Just In Time For Spring

 The roof deck has been a huge project, taking a couple of weeks to complete, but I can happily say that it is 99% done--just in time for spring.

The first step was to determine which plants would give the most privacy.  

After traipsing around the wholesale nursery with Martin and Jesus, I ended up choosing Thuja bushes for their height and deciduous quality.

Here they are in my courtyard--all 26 of them!

Getting them up on the roof was quite a task.  

They were one by one hoisted up with a rope and pulley system devised by Martin.

All the trees and all the bags of soil.  

In the pouring down rain! 

I love how they look in the planters, all lined up.

No they don't give complete privacy, but they offer greenery which is seriously lacking in the City.

After the trees were planted, the furniture had to be hoisted up next.

Martin came up with a plan to get the heavy wicker furniture on the deck.

I could barely watch!

It took four men.  Two down below and two on the roof to lift the sofa.

I question a little my decision to reuse the old wicker sofa and chairs.  After all, once the furniture is on the deck, it will probably be there forever!

A more modern look would be a sectional on the deck, but after a year of remodeling this house and hemorrhaging cash, I will make the old furniture work.

 

The wicker will get a fresh coat of paint and maybe new cushions down the road.

(See its transformation a few years ago, using Rustoleum spray paint here.)

Oscar loves being on the deck!

And so does Bear.

I'm really excited to have a new place to hang out too!

Stay tuned for the official roof deck reveal.

Wishing you all a happy Spring!

Blue Velvet Is Not Charcoal

 I've resisted posting lately about our house, simply because it's still a work in progress.

Take for instance the living room.  I thought I had it all figured out ahead of time.

Charcoal gray velvet Chesterfield sofa with two caramel leather club chairs.

Turns out, there really are 50 shades of gray!

 When the charcoal gray sofa arrived, I knew immediately it was wrong.

Does this look charcoal gray to you?

It's blue!

 I tried living with it for a few weeks, but there were just too many things wrong with the sofa besides the color.  It is on wheels--front and back, so that when you sit in it, it rolls backwards and dents my new hardwood floor!  Little cups under the wheels didn't work.  It was like sitting on a skateboard!

Also, it had been wrapped so hard that on one end, the velvet was permanently dented.
Oh, and did I mention how uncomfortable it was to sit on?  Like sitting on plywood!

To make a long story short, the sofa went back.  

And am I lucky that they took it.  

The living room will be empty for a while until I decide what to replace the sofa with.

I'm leaning towards a Chesterfield from Restoration Hardware in a true charcoal gray velvet.

The best part is that it's not on wheels!  

One Vignette At A Time

 I have a system for settling in after moving in to a new home.

Number one.  Do not live with unpacked boxes in the living area.

For instance, I have many more boxes to unpack, but they're in the garage.  

Instead, I focus on creating vignettes.  

 It gives me a sense of accomplishment to decorate and organize a room, one vignette at a time.

When I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers, it motivated me to focus on the bar cart and stage it where before, it was just cluttered after the move.

Each vignette is a work in progress.  The entry looks good right now, but I may move the lamp to another location or find a more suitable place for the framed prints later.  

In the meantime, when we walk into the house, it feels like home.

No boxes to remind me of all the unpacking that's left to do!

In the kitchen, the open shelves are for the most part organized and practical.  

Dinner plates and bowls are within reach, right above the dishwasher.

I try not to think about all the other plates and dishes that I still own, stored somewhere!

There's always room for improvement.

I may or may not rearrange these shelves.

For now, it's all about display, but I've been thinking the lower shelf might be more practical with water glasses within easy reach.

At least the kitchen is pretty much finished.  

I even hung the prints that I purchased two years ago at the Paris Flea Market.

I've known forever that this is where they would live.

The living room seems done, but it's not.

I feel that it's not inviting yet.

 Bear doesn't care.  He loves sleeping in the sun!

And Oscar has claimed the sofa.

I've made a few mistakes in this room, which I'll talk about later.

I need to take this room back from the dogs, but unfortunately, this is where they wait for me when I'm gone.  Think dog hair on the velvet and scratches on those leather chairs....

