Thursday, July 16, 2020

An Update

Amy Berry

A progress update....

1. I am putting about a hundred miles a day on my car going back and forth to Venice with several trips a day which is nowadays more than I drive in a week. I promised my car a complete detailing when this is done.

2. Of all the bad timing, my community is having all the roads milled and paved this week and next - my paving was yesterday, so juggling the painters, wall-paperer, and my unloading with trucks everywhere. We got our cars trapped in my driveway yesterday afternoon for several hours. Oh well....

3. The painting is going really really well. I love the BM Classic Gray in Matte and the Aura is so worth it.

4. The wallpaper hanger was over yesterday morning and we are a go on the guest bath and laundry room. Super excited.

5. I had no idea that my Wedgwood Chinese Tigers once came in blue - gorgeous!



6. Great progress on my closet - I hope I have left clothes here for the next couple of weeks. LOL

7. Granite question - the granite in the kitchen is quite pretty, but has surface tiny fissures? and a rough feeling - it definitely needs sealing but I am thinking it needs professional polishing too? I know Corian and Quartz care much more than granite. Suggestions? Thanks!

8. Many comments from you on colored towels fading - here are my tips- use half as much detergent. Wash, especially the first time with a cup of white vinegar to set the color. Wash always on cold or warm, not hot and cold rinse. No bleach. No dryer sheets. This works IMHO.

9. I was thinking yesterday about the fact that I have a coat closet in the vestibule (most homes here do not) and what could I use it for? In 9 months here I have never had on a jacket, sweater, or coat. The answer came in a flash - a wine closet to lay down red wine. There are several sites where you can configure what dimensions you want for wine racks. I love this idea - any suggestions? My painters have removed the rod and hardware that I will store.

10. The pink Dyson arrived a couple days ago, but I have been too busy to unpack it. Hopefully in the next couple of days. A pink vacuum!

11. Several people asked about my trim paint. My painters said BM has reformulated Advance and they are dissatisfied with its adhesion and now prefer Sherwin Williams. I went with Ultra Reflective White and it's amazing with the BM Classic Gray on the walls. Gorgeous. It really pops.

12. My painters should be finished by the end of next week and then the real fun begins - furniture deliveries, wallpaper installed, half a dozen new lighting fixtures installed, movers, and ADIOS to this ill begotten adventure.

13. I may go to my stone place today for a break and look at black/dark green marble and granite for the guest bath as in the photo above. I said this before, but how could they have left the toilet lid up for the photo shoot? It pains me.


21 comments:

  1. It all sounds very exciting and exhausting! I love wine, too. However, just wanted to ask if you and family and guests ever enter through the door with the coat closet? In my home hunting experience, a front hall closet is a rarity but a must have for me. Great place for extra handbags, tote bags for shopping, hats, shoes, shoe shine cloths for a quick buff before I leave, flip flops, flashlights, keys, scarves, a small broom, etc. etc. Where I live, the custom is to remove your shoes when you enter the home, so it keeps our shoes out of sight.

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    1. Great points. I decided with a large wine cooler that holds multiple cases, a wine closet is duplicative. It is handy to have a coat closet.

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  2. So right about the toilet seat up. But then why not crop it out?!
    Honestly....

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  3. I recently had my marble and granite cleaned and sealed. They come with these very fine wet sanding machines which take out superficial cracks, dings and fissures. Then they polish really well and seal it. So do it, it works like a charm.

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    1. Thanks - I have someone coming over for an estimate.

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  4. I removed the granites in my kitchen and replaced it with white quartz that looks like marble and could be happier! I tiled over existing backsplash with white subway tiles. Blue is my accent color which makes the white pop. I definitely recommend quartz and it is not hard to care for at all. Just saw beautiful coral/orange RL towels at HomeGoids by the way.

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    1. Sounds lovely. I am keeping the granite in the kitchen but using quartz in the master bath.

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  5. Congrats on the great progress you have made. Interesting about your painters' observation on BM Advance. Scary since my whole downstairs and all doors are in Advance! I think I mentioned a while back how much I envied your wine storage at the now misbegotten adventure house and that I had a closet that might have to "take one for the team."

    I did my research and ordered from Wineracks America. They arrived after 6-7 weeks and I was dismayed. We were supposed to put them together!!! Well, I've done more difficult things; I do have a battery powered nail gun. Was sure I could do this. My husband uncrated it and brought it in and as we inspected the pieces made the simultaneous decision: toss the crap!...as in almost $700 of crap. The sides holding the bottles were constructed using wood glue and staples. Egads. I ordered what we know: a Metro wine rack. I have used Metro shelving before there were knockoffs. The real Metros are the best. You order the height of the poles you need and then number of wines cradles (you can space them 6-7 apart). You have options on the depth (I think). I order from WebRestaurant.

    If this doesn't appeal to you, there are other options, just be aware. Also if you go too tall for the width, you'll need to attach shelving to studs!!!! You will need a shim for the back of the unit to offset the depth of the baseboard. My carpenter could knock this out in in sleep, but no one else will come into this house until the virus is contained!

