Moving Day
Today is the day! Well sort of…. A moving company is coming to take most of our stuff away today. We are actually going to camp in our house with the dogs over the weekend and will physically move into the new house on Monday. Why? The bathroom isn’t quite ready yet. And, while I tried to rally the troops to camp at the new house (with out-house in the alley, primitive water source at the outside faucet and all) the rest of my gang weren’t into it. Somehow it’s more romantic when camping in nature vs. urban setting.
Lucky me won’t be here when the movers arrive because I am attending part 2 of orientation at the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver – but rest assured, I contributed to the moving/packing effort. I’ll return to an empty house around noon and can look forward to a leisurely weekend before school starts on Monday. I’ve mentioned before that I frequently fantasize about living minimally and now I’ll get my chance! ;D
Later,
Cynthia
Remodel Update & School
Bath room is now dry walled and partially tiled (not shown)
First my apologies for my week long absence, but truth be told, I haven’t felt the need to update you on the totally mundane process of packing and moving our “stuff” (insert whatever noun/expletive feels appropriate – lord knows that I’ve substituted more than a few choice words the past few weeks). Progress is being made on the bathroom compared to these recent photos – though one might argue the counter point considering we’re supposed to move in on Friday! Our contractor is doing his very best to accommodate us and our hurried schedule, but just in case, I have found a hotel that will take all 3 of us and our dogs in the event that the bath isn’t finished by Friday.
Meanwhile, I attended orientation for new and returning students today at University of Colorado Denver this morning. I’m getting super excited to go back to school and am learning about the current (and changed since I was a student 3 years ago) direction of the landscape architecture program and all of the new opportunities available to students. I’ve mentioned this before, and forgive me for repeating, but I’m not really sure where clay fits into my schedule. In the back of my juggling/multi-tasking mind, I think it might be the perfect fit because clay can fit into my schedule and not the other way around. Of course, I was reminded today of the rigors of grad school and the expectations of students lest I think that this will be a walk in the park.
Living amongst boxes,
Cynthia
Moving…
It looks like we will be moving out of our current home August 14th thanks to a newly signed rental application and that’s almost exactly 2 weeks from now in case you’re wondering whether I’ve done the math correctly or not. I’m not really too worried about moving our household contents since we’ve been purging on and off for the past few months and have even started packing and bringing stuff over to the new house.
Side one of garagio with wheel and "stuff" everywhere
I am worried about my “garagio” though…. One quick look at the photos and I can only exclaim in French (because it’s so much more dramatique), “Quelle horreur! Mon Dieu – q’est quon peut faire avec cette spectacle?”
Side 2 where I normally hand build
I had visions of cranking out a bit more work before the move, but alas, it is not to be so. Most likely I won’t return to the clay studio until September at the earliest. It’s a relief to have the house rented, but now comes the unglamorous part of serious packing, moving, cleaning etc. We are moving to a larger space which includes a oversized 2 car garagio – which translates to a more spacious area for me. I am also going to be selling an old make that ancient Paragon electric kiln (the same as this ebay listing) that still fires to cone 6 before the move – better write that Craigslist ad. My firings will be less frequent since it will take more time for me to fill the Skutt 1027, but it makes sense to downsize since I am no longer teaching and anticipate less studio time since I’m going back to school. First day of school for me is the 17th of August. Sometimes when it rains, it pours….
I have canceled my commitment to participate in the Farmer’s Market this coming weekend – I think my husband has visions of cleaning out the garage instead.
Meanwhile, we’ve picked out tile, bath fixtures for the bathroom and carpeting for the basement in the last couple of days. This was fairly easy since I already knew exactly what I envisioned for the house. It’s a 1911 vintage home and I’m going all white with subway tile for the shower surround and a octagon mosaic like style for the floor. Pretty traditional and a neutral backdrop for a vintage home.
I’m so trying not to stress right now,
Cynthia
Remodel – Kitchen
Kitchen before
In case you are just happened upon my blog, my family and I are moving into a home that needs a little TLC in Denver that we have rented out since 1998. The home was built in 1911 and was owned by one family before we purchased it in 1997. Sometime in the 1950′s the previous owner thought that the home needed a face lift and added some interesting design touches that were popular back then such as metal cabinets, boxing in the upper cabinets which blocked nearly a 1/3 of the windows and used a very fashionable (at the time) pink color scheme.
Our remodel budget is pretty small and encompasses updating electrical, plumbing, bath and kitchen without breaking the bank. As far as the kitchen and our budget is concerned, we have elected to keep the white metal cabinets – they are pretty cool. Even our contractor said that they were high end for the time and well made. They are Geneva Steel Cabinets similar to the ones in this NY Times article. At one time the cabinets were pink, but at the height of my pink exasperation, I painted them white. In some ways I regret painting the cabinets, and other times I think to myself, “Yeah, they’re cool and retro, but not really my style.” C’est la vie, if you know what I mean.
Kitchen after ripping out boxed in soffit – the unsightly metal vent above the cabinets will be removed as well
One of the things on my list for our contractor to do was to rip out the boxy soffit above the cabinets. Even though it’s not much to look at right now, I’m incredibly pleased with the decision! Pretend that the teal and gold paint isn’t there and it really opens the room up visually. And, having the extra light from the newly revealed full sized windows is incredible!
In addition to removing the soffit above the cabinets we are replacing the sink, faucet, applicances and counter tops with new laminate ones. We have begun shopping for appliances – and are going to go with stainless steel ones. Fitting a fridge into the the current space just isnt’ working for us, so we’re going to move a 30″ slide in range to this area which will make venting the stove easier and will place the fridge where the range and hood used to be. It will just mean removing the upper cabinets at both places – not a big deal. The remainder of the foot print will remain the same. Bonus, there is also a transom window situated above the door to the mud room that I hope to uncover.
Meanwhile, we think we have found renters for our current house – we will know by this evening or tomorrow at latest. The only caveat is that they need to move in by August 15th which is earlier than our contractor thought that he might be finished. Eeeeek – that means that we now have less than 3 weeks to pack everything up (studio included) and move. Needless to say, I don’t anticipate that I will be making any new clay work between now and then. What’s more is that my first day of school is August 19th – where did summer go?
Cynthia
