Windsor Terrace Reno

« Kitchen Progress Heats Up Happy Accidents and Other Progress »

January 23, 2008

Little things

As the kitchen gets fine tuned, no other major transformations have taken place this week. There have been a series of small tasks being crossed off that give me great joy. Sometimes the little things make a big difference. As much for the thing itself as for the reminder we are getting closer to the finish line.

This first thing isn't really that small but its getting lumped into the small miracles list.

When we bought the house, one of the first things we noticed was that the bench in the parlor hallstand was broken and its other "leg" was no where to be found. We discussed this with our architect as well as the various contractors we interviewed and all manner of repair solutions were suggested. Despite a few very good ideas, I still really wanted a matching pair of phoenix in the house. So I was quite shocked when our contractor told us he could have a copy of the remaining leg made. We didn't hold out much hope and figured whatever came back would likely be a poor imitation of the original.

But one day we noticed that the hallstand had been repaired during the days work! And not only was it repaired but the phoenix carving had a beautiful match. If I didn't look closely, I would be hard pressed to know which one was new! I was seriously impressed. I have no clue where our contractor found someone to do the carving (he later told us it wasn't easy) nor do I care too much. Im just happy it was done so well. Can't wait to see this baby painted.

Back on to the "little" things list, our doorbell got installed. Doesn't it look purdy?

I will say that Im a little annoyed that the button part doesn't light up. I assumed the plastic button was there because its illuminated. Evidently it was just a cheapo button on a the brass fixture. So annoying.

The faucets in our master bathroom got installed.

Can you sense a theme here? I like shiny things. :)

The corbels were installed in the ceiling divide between dining room and kitchen. Its a small detail but I think it adds a nice texture and a whisper of interest to a really boxy room.

And finally our dining room and living room light fixtures got installed. Two chandeliers and two sets of sconces now in place.

Woo-hoo.

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Comments

Very impressive, all in all. Amazing to see your renovation move ahead in such a complete, timely fashion (way beyond my experience of slowly working through 20 years of projects as we can afford them).

Posted by: guest at January 23, 2008 7:18 PM

Thanks guest. We did a slow piecemeal reno in our last house over 10 years. Its a lot less stressful in terms of emotional toll if not financial. But we didn't have the luxury of doing things slowly here since the condition of the house was so bad to start. After this is over, Im hoping I won't have to see another powertool or sawdust pile for at least a decade. :)

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 23, 2008 7:55 PM

can you tell me where you ordered corbels? I'm having some issue finding narrow ones (are they wood? fiberglass?)

thanks

Posted by: guest at January 23, 2008 10:55 PM

I ordered the corbels from www.architecturaldepot.com

They sell wood, urethane and resin corbels. Ours are not wood but I don't remember if they are urethane or resin.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 24, 2008 10:37 AM

Ok, I looked them up. They are urethane and cost $48.75 each. The name of the style is "Lucia".

I can't remember if architectural depot had the best prices on these but we also ordered our medallions from them so they had the best total pricing.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 24, 2008 11:15 AM

Wow, everything looks so beautiful. I'm kind of new to this site, so if you've already covered this I apologize--but how long did it take you to find your house? It looks like you got a really great one with excellent bones and loads of detail.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 3:15 PM

Beautiful and inspiring! Would you please tell me where you found the chandeliers and if they are new or old? Thanks!

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 4:19 PM

Thanks guest@315. It would be hard to tell you how long it took to find our house since we weren't really actively looking when we found this one. We lived in the neighborhood for years, watched the real estate listings out of curiousity and then stumbled upon this.

The chandelier in the dining room was purchased from an antique store in NJ. The one in the living room was purchased from Lamp Doctor on Coney Island Avenue. Both are old.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 24, 2008 4:56 PM

Argh! Keeping up with you Mrs. L is a real task! So many ideas to steal - so little time! Again - greatly done - Argh!

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 8:33 PM

Mrs Limestone

Thank you again for sharing your house with us! You have great taste!

Question, would you mind telling me what faucet this is (in the pictures). I was looking for something like that to put on a Kohler Memoir sink.

Thank you!!

Posted by: hollander at January 26, 2008 10:20 AM

thanks again.

Hollander - the faucet is from restoration hardware. Newport Brass is the manufacterer. I believe all their bath stuff is on 20% sale right now.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 26, 2008 7:05 PM