Steve Jobs

I am going to the Apple HQ for work, next Tuesday.  After Steve Jobs death I have some trepidation about it.  I can't imagine losing the leader of my company at such a young age.  I can't imagine if the leader of my company changed the world.  Imagine what he could have done with another 20 years?

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the

round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently —

they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them,

glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them

because they change things… they push the human race forward, and

while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the

ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are

 the ones who do.” – Think Different. Steve Jobs

Moving on and outward

The nature of the beast of home renovation is multi-tasking.  Finish the current projects while planning the new projects is how it has to work to keep the ball rolling.

We are nearing the end of "Phase 1" of the renovation which included the entire upstairs of the house.  We are getting ready to put a new roof on the house-which normally wouldn't precipitate big decor decisions, but in our case it does.  We plan to paint the outside of the house-in "Phase 2" of our renovation, after the new roof.  To pick the right roof color I need an idea of what the outside color of the house will be-which makes sense. 

As a reminder the current house is light khaki with a dated teal color accent.  Not our taste.  Since I am all about taking risks with color I lean toward a grey outside color scheme (I know-CRAZY TOWN-but my comfort zone is khaki and taupe.)  I used the Sherwin Williams site to mock up some ideas.  This is crude-but you can get the idea.  Also keep in mind-our lot is heavily wooded..and we are not planning to change the stone.  We will do a full overhaul of the outside landscape next spring, "Phase 4."  I will be adding lots of color to the front of the house with reds, purples and white bushes and flowers.  Don't let the current UG-Landscaping influece your ideas.

Please let me know what you think.



Option 1.  Green, Grey and a Teal-ish accent.



Option 2- Grey/Blue, Taupe and Orange



Option 3- Khaki, Dark Khaki and Red




Option 4-Light grey (almost cream), dark grey and blue.




Option 5- More khakis and a green accent



Option 6- Dark slate grey/blue, light grey and a bold yellow.  Note I like the tone of this door but yellow will be no where in the landscape if I have my way. 

Option 7- grey blue and an orangey/yellow accent.



First a wall...now a charming built in

Scott and I decided to take down a wall that was right in front of our front door to open our entryway.  I waffled...but he pushed and I am so glad he did.  Taking down the wall made a big difference but the built in that we created had me at "hello."  Here is a reminder of the wall removal project:
The wall that was

Here are some process shots of how it looks now.  I am in the process of unpacking kitchen boxes and should have some solid afters within a week or two.

The view from the front door.  This is also a sneak peak of the grey we chose for our main neutral.

The view down the hallway with the new built in on the right side.

A close up of the beauty that is added storage!!!

NAILED!!

Scott and I have been looking for a big/industrial piece that we can use in our "under renovation" home once its all finished.  I wanted something with size that would be unusual.  We had gone back and forth on lockers, library card catalogs and things of that nature.  This piece from Restoration Hardware is my inspiration.

Inspiration Piece

The end of June we stumbled upon the "NAIL BIN."  It was on craigslist and we both instantly liked it.  We liked the price...it wasn't crazy far away so we called.  We went back and forth with the owner of said nail bin and came to a fair price.  We went to Sevierville to pick it up the Saturday of July 4th weekend.  At 8am.   Like vintage furniture marines.  We were home by 10am with this guy (after breakfast in a place that looked like our current basement, which was odd):

All nine feet of the nail bin glory.

Its HUGE...this picture doesn't even do it justice.  It's HEAVY and the top has considerable rust.  Each of the bins is heavy metal and they slide out...not on a track.  They stay open like you see above.  Some of them have considerable rust.

After letting it sit for a couple of months I am trying to come up with a firm plan.  I know it needs to be refinished in some way.  Likely sanded down.  Maybe sandblasted?  And probably refinished in some way.  All these details are up in the air.  Also-I know I want to remove some of the bins for open shelve storage.  Since it will be in the dining room I imagine we could put platters on it and such.  The bins I keep could be used for napkins. 

I have showed many people and I think most think I am nuts.  Maybe?  We'll see.

Kitchen- In Progress..

The hardest part of the entire remodel project, for me, has been the lack of a kitchen.  We moved in on 4/23 and have basically not had a kitchen since.  Yes-its a long time.  But-we are starting to put the old girl back together.  Here is a pictorial of the progress we have made.

The BEFORE view of the kitchen from the dining room.  Prior to us pulling down the wall to open the whole space.

The kitchen BEFORE..in all its 1970's glory.



The kitchen after the demo.




The IN PROCESS view of the kitchen from the dining room.


  

The kitchen BEFORE.  The view from the kitchen into the dining room.



The IN PROCESS view of the dining room from the kitchen.  Note our new island is installed-sans counter tops.


 I will post more detailed shots as we move along but the progress is extraordinary.

Dark wood is good wood

In the midst of the the wedding whirlwind we are also finishing the house.  We have allot going on.  Over our honeymoon our brilliant carpenter installed our hardwood floors.  Scott and I went back and forth on what to go with in this house.  I leaned toward dark chocolate and he wanted something lighter.  I wanted to take the house in a more modern direction...since that is something I had not done in the past.

While this picture does not do them justice-since they are dirty -you can see who won:)

The return trip, our time at the Treasure Cay airport, Day 7

We flew home on Saturday our of Treasure Cay-across the bay from our island.  We had to take a ferry and because of our flight times we arrived at the airport about 2.5 hours prior to our flight.  It was a small airport-think Wings small.  There were about 7 people working and when we showed we were 1 &2 of 7 customers.  We checked in and took a seat.  To wait.  And wait.  Luckily 45 minutes before our flight the entertainment began. 
1.  About 30 more people showed up for both two other flights leaving out.  So the small airport got crowded, fast.
2.  They cancelled our flight and rescheduled us for another flight that left 2.5 hours later.  Which meant we had to wait in the crowded airport for an additional 3 hours.  YAY!

Scott looked at me and said "could be worse, we could not have air conditioning."  I knew it was a sign of bad things and chastised him for even saying it.

About 20 minutes later the lights started to flicker.  Then they went out.  Shortly after the generator kicked on-and we were back in air conditioned business.  Note-small airport, gazillion people and it was very hot outside.  No air conditioning was the worse case scenario from my perspective.

About 2 hours prior to our flight leaving we heard a crackling noise.  The lights flickered again.  Then we lost power for the second time.  Scott went out to investigate.  The airport fire truck was shooting water on the small out building next to the terminal.  When I say next to the terminal-think 10 feet. 

To recap-the generator which was housed 10 feet away had caught on fire.  That was the crackling noise.  The fire truck was dousing the shooting flames with water.  And we officially had no air conditioning for the last 2 hours of our wait.

IT. WAS. FANTASTIC.

We got home around 2:30 am.  It was a long day but at least we had Sunday to recover:)