Sage Advice on Toilets

The in-laws popped in yesterday and lent us some very important advice on toilets. This all started when our very practical Irish plumber said that we were not allowed to consider buying a toilet and sink at Home Depot. This was sad news to me because I had settled on this nice Kohler set that was going to cost less than $300 for both. He said that what the Depot carries is the bottom of the line Kohler and that if we didn't want to be replacing our toilet in the next year, we needed to consider investing in something nicer. This makes perfect sense, but so much for my bargain shopping.

I shared the plumber's thoughts with the in-laws and they could not agree more. They had a tenant in their house that seemed to call them almost weekly with tales of clogged toilets. The strange thing was that the in-laws never had any issues when they occupied that house with four growing children, but these tenants seemed to be having issues constantly. I still wonder about what kinds of things her youngsters (or her, why am I blaming the children?) were putting down the toilets to cause such problems. I also wonder about her inability to use a plunger. Regardless, the in-laws are a big fan of the super duper all-mighty strong power flush to minimize any problemos down the road. Their top recommendation is Toto which I think is also known for being quiet (obviously a great feature in a studio apartment). I like the Promenade featured above.

Photos from Toto.com

Floors and Drywall

I had the drywall guy out to give me an estimate this morning. I think it was pretty reasonable. He says it will take about a week to do the 500 sq foot studio. The hardwood floor guy came out to give me an estimate this morning too. He gave me what I think is a pretty reasonable price for a completely finished floor. He'll supply the wood, lay it down and stain it whatever color we want. And he'll do the perimeter border upstairs for the different rooms which I'm really excited about. It will take about 1.5 weeks to do the studio floors.

I want to go pretty light for the studio since the ceilings are low. The top pic floors are super light. I like how the plank width varies. The bottom pic is definitely darker, but I think it still might work for downstairs. That door is almost exactly like the door we have down there. Those windows, however, do not resemble our window. The flooring that I really want is from Reclaim Home. It's old barn wood that's been hand scraped. Gorgeous. No VOCs in the stain, etc. Super expensive though. Over $10 sq ft just for the wood. No installation. Should the planks go vertical or horizontal down the length of the studio? I don't know the answer to this question.

I really want to go darker with a wider plank upstairs. I love dark floors with high ceilings. We have amazing tall Victorian ceilings, so I think we can pull it off. Some day I want to do a parquet chevron in another house. I love those.

This appears to be a good time to hire people. They all seem to be available immediately which is kind of amazing and a little sad.

Photos from Elle Decor

Why We Live in San Francisco

70+ degrees today. I heard it was -37 degrees in Fargo. A record low.

Project Manager & Hostess

There is nothing more exciting for either Miss Lucy or myself than having multiple workmen here at the same time. Today, there are three trucks in the driveway: 2 electricians and the plumber. Phase 1 of the plumbing should be complete today. The inspector is coming out this afternoon. The electrician started this morning. Yippee!

Our project manager/hostess is forever excited by their activities and continually greets the boys each time they go in and out of the front door. She takes her hostessing duties very seriously and always has her duckie or pink hippo in her mouth. She knows what they are doing every minute of the day. Luckily, all the boys all seem to be dog people and are quite happy to have her greet them each and every time. Here she is in her perch by the front door ready to greet her next visitor.

Inside Out

Where, oh, where has this amazing magazine been all my life? I'll tell you where it's been: Australia. I found Inside Out at Borders last night and fell instantly in love. I'm such a such a nut for wrought iron anything and then that pink claw foot tub was just too much. My favorite though was actually the concrete kitchen in the last pic. I normally am not a big fan of this trend, but I think it's really chic here. I remember now Jodi telling me that concrete everything was really big in New Zealand a couple of years ago. After all the concrete we've removed over the years, all I can think about it is the cost of disposing of it at the dump once that trend is over...

Photos all from Inside Out

The Greening (or graying) Is Complete

It's hard to believe, but the greening is done! It's kind of funny when I look at these pics because it doesn't look very green at all with all the baby plants and river rock. But that's our sweet little urban garden at the top and our neighbor's garden below it. That's crushed granite in between the curb and our little garden. It's required so that people don't trip when they get out of their cars. The trouble is that when it's dry it resembles cat litter. It was christened by a delightful ferrol kitty in the neighborhood last night. I'm thinking the river rocks will be a nice deterrent pooping dogs. We shall see, won't we?

Now we need to plant the area in front of the studio or at least plan for it. It's a tiny little space as you can see. I've been delaying it with all the work going on as I didn't want it to get trampled. I'm thinking a nice bright Bougainvilla along the fence and then a thicker little hedge right up against the fence to create a little bit more of a barrier from passers-by, but not taller than the fence. We'll figure this out in the Spring. In the meantime, 'tis the season to trim back all the roses in the backyard.

Lighting Plan

The top pic shows what the original floor plan was like downstairs. The bottom shows what the lighting and new floor plan looks like downstairs. The first third of the space is the eating/kitchen area. The second third is the living area where you'd put a sofa and tv and the final third at the back is the bedroom. It will all be recessed lighting since the ceilings are on the low side.