from the vault...

the time: January someteenth

the place: Stanley Bathroom Fixtures, Brooklyn

the mood: crazy

the reason: Olga, Mom & I were sent on an emergency mission to acquire all of our bathroom vanities and fixtures so the plumbers could install the pipes in the correct locations.  

it was a Sunday.  We were all in the clutches of an evil feverish flu.  

good times.

p.s. they tried to install the vanities today.  the plumbers messed up and installed all the pipes way too low.  I guess they never decided to measured the vanities.  a$$holes.

Countertops!!!!

Our countertops have finally been installed!  We absolutely LOVE them!  Here's the funny story behind them:

So...  When we first started looking for countertops we thought it would be super hip and modern to have stainless steel with an integrated sink.  This option proved to be  A: hard to find, and B: out of our budget.  We then moved on to the thoughts of Silestone (a manmade quartz product) but that too was a bit overpriced for what you were getting and still not quite what we wanted.

Completely flabbergasted after looking at what seemed to be thousands of samples of silestone, caesarstone, zodiac, granite, concrete, stainless steel, recycled paper resin and highly polished fossilized dinosaur dung - (ok, I made that last one up) - Olga decided that we should, nay, MUST go to a granite yard to look for a slab "that speaks to us."  I thought this was some sort of new-age weirdo type of suggestion and logically thought that, between trips to every counter top installer and counter top website, we MUST have seen EVERY type of hard surface on top of which to chop, dice, wipe, and repeat.  Finally, after avoiding the trip to the granite yard for the 5th time or so, I said "Olga!  What do you expect to find?!?  Some sort of crazy ALIEN granite from outer space that we've never seen before?!?!"

Well...  thats exactly what we found.  Here are the pictures:

it's called "Black Morgan" aka "Black Marinace"

take one part river bed, one part petrified sand, add a million tons of pressure and bake for a few millions years.  just take out a slice or two, cut and polish, and viola!  alien granite!  and yes, Olga, you were right... again.

here is the granite for the wet bar, it's called "Kashmir White."  It's actually more of a grey with little flecks of mica and some red stone.  it's hard to do it justice with pictures.

our cool metal ball fan.  reminds me of "Phantasm"

our elusive bamboo treads.  they are a contrasting "strand woven carbonized" finish.  I'll post more pics of these later.

thanks for visiting and check back soon. We plan on blogging a lot in the coming weeks!

-Sean and Olga

Almost almost there!!!

"How's the house?  When are you moving in?  You're not moved in YET?  What's the deal?!?!"

Well, this is the deal.  Our monthly blog.  As the title says and the pictures show, we're almost almost there!

we'll start today with gratuitous amounts of tile glamour shots.  first, may I present the 3rd floor shower, nearing completion:

the 2nd floor hall bath floor

the man, the myth, the legend:  Chic, our beloved and very talented tile guy.

ooooh, ahhhhh!

well, hello there!

our amazing marble master bath floor.  Chic, you're an artist!

now, on to our next item:  the slick and very bamboo platform/bench on the 3rd floor.  Nick and his crew did an outstanding job!

the cutest step you ever did see!

the wet bar.  the cabinets are actually white, the blue is a protective film.

our tin cantilever - 90% painted.  we just need to add the finishing touches but haven't quite decided on the color scheme.

the kitchen cabinets are in!

the range side:

the fridge side:

our interior doors and appliances have also arrived.  a big day today!!!

and now, OUR moment of Zen.  The 36" stainless steel 5 burner gas range made by the Italian oven company, Bertazzoni.  We can't WAIT to cook on this bad boy!

That's all for now.  Monday we get the lights and countertops installed.  Check back soon!

Sean and Olga.

Finally Flooring!!!

Thanks for stopping by friends and family!  Here is an update of what is going on with our humble little love nest: 

• the tile and bamboo floors are being installed
  
• our windows are almost completely installed
  
• our indoor HVAC units have been installed
  
• our kitchen cabinets have been delivered
  
• the water and gas have been turned on (supposedly)
  

We're still chugging along at a steady rate and are getting ready to enter the home stretch.  But, unfortunately, we are at a point where big ticket items such as building entire walls and wiring the entire house are replaced with a million small tedious things such as fixing a small dent in the wall or replacing a roof tile.  Organization is of the utmost importance at this point as it seems very easy to drown in the minor details.  So far we have maintained our sanity...  so far.

But, don't believe us, let the pictures do the talking:

a small portion of our bamboo flooring

vertical natural bamboo - close up

our kitchen cabinet finish: brown-black

the guys prepping the subfloor for the bamboo

installed! (caution, clicking on image will display gratuitous amounts of bamboo porn)

the powder room.  that's honey onyx on the floor.  that's quixotic plum on the walls.  that's dirt on the camera lens.

the 3rd floor shower

curved windows!  this was a very difficult effect to accomplish.  great job, Tony!

3rd floor front

2nd floor front

from the outside - tin freshly scraped and ready for paint.

ready your allen wrenches, men!  it's IKEA TIME!!!

the basement HVAC stuffs

the 3rd floor mechanical room HVAC stuffs

and now, Fun with Flooring!!!

Paint, Windows and Concrete... oh my!

The past couple of days have been pretty exciting over at 2215 Linden Ave.  We have most of the house covered in a coat of paint, a fresh concrete walkway, and our windows FINALLY arrived and have been partially installed.  Check it out:

Windows!

The master bedroom.  Color: Morning Fog.

Look at those lines!

Through the window into the bathroom.  Color:  Townhall Tan

The beautiful windows in the front bedroom.

A view towards Beth and Brian's house up the street through one of our new windows.

The paint crew.

Olga examines the 3rd floor paint job.  Color: Pearly White

Ray and Kevin drop in our very first window!!!

Brand new sidewalk, poured just this morning!

Soon we'll have some bathroom tile and some bamboo floors installed.  Exciting!