cape, make a ferry time to Martha’s Vineyard or head north to the coast of Maine. Every weekend.
So deciding where you'll "summer" is important - it will dictate whether your permanent residence should be north or south of the city - obviously - silly, midwesterners.
While I’m not sure I would be opposed to a mini vacation each week, for now, adjusting to the cost of living is enough for us to manage.
The cost of living adjustment from downtown St. Louis to downtown Boston is 45% - however, our experience leans toward an even greater divide. Pete and I started our search in the South End, Boston’s equivalent to Washington Ave in St. Louis; an up and coming, trendy neighborhood with great restaurants and in the heart of Boston. However, the search quickly ended.
It is truly a depressing moment when parking spots are turning up in a property search. And, after spending all of our money on a parking spot, I’m not sure how living out of our Jeep would work.
We found that in downtown Boston, you get half the square footage for more than double the cost per square foot and it comes with no parking, no storage and prepare yourself for something old. To this day, I’m still trying to figure out who can afford $1,000 a square foot. And, while I love Pete, we weren’t prepared to live in 350 square feet. So the search was widened and it was time to seek professional help.
During our first meeting, our realtor asked us a defining and life changing question - “where do you want to summer?”
“Summer?” I've never known summer to be a verb.
In the northeast it means where you have your summer home – the North Shore (the shoreline north of downtown Boston up to Maine) or the South Shore (the shoreline south of the city that extends to the Cape).
Often families even live in that home and grunt the longer commutes to work. Or at least, you spend every weekend at your home during the summer. Northeasterners leave early on Fridays (or work from home on Fridays) to beat the traffic over the bridges to the Cape, make a ferry time to Martha’s Vineyard or head north to the coast of Maine. Every weekend.
So deciding where you'll "summer" is important - it will dictate whether your permanent residence should be north or south of the city - obviously - silly, midwesterners.
While I’m not sure I would be opposed to a mini vacation each week, for now, adjusting to the cost of living is enough for us to manage.
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| North Shore |
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| South Shore |
Thursday, November 25, 2010
A Day of Thanks
Today is a day of giving thanks ... and I have a lot of thanking to do. However, I think pictures speak louder than words:
I am thankful for all of the time I get to spend with Papa K and Osa and for my family's willingness to help us transform our new home. Thank you!
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| Look! He's still working with a smile. |
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| Pete putting his good supervising skills to work. |
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| A Hitler mustache of black dust was just one indication of what she was inhaling ... before the mask. |
Monday, November 22, 2010
They call him "The Rag Man"
Like Napoleon Dynamite's liger, a mythical creature bred for its skills in magic, The Rag Man too seems too good to be real. He shows up whenever you need him, he cleans up after Papa K, carries the debris and old appliances down three flights of stairs and recycles everything. The old appliances are donated, the wood gets ground up into mulch for parks, the metal pipes and wires go to the scrap yard and the sheet rock finds a home somewhere too.
In return, The Rag Man only expects fair compensation, a case of beer and a few fist bumps along the way ... well worth it!
Oh yeah, he's also Papa K's new BFF!
WHY WASTE? Green Hauling
Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
One third of the budget down
Who knew cabinets were so expensive? I certainly didn't expect to be spending one third of our budget on something so necessary and functional. Where's the fun in that?
After hours of HGTV, countless design catalogs and an annoying number of "oooo another white kitchen" - a decision has been made.
Make: Kraftmaid
Model: Hartwell
Wood: Maple
Color: White
And to think, we went into this with black cabinets in mind.
No turning back ...
After hours of HGTV, countless design catalogs and an annoying number of "oooo another white kitchen" - a decision has been made.
Make: Kraftmaid
Model: Hartwell
Color: White
And to think, we went into this with black cabinets in mind.
No turning back ...
What's wrong with this picture?
- I'm working
- Someone trusts me with a crowbar
- The contractor has gone missing ...
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