    Last piece of advice before you do this, check the ambient temp in your closet at the hottest points of the day, both at the bottom and the top and make sure your closet doesn't get too warm. We still are not going into stores...but we have joined 3 wine clubs (priorities!). We like FirstLeaf and Williams Sonoma. When It gets cooler, we'll order from the NYTimes wine club. This virus thing is getting scarier by the day.

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    1. I too am sorry to hear about BM Advance. Was just about to buy White Dove
      On another note. If you are looking into some great wine clubs, look up the Fingerlakes wineries in upstate NY. Atwater Winery has many wine club members from around the country. We are now known as the Napa Valley of the East. Amazing Riesling wines and some great reds. Many with a 90 or above rating in Wine Spectator!! I am sure they ship to Florida.

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    2. Oh boy...................Golf Guy went to Hobart and William Smith undergrad and we adore Geneva and environs. We were going to build a summer house there until I realized that my sanity was more important. I have many wines still from trips there and love the area and the wines. Small world.

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    3. HBD - all great points - I am rethinking the wine closet as the wine cooler will be dual zone and hold 5 or 6 cases. With this move and house reno, it has been hard to shelter in place/impossible. I just need to get through the next two weeks, but Florida is a challenge right now.

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  6. Beth ~ So happy for you and the phenomenal amount of progress. New days, New Starts. It's all so wonderful. And maybe I'm more neurotic than most but aside from the toilet seat, it gets me looking at that uncovered plug plate. All they had to do was wallpaper it. Some of the newer wallpaper hangers (actually painters and handymen who have jumped on the wallpaper resurgence train for economic reasons) won't or don't know how to cover these switch and plug plates. Some are so bad it's comical. But the paper hangers who love their craft will take the time and do it right. That said, it's also not an impossible DIY job. But then see, I said I'm neurotic. Too much time devoted to a glaring (to me) wall plate. BEST to you this week as you continue the mad and fulfilling dash(es).

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    1. So correct about the wall plate. My hanger here has been hanging paper professionally since the 70s. Old school. And thank you.

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  7. You should be pleased that your painters were so very honest and forthcoming to you. Thumbs up once again for them. My builder used SW although I could have directed them to use BM, which I did not. I have been very pleased with SW coverage.

    I agree with hbd, to rethink the change to wine storage in the front closet. Does this closet have a vent for AC? I had wine racks in Virginia in my back basement which of course was quite cool, dark and still. These were all low to the ground (about four racks high) to prevent toppling over. I gave them to my plumber when I arrived in Florida as I did not feel comfortable storing wine in the pantry or closet. I have a coat closet here in Florida off the entry. We store our luggage there and our winter coats, boots, scarves, etc. that we hung onto as we do venture north often (in a safer and healthier time). Great for storage as the attic and garage spaces are so very hot in the summer months.

    I placed Seville shelving in my pantry, rather than built-in style, which gives it a nice industrial look that I like. I read somewhere that Metro lost their patent awhile back and the knock-offs are just as good. I am pleased with the Seville (of course made in China!)and it was less $$. Can't believe everything you read on the internet, but I fell for it. I wonder where the Metro shelving is actually manufactured??

    Interesting about the granite fissures, I had not heard of this. Wet sanding procedure sounds like a viable solution.

    Moving is so exhausting; hope you are relaxing a bit in the evening.



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    1. Thanks. I am exhausted. I am rethinking the wine closet. In the kitchen cabinet where I plan to use the wine cooler, I have room for a dual zone that holds 5 or 6 cases, so I think a second storage area is unnecessary.

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  8. Forgot to mention: For deeper dings and fissures in the granite especially the busy pattern you have Beth, they can fill them in with clear polymer before sealing it and you wouldn't be able to tell. Magic.

    You granite goes so well with the stone floors (and it looks to be in good shape)I wouldn't change it out for say, quartz unless you just wanted a whole new kitchen and that was part of the reno. Also, a bit of character in the natural stone is nice and to be expected.

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    1. I think the granite is perfect with the floors and there are no deep dings or fissures. All very surface. We used quartz here and it was very expensive and I have mixed feelings about it. But you are correct that it does not work in my new kitchen at all.

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  9. Outlet cover should be papered. But that PR is gorgeous!

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  10. We have a coat closet in our foyer area too and I have turned it into a launch pad. My bedroom closet is far from the front door so I disliked having to tromp through the hall and master to get my purse or charge my phone. I also traveled 150 miles one day each week to visit my mother. So we put in a desk and small shelves for calendars/planners/pencils/pens/scissors/mail supplies/sunscreen, hung hooks for my purse, hats, keys & rain gear, a message board & clipboard on the wall for notes, cards, etc. and under the desk I store totes, a small cooler & things I need to take for mom on my all day weekly trip. I also kick off my sandals or sneakers under the desk. I can dash out at a moment's notice. Hubby is visual so we decorated it and hung art. Pamela

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