Beach Cottage Renovation Finished!

After my two month hiatus to tend to the Beach Cottage renovation, I have GOT to get back to Textile and Graphic Design.  So that I don't feel like I left everyone in the middle of the road, here are some shots of our finished renovation - that I am just so in love with.  Pictures aren't hung yet, because I can't bear to put holes in the walls yet!  Maybe tomorrow.

The "sewing/create something" room is now totally white.  I took the old kitchen peninsula and made a cutting/pattern table out of it.  And, look at my new window by the sewing machine!

This is what it looked like before:

Big Change, there!

Kitchen all finished!

My yummy new tub, that USED to be my closet!

The mirrors tilt!

Wooden blinds coming tomorrow - do you remember how this looked a month ago?  Yikes!

This was the bathroom on May 24.  What a difference, huh?

 

 

 

 

 So much work, soooo much work.  But I am happy, happy, happy.  And now it is time to get back to Surface Design...graphics, textiles, Illustrator and Photoshop.  In my clean new house!

Cabinet Hinges in a Nutshell...

As promised, here's a quick jot on Cabinet Hinges - not very entertaining, but if you are renovating your kitchen, you are going to run into this.  Took me DAYS to work all this out.

If you are trying to keep your existing cabinets (as I was) you need to know the different styles of cabinet before you go off shopping for hinges.  Here are the two different styles:

You can see that the cabinet on the bottom takes a hard right and hard left when it comes to the front.  The door has to be mounted onto this frame,  determines what choices you have on your hinges.

My cabinets are "Face Frame Cabinets":

My doors sit on top of the Face Frame - they don't go out to the edge, and they aren't centered inside the opening.  They OVERLAY the frame.

So now I knew what kind of hinge configuration I needed...an overlay hinge.  Only an overlay hinge will work in this configuration - not a full or partial inset hinge.  That narrowed the choices considerably.   I wanted little or no hinge visible, and the cabinet maker and job foreman firmly suggested that I go with a European hinge rather than a partial overlay hinge.  The reason?  The good ones are adjustable 3 different ways.  That means you can always go back and loosen the set screws and adjust them if your house settles and the cabinet doors start looking like they aren't on straight!  

So, I used a 5/8" European overlay hinge in brushed nickel.  And, many of the decisions were made for me before I even went shopping...  You can buy these in "Contractor Packs" of 10 at The Home Depot.  Comes out better on the budget that way.

The hinge will be invisible from the outside, allowing my hardware to be the stars of the show!

The reason I had to go with the 5/8" was because my oak frames are what carpenters call "one-by".  That means the frame is 1" by 2".  Only it isn't totally 1" thick - for some reason in this industry, if it says it is 1" thick, it is only 5/8".  That is a mystery I am not willing to spend time on to figure out.

Now, my fairly simple hardware will be the only metal showing on my doors:

Cup pulls for the drawers.

 Okay, I know how boring that was, but trust me, this is info you can use if you are updating your kitchen any time soon.  You won't spend days and days picking out your hinges, and have to return them all because they won't work!

Secrets Of A Successful Coastal Cottage Renovation

Today I was at Home Depot and Lowe's, picking up more materials for the Beach Cottage Renovation, and was thinking about how much I have learned.  There aren't any books out there to tell you the little Secrets to Coastal Cottage Renovation.  I was thinking that I should write a pamphlet, but decided my blog would work, too.  So, here goes.


Rule No. 1:  ALWAYS use a reputable general contractor for Coastal Renovations, one that you know personally if at all possible.  Like this one at Ocean Isle Beach: http://wbpropertiesofnc.com

Examples of work by WB Properties

Coastal communities draw all sorts of folks who have the bright idea to "live at the beach and do some work on the side to support myself".  The work comes 2nd.  The beach comes first.  Always.   Getting Sub-Contractors to finish the job on schedule is almost impossible if the fish are biting or the surf is up.  Know what I mean? You need a General Contractor who is mean as a snake to get those guys back off the water and on the job.

Rule No. 2:  KNOW the language and vocabulary of your coastal home and lifestyle.  This way, the millions of choices out there will shrink to a handful, and you will always know you are "in the zone" when choosing paint, hardware, and architectural details.  Be authentic to your vocabulary, and you can't go wrong.

You just know from the exterior of this Coastal home what the interior is like - it has to be Tuscan in flavor.

The color of the exterior, the tile, and the architecture all say that the interior should be Tuscan in vocabulary - that means earthy rusty oranges, olive greens, reds, and yellow tones, with oil-rubbed bronze, natural wood, and a huge stone tiled kitchen area that opens out to an expansive patio with an outdoor kitchen.

See the earthy greens, oranges, and golds?