Instead, I'll focus on creating a vignette for the piano top.

Those photos need to be cohesive with gold frames.

Working on it!

At least the living room smells wonderful, thanks to these Rubrum Lilies.

In the master closet, I finally got some organization done.

I corralled some candles and flowers on the island...

...and created a vignette of my favorite jewelry pieces and photos.

It's all coming together, but I'm taking my time and enjoying being creative again.

I can't wait to reveal more as we finally get more settled.

Coming Up For Air

.

 Well, it happened!

We are officially living in our new house!

I am not quite ready to share yet because there are still boxes everywhere, but here are a few photos leading up to the big move.

Most of the furniture was delivered two days before we moved, like our new leather chairs from Crate and Barrel.

A table from World Market with four chairs from Arhaus completes the little breakfast nook.

The burlap pendent is from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child.

The dining room table is also from Arhaus.

It has two leaves to expand to seat 12.

The appliances were literally delivered two days before we moved too!

Getting the refrigerator up the stairs was scary.

These guys know what they're doing.

Matt, the contractor is holding the outdoor lantern aside with a broomstick!

Febrize, the master carpenter holds the door.  It was quite the effort!

 Meanwhile, the plumber was tweaking stuff.

And still is!

Keith, the "blindman" and his assistant installed the blinds the day before.

He will also fabricate the draperies, as soon as I know what fabric to use!

Now we have some privacy which is so important living in the City.

I love how they turned out!

The atrium is finally finished too.

Michael, the master carpenter just finished the ipe deck the day before our move.

The nautical lights are from Pottery Barn.

 Here's the kitchen before we moved all our stuff in!

The lanterns are from Ballard Designs.

Just down the hall from the kitchen is the master suite.

Blinds are installed and the zebra rug from Pottery Barn is waiting for our bed.

The master bath makes us so happy!

We are loving the heated floors and the water pressure from the rain head shower is to die for!

The week preceding the move, I took numerous trips in the car to bring over clothes and shoes.

I guess I couldn't wait to see it all in the closet!

 Going downstairs from the kitchen is our family room and two guest suites.

Robb, the project manager had the television installed ahead of time.

He also installed the gas fireplace. 

 I found these zinc covered shelves at Anthropologie for over the wet bar.

Not sure what I'm going to put on them yet.

This was a major move for us.  

It was physically exhausting and challenging.  

Yes, we hired movers to move the big stuff, but you know how it is...

You think you have everything until you go back to the old house and there's so much miscellaneous crap!

Eventually, we got it all out of the rental and now it's sitting in our garage.

Time to purge!

I'm hoping to have an estate sale in early spring or just try to sell on the blog.

Any suggestions?

Let There Be Light

When most of the chandeliers and sconces were installed last week, I got a big thrill.

They've been boxed up for far too long, so seeing them all lit up is a big deal.

Especially in the master closet where a small crystal chandelier and seven brass picture lights from Pottery Barn illuminate my favorite room in the house!

Also from Pottery Barn, a crystal chandelier for the master bedroom.

In the living room, I had the electrician wire the cathedral ceiling for a chandelier.

I chose this large, airy French style light from Wisteria.

It's the perfect size.

Also in the living room and dining room, there are these sconces, eight altogether from Aiden Grey.

I topped them with a burlap shade to give them more ooomph.

For 15 months, this chandelier has been packed away.

I insisted on taking it from the old house.

Unfortunately, it's too big for the new dining room.  

Ugh, I planned my whole house around this chandelier!

Not really, but kind of....

Downstairs, in the family room, I found these sconces from Rejuvenation.

Notice the grasscloth?  More on that later...

There's a weird hallway downstairs that I'm planning on turning in to a office

Instead of cans, I installed these hanging pendents from Restoration Hardware.

They tie in with the family room sconces and add warm light to this awkward space.

Last, but not least, I found these nautical brass lights for the atrium.  

They're from Pottery Barn and they resemble a ship's porthole.

I love them, even though they don't exactly match the outside lights around the front and side of the house.

Things are moving along quite fast now.   We should be moved in by mid January.

We better be, because I gave my 30 day notice!