Kitchen Calm Blue

What a difference a $20 can of paint can make! The challenge here was to find a color (uh, not beige) that would go with the wood cabinets, copper tile, bronze-colored appliances, beige counter tops and burnt orange carpet. I wanted to go to the cool end of the spectrum. I wanted something bold and bright, but calming. The little curtain/valances were something I had from my old house and just happened to not only go with the paint color, but actually pulls everything together. Until I can get around to completely redoing the kitchen, I really like what my small investment in paint and time has done. I'm thinking I've brought this kitchen right on up to the 90s!

Deflowering the Kitchen

I was going to wait. Really I was. But then one evening, waiting for my tea water to boil, I picked at a little corner. Just to see what was underneath. It was idle curiosity. Next thing I know, I'm peeling the orange wallpaper off of the kitchen. Thing is, it's vinyl so it neatly and easily comes off in complete sheets. Not to say that it doesn't leave residue and not to say that there isn't still the old wallpaper beneath, but it was just soooo satisfying. Getting rid of the old, feeling like I was doing something constructive (yet hopefully temporary) to update the kitchen. Frankly, I found the shiny 70s flowery stuff pretty oppressive. Once done, the room actually felt bigger. Maybe it was just me. Here are some pictures of the deflowering in progress. I've already started to paint too - pictures to follow.

Wallpaper Archeology

When I started to peel the kitchen wallpaper, I naturally exposed the layer beneath. The floral paper that came with the kitchen (at the left in the photo) was probably put up in the 70s. The paper underneath has a distinctly French feel and, I think, is from the 50s. Maybe even the 40s. I love how the color palettes are pretty much the same. The beige areas are the backing paper from the vinyl flower stuff. I haven't found anything underneath these even though the house is from 1911. I do have more than a passing wonder about the people who picked out these papers and lived with them for so many years.

Today's Reality Check: Child Labor

"Sweatshop boys: Twenty years after the U.N. adopted a treaty guaranteeing children's rights, Bangladeshi kids are still working in factories like this balloon workshop in Kamrangir Char. While fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school, an estimated 1 billion still lack essential services."

Photo: Pavel Rahman / AP

Chilly Basement Bathroom

To the left is the bathroom in the basement. This is actually after I clean it up. There were several colors of paint, rusty pipes, wall needing patching, etc. I've painted all the walls (in the rest of the basement too) and pipes one color so - I tell myself - it looks industrial, not just crappy. The color is actually a warm beige, depends on the light though.

This is right outside my studio/office and is currently the only shower in the house. In other words, I use this bathroom a lot. For some reason, the builders of this facility couldn't see their way clear to actually putting the wall all the way to the ceiling. Therefore, when you shower all the heat is gone by the time you step out. This is in the basement and it's November. It's a bit nippy. I needed a cheap, quick, but hopefully not totally unattractive fix for this problem. After much thought of options, I naturally came to draping something. I was hoping for something that wouldn't get yicky too. My cheap solution: a clear shower curtain, sliced up, hole punched and strung on monofilament. I'm happy to report that it works! Because it is accordioned it still lets in some air (good) and light (good), while also keeping the warm air in (also good).

Today's Reality Check

"Manna from heaven: Girls collect sorghum grain spilled from split bags that were airdropped over the village of Pochalla, Sudan. The United Nations World Food Program has resumed food airdrops into remote southern areas for some 155,000 people cut off by poor roads or regional conflicts."

More info about the UNWFP is here.

Photo: Peter Martell / AFP / Getty Images

Today's Laugh

That 50s Bathroom

I don't know if I can say enough about the horror that is the bathroom on the main floor. Let me count the ways: billion year old black laminate; pink sparkly wallpaper (not meant to be ironic), pink plastic tiles; a homemade plywood vanity; a safety bar for a towel rack - with (count 'em) 4 actual towel racks in the tub; the giant, but not very useful medicine cabinet; the buzzing fluorescent light fixture (of the kind found hanging in cheap Chinese restaurants) so great for applying make-up to; the ceramic fishies with gold ceramic bubbles decorating the wall above the tub; and finally, the wooden toilet seat that really brings the whole thing together. The tub itself is a large cast iron thingee that I will have to redecorate around. There isn't a shower - even though there is a shower curtain(?) - and it has this weird little spigot that would be impossible to either take a quick sit-down bath with or actually fill the tub. I have already begun to delaminate. The tub is actually heavily encased in wood. I thought it might be a clawfoot, but I now don't think so. I think the wood is original, as is the laminated rim around the tub. Fortunately, the tub fits end-to-end in the space it's in and I will be able to easily plumb a shower over it. I'm going to tile the tub surround, the face of the tub, and the floor. Add a smaller vanity, a non-tilted toilet*, a real non-buzzing light fixture and some n0n-sparkly paint, a functional medicine cabinet and I will be a much happier camper. If you've got some inspiration for this little room, I'm open to any ideas...

*Yes, I bought the Fun House. Everything has a tilt or angle to it.

Today's Reality Check: 350

"Melted away: For years, Glacier Chacaltaya in the Bolivian Andes was known as the world's highest ski run, but since the mid-90s, it has not had enough snow for skiing. Protesters held a demonstration on the glacier to call attention to climate change."

For information about the importance of 350, visit 350.org.

Photo: Juan Karita / AP

That 70s Kitchen

Ah, the kitchen...
In this case, these pictures really are worth my thousand words. From the orange and yellow floral wallpaper and the stunning valances to the appliances and drop ceiling with plastic panels (I think there are 4 different types!) with buzzing fluorescent lights, this kitchen is a world of wrong in a small space.

Don't forget to take in the burnt orange carpeting - yes, carpet in the kitchen. If the refrigerator looks kind of small, well, it does only measure about 4' tall. We are pretty sure the 40 year old oven has almost never been used as it's shiny clean inside and still has all the attachments. The part that I (really) do love is the copper tiling on the back splashes and I'm thinking any redo will have to retain or reuse them. Unfortunately, it's going to be this way for quite a while. It's pretty far down on my list of things to get done in this house. I'm hoping that a stopgap measure of removing the nausea-inducing wallpaper will hold me for the time being.

Today's Laugh (?)

Sorry, that was as big as I could make it. Click on it to actually be able to read it.

Doing the Floors

I knew that all the floors - beside the kitchen and bath - on the main were hardwood under the carpet. I wanted to have them all refinished before I moved in. If you've ever experienced going through this while living in a house, you know it's not pleasant. Has to happen when you and your stuff aren't there, if possible. Thing was that I couldn't tear up the carpet to let the floor guy check them out until I actually owned the place. I got the keys Thursday afternoon and he came over Friday, so Thursday night I started pulling the carpets. I thought best-case-scenario that he'd be able to start maybe Monday or Tuesday and I'd have the weekend to get the work done. He said he could get a guy in to start on Saturday!! This meant that all the carpet, padding, tack strips and staples needed to be gone by then. Thank goodness for the kindness and brawn of my friend Pete, who came over Friday and busted his ass for several hours helping me get it all done (thankyou! thankyou! thankyou!). Here's a "in progress" pix of pulling the carpets in the LR and DR. The bedroom floors had unfortunately been painted too and will take extra work (and $$) to get fixed, but I've been assured they will be beautiful.