This Mission/Prairie style Coastal home says that you will NOT  find hot  pink, lime green, and flamingoes in the bathroom:

This is the Coastal Living Idea House for 2009.

 Instead, you will find granite counter tops with black flecks, oil-rubbed bronze hardware, white kitchen cabinets, and lots of built-in shelving and ceiling work.   Pretty much Prairie-Style, but with creamy whites lifting it up to a Coastal Look.

Looks like this:

Or this:

And then, there's the Coastal Style that is best portrayed at this blogspot that I found about a month ago - Lime in the Coconut

This photo just says it all - very saturated color, ethnic influences in the decor, and an easy/breezy lifestyle with the focus on Mediterranean/Florida Keys flavor.

The back of the house probably has a patio/deck that looks like this:

See what I'm talking about?  You INSTANTLY know what belongs in these homes, and all the other bazillion choices just drop by the wayside.  That's the vocabulary that you choose, and you just take it and run with it.  Easy, yes?


Next post:  The nuts and bolts of ceramic tile and cabinet hinges.

Beach Cottage Renovation - Half Way!

I'm so excited by the progress made this week - just look at my new stairs!

 No more clumsy man-handling of the vacuum, no more worn path up the middle!  These will get a clear coat, just like the floor.  We'll see how slippery they are - could be a runner has to be put in place, but I hope not.

And, look at my new peninsula and cabinets:

The new vent hood is just visible over to the upper right - when the HVAC guys hooked it up, they stated that it would, indeed, lift the hair on my head when I turn it on.  That is just so perfect for the seared tuna, crab boils, grilled whatever, and flash-sauteed mahi-mahi that will continue to get cooked in this kitchen.  Only now, the whole house won't smell like dinner for 12 hours!

The refrigerator nook is finished except for the doors and painting...

There will be a pantry on the right hand side, and a pull-out pantry on the upper left.  Lots of storage.

See how the refrigerator is just inching over, trying to sneak into her new room?  She's going to be SO HAPPY there, no more grease splattering on her from the stove.  And, I settled on my paint colors, and wound up with a Valspar collection for the whole house - yummy sea oat, sand, and puffy white cloud colors.  Should be great with the new black Kitchen Island:

Got this at: http://www.tradewindsfurniture.com/Gallery/RJCD/RJ500_TuscanyBarIsland.html before I sold the store.

Monday, the floor should be finished in husband's office (no more carpet there, either), and the cabinets should be installed in the bathroom.  I took a picture in there, but it is still a jumble of studs and exposed plumbing.  I'm so excited, though!

Now, I'm off to New York to the Surtex Market - here is a link so you can see what it is all about:

http://www.surtex.com  

and also the National Stationery Show: http://www.nationalstationeryshow.com

so that I can check out what everyone is doing in the textile, paper goods, and home accent design arena.  Not to mention a little sight-seeing, eating fabulous food, and shopping.  I'll report when I get back!

Consider Twice, Cut Once...Thanks, Mom!

When I was three, my Mom & Dad gave me a tiny, crank-wheel sewing machine for Christmas.  My Mom was always sewing up a storm on her Singer Sewing Machine, and I was perpetually underfoot, begging her to let me at it.  So they bought me that little pink machine, and the lessons began.  The first thing she taught me was to consider my finished piece in my mind - "see" it in my imagination made up and totally done, and then work backwards to figure out how to cut and assemble my material.  

Those lessons have been invaluable, and have followed me all through life - not just for sewing, but for anything that has to be brought out of my imagination and turned into a real object.  Watching the cabinet crew working today, I realized that they work the same way...they study the space something has to fit into, visualize the finished room, and then after measuring and pondering some more, they cut and assemble.  Here they are in action:

They HAVE to figure out how to trim out these windows without using "trim".

 We're replacing 28 year-old wallpaper (Ugh) with bead board, and the space is too small to put a slice of bead board in.  And, it has to look good when they're finished.  Check out Daniel with the tape:

Then, whispering the measurement to himself, and holding the picture in his mind, he races down to the saw to cut out a part of the pattern:

This work station only works when it's not raining!

 I can assure you that when he comes back with this piece, it will fit perfectly.

In the bathroom, the same thing happened this morning as another team member started to build our new linen closet and vanity:

You probably can't see it, but his tongue is sticking out to help in concentrating...

He's working in the chaos of the old bedroom, but he can already "see" the linen closet installed in the bathroom, where there are only cut wires, partial plumbing stubs, and old insulation right now.

It REALLY makes me want to get back to my studio and make something - and it REALLY makes me remember my Mom as Mother's Day approaches.  What a great teacher she was, to pass that tricky but powerful lesson on to me.  Thanks, Mom!