Second Floor Bathroom Update.

I realized that I haven't posted any good pictures of the second floor bathroom.  Yes the bathroom is very pink!  Instead of trying to hide the pink we decided to embrace it and go a step further, with the mint green walls.  Since my earlier post I have been working on little things on the bathroom.  We had to re-grout the tub, replace the stems of the faucet and do a few other not so exciting things.  I have added more pictures all in black frames which I think was necessary to minimize the pinkness of the room.  The only thing left for us to do in the bathroom is remove the old sink and install a new sink, faucet and cabinet. 
This is what you see when you open the bathroom door:

To the right of the door to the bathroom (below) is a little nook with the sink and a cabinet below the sink which also has two drawers.  Because there was hardly any space for toiletries we installed this shelf to the right of the nook.  Please excuse the wiered angle of the picture. I was trying to take a picture that looked decent without me being in it.

The pictures are vintage prints that I framed.  The light fixture and towel rod are from Restoration Hardware.  The shelf is from Ikea.  The flowers are from my stoop.

To the left of the nook we installed a magnifying mirror which we found at a yard sale (below). 

This picture below shows the main wall in the bathroom.  To the right is the bath and to the left is a huge window which faces south.  I keep rotating my plants in here.  I love succulents but the humidity is a little too much for them.  I think that I have finally found the right plants for this spot.

I have a bunch of vintage candle holders over the heater cover (below).  The heater cover was in pretty bad condition but we primed and painted it white and it is really convenient and hides the ugly radiator.  To the right of this picture is our linen closet.  I love my petite chandelier which was a total score on eBay.

This is what you see when you leave the bathroom (below).   The sink nook is to the left and the bathroom leads out to the second floor hallway.

The bathroom, like the rest of the house, has a strange layout but we've made the space work for us.

I am over this house! (not really).

The back yard

I should be relaxing in my back yard but I am not!

Sometimes I feel like I spend every waking minute, at some level, thinking about what needs to be done on the house.  This combined with my slight obsessiveness  makes it really hard for me some times to just relax at home.  This seems absurd because I used to be the type of person who wanted to always relax, read and enjoy my home.  I am not sure if everyone who buys a house gets house-nuts or whether it is just me.

Last summer I loved my backyard...this summer not so much.  This is mainly because I hate the slope of the yard and now I'm obsessing over what I need to do to it...slate tiles, break the concrete and pour new concrete and level it, etc.  The previous owners in an (overzealous) effort to keep water away from the house inclined the yard at such a steep pitch that it slants sharply away from the house.  Therefore everything always looks crooked...no matter what I do!

It surprises me when is people come over and don't notice the slope...is it all in my head? When did I decide that things had to be so perfect? I used to love old imperfect things. When we bought this house I fell in love with it because it alluded to grandness in its past lives in a very atypical row house sort of way. I really wanted to restore it to its original grandness but keep all the personality.  Well now somehow I have entered a house renovation world where I embrace the imperfections but at the same time need everything that we do to be perfect. I am not sure if I could ever reconcile these two emotions. I am making a pact with myself that from today onwards I will make more of an effort to just let things go (just a little).

I will leave you with this picture of my back yard:

P.S. Look closely and you will see that everything slopes to the left.

Weekend Away.

Scott, Kiran and I went to New York City for a mini vacation.  We spent Saturday wandering around Central Park.  Kiran took his afternoon nap in his stroller and when he woke up he was just amazed (as probably most city kids would be) at the expanse of grass! We spent the rest of the day running around after Kiran and playing in the fabulous water park in Central Park.

Kiran in his Marimekko bathing suit.

I can't help but compare how much my life has changed.  Before having Kiran, Scott and I would have probably spent the day scouring thrift stores, flea markets and antique shops for clothes, furniture and other random things.  Then we would have showered and gotten all dressed up for a night of diner, drinks and dancing.  Now we spend our days in NYC  jumping, running and getting wet in Central Park!

Not everything has changed however.  On Sunday morning we went to one of my favorite shops in NYC, Pearl River.  I love their ceramics.  I am not a fan of matching all my dishes, plates, and bowls so I have a random collection of dinnerware.  I have a small collection of mostly blue and white ceramics, with some colored pieces thrown in.  Here are some of my purchases:

I love the swirly designs on the bowls with the swirls on the fabric on the chair (below) and the color and design of this tablecloth which is a design by Liro A. Ahokas for Marimekko, called Kimara.

I wasn't sure what I would I would do with this cup since I am not a big fan of cups without handles.  This cup however turned out to be the perfect size to hold pencils on my desk.

Here's a small peek inside my kitchen cabinets filled with unmatched dinnerware:

Do I need another lamp?

I love these E27 pendants, designed by Mattias Ståhlbomand.  I love the colors and I love the fact that they are so colorful yet so simple.

I am tempted to buy one of these even though I have no idea where I could us it.  My resolution lately has been to only buy things after carefully planning and deciding where I could use the item.  I do make exceptions for things that are absolutely fabulous...then I buy them even if I have no use or space for them!  These lamps don't get me that excited, so for now (sigh) I won't be buying one.  I will however keep scrutinizing each room to figure out where I could use a E27 pendant. 

Planning a Roof Deck

This is the view looking north from the roof of our house.  The views in all directions are absolutely stunning.

So why don't we have a roof deck you are probably asking?  Well, we would eventually like to put a deck on the third floor roof.  However, even though I am planning (and dreaming) of the deck we first need to extend the third floor out, put a bathroom on the third floor and plan the access on to the roof deck before we can build the deck.  We would also need to remove the carpeting on the third floor and install new wood floors, replace the roof on the third floor, and figure out where and how to move the 100 pound air conditioning unit. 

The picture below shows the view from the third floor.  You can see the roof above Kiran's room.  We would like to  build a room and a small deck on this side.

The window to the left in the picture below (now without the bars) is the guest room.  We would like to extend the wall out to the edge and put a bathroom in the area that is to the left of this picture.

This is one of those things that we would eventually like to do but there are simply too many other things that need our immediate attention.  Once we finish the basement stairway and install shelving/organization units in the basement and renovate the first floor bathroom we will be ready to start on the third floor!

EDIT: I can't believe that I forgot to mention the small fact that this will be a dream for a while because renovating the third floor and building a deck is not in our budget for right now.  I guess the beauty of dreams is that they aren't grounded in reality.

Vintage Teak Lamp.

I bought this lamp, a couple of months ago, at an outdoor flea market in New Jersey.  It is a teak lamp in working condition, on a marble and wood base.  It is beautiful and a total steal at $15 for the two lamps.  While one lamp was in great working condition, the other one needs to be rewired.

The lamps came with their original shades but they were ripped and dirty.  I would eventually like to re-cover the original wire shade skeletons but as a temporary fix I have been looking for an inexpensive black shade.  I went to Ikea last week and I almost fell over with excitement when I saw the black shade which was the perfect size for the lamp.

The Ekas shade cost $13.  It works perfectly with the lamp and it looks great in Kiran's room.

Scored!

I decided to run into Marshall's a few weeks ago on a whim.  I was really excited to find this amazing garden stool. I have been wanting a blue and white garden stool for a very long time but I wasn't compelled to pay $150 or more for it.  I found this beauty for $29.99.  What a score!

I also found this LOVE sign which looks a lot like an Alexander Girard print.  I love the whimsical designs by him and I have been contemplating buying the LOVE  canvas print  from Urban Outfitters.  This one was another steal at $7.99.

It is hanging on the wall behind the staircase that goes up to the third floor.  I love being able to see it from inside Kiran's room.