Planning My Own Kitchen Remodel

So, we're selling our beautiful home and moving into a "new" place, which is actually a 1950's home that is a bit of a dump:

The reason I'm not completely depressed about this is because it's allowing us, for the first time, to take on a large remodel of our own.  I've been helping others with their remodels for years, and I've done plenty of smaller projects in the various homes I've owned, but never something of this scale.

I recently gave tips on Utah Style & Design for finding good deals on renovation materials (see the post here), and we've used every one of these to our advantage.

We've also been deep in the planning stages to make sure everything is done correctly.  We've got floor plans approved by my structural engineer, so we're nearly ready to start demolition!

I'll post pics along the way, but here's a glimpse of our current plan:

Stay tuned for more!  (And in the meantime, if you know of someone who wants to live in a charming old home in the Marmalade neighborhood, send them my way!)

Plumen Light Bulbs

I loved the idea of Plumen CFL bulbs the moment I saw them.  And then I bought some for a great price on fab.com, even though I didn't yet have anywhere to put them.  Soon after the purchase, our ugly dining room track light (don't judge - it came with the house) broke and gave me a new opportunity.  I got to design our new dining room lighting around the light bulbs.  

I wanted to show off the bulbs, but I wanted something a little more finished than just the bare exposed bulbs.  The Industrial Glass Pendant from West Elm was just what I needed (at a great price too).

My handy husband relocated the wiring so we could hang the 2 pendants exactly where I wanted them.  My camera doesn't show them well when lit, but I love the sculptural look and the new dimension they add to our dining room.  This is the view when you first walk into our home (okay, in reality the dogs are usually jumping and barking and spinning in circles), so it was important to make a good first impression:

What do Dwell Magazine and I have in Common?

We can't get enough mid-century modern, and we both LOVE the Green Ant!

The October Issue of Dwell Magazine features my favorite local furniture store in an article called "Utah Bound".  Local blogger Creede Fitch, of Grassroots Modern, writes about the somewhat unknown history of Mid-Century Modern in Salt Lake City and the influence of such architects as Taylor Woolley and John Sugden on local modern architecture.

But back to the store... the Green Ant.  Ron Greene has done a great job with this amazing collection of Mid-Century Modern furniture, all at surprisingly affordable prices compared to what you might find in other markets.  I love walking in there whenever I have a chance, and often Ron is there, eager to talk with my husband & I about the pieces we have and are working on restoring (like our PK-22 chairs that are STILL works in progress).

Since I've been lucky to marry into a family that has given us some amazing Mid-Century pieces, we unfortunately just don't have room for any more furniture in our home.  So we had to settle for buying a little statement piece from the Green Ant, just because.  It's a silly thing, really, as we have no idea where it came from or what it was, but that's why we like it.  It has a story.  Plus it's the perfect splash of color for the dining room.  And when the time comes for new accessories, guess where we'll go first?

And in case you're wondering, this wonderful sideboard (and the Eames dining chairs) are some of the pieces from my husband's family.  

TV Wall and a Floating Shelf

I confess, we are one of those couples whose dining table is their coffee table.  We have a real dining room, with a wonderful dining table, but we never eat there.    We eat in front of the TV.  Though it's not ideal, after a long day of work, sometimes all you really want is to sit together, with no need for conversation.  Because of this, I was really sick of staring at everything around the TV - which included the cheap TV stand I bought years ago when I got my studio apartment (sans doors, as they had fallen off after all the moving around), as well as tons of cords for the speaker / tv / media system.  So,when most women ask for jewelry and clothing etc for their birthdays, I asked that we spend time remodeling this wall.  The project began in March, and we finally finished enough to post pics this past weekend.

I hated the previous setup so much that I didn't even take before photos, so instead I'll show you a photo from our last holiday party, where the ugly TV cabinet is in the background of all my super friends in their fun "recycled" holiday attire.

The ugly cabinet went straight to the curb (where we can always count on someone to come by to pick up old stuff).  

I drew everything exactly as I wanted it on SketchUp, and my wonderful husband did the rest. 

He spent hours researching the right components, and then more hours in the attic running the necessary cables from the TV location to the new component location (above the basement stairs).  He also cut new speakers into the wall per my dimensions.  (And would you believe the holes were correct and required no drywall patching?!?)

The main glitch was actually the install of the floating shelf.  Our first attempt didn't work.  We did some more research, and figured out a different approach, which worked perfectly.

While still looking for a center channel speaker (trying to find something that's not just boring, boxy, and black) as well as some decorative accessories for the shelf, we're close enough to done so I wanted to share.

And for those of you who might want to know more about hanging the floating shelf, here's what we did:

The shelf has a 1" hollow space in the back.

My husband used wood-glue to glue (2) 1/2" pieces of wood together for cleats.  Then he used a pocket-hole jig to pre-drill holes.

Used a stud-finder to make sure we were drilling into something solid.

Mounted the first cleat on the wall.

Note the line above (drawn before cleat was mounted) to keep cleat level.

Used the level for the remaining cleats (starting with outside first and working our way in).  I was asked to point out that the level was standing upright for actual leveling... here he was just using it for the straight edge.

Once the cleats were installed, the shelf slid perfectly into place!

Local Shelves and My Selfish Space

A while back, I received this wonderful little package in the mail... a beautiful custom wood shelf from John Sundberg, owner of Walrus Woodworking.  Walrus Woodworking is a local Utah business, and I'm all about promoting good local businesses.  Full disclaimer here - I didn't pay for the shelf, however, when I spoke with John on the phone we discussed that I was not obligated to blog about it, and if I did, I would be completely honest.  So, here it is:

Install was simple.  The instructions - plus a few basic tools - were all I needed, and I had it hanging and perfectly level in less than 30 minutes.  (No, not all my tools are pink, but my mother and sister discovered a company called Tomboy Tools so over the last few holidays I've built up quite a collection of pink.)

A simple drywall anchor holds the screw firmly in place, and then a cleverly designed nail pokes from the back of the shelf into the drywall to keep the shelf bracket level.  

Once the bracket is secure, the shelf easily slides into place.

I love the hand-made sculptural quality of the shelf, and the beautiful natural grain of the wood.  For other examples of what Walrus Woodworking has done (including better photos of similar shelves), see their listing at localfirst.org

Now to segue into my next topic... where I put the shelf and why... 

Being too small to stand alone anywhere in our home, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it.  But after my trip to NY for Brizo Fashion Week, I knew exactly where to put it.  

At Brizo Fashion Week, I met a wonderful woman named Jennifer Duchene, who has a book called "Le Chic Cocoon:  7 Steps to Creating your Selfish Space".  While Jennifer might argue that my chic cocoon should not be my office, at this point in my life, my office is where I spend a large part of my waking hours, and my business is my pride & joy because I built it and it's an extension of me, so it's important to me to have a piece of myself in my small office space.  With dreams of my own real chic cocoon sometime in my future, for now, my selfish space is this little office.  

I have these great thrift store milk glass vases, and my husband hates them.  But guess what?  This is MY space, so I can put anything I want in it, including my lovely milk glass vases!  And I realized the shelf would display them perfectly, so they now have a place in my "selfish space", right next to my 2012 vision board and stack of inspirational magazines and chair posters.  During a busy day, when it's so easy to lose my sense of self because of a daunting to-do list, all I have to do is look up at this wall full of my passion and personality and I remember who I am and what's important to me.  And then I can breathe deep and continue with the task at hand, rejuvenated by the reminder of why I do what I do.

A Different Point of View - My Home

The other day I was laying on the kitchen floor painting base trim.  I hate painting trim, which is why, after living in the house 2-1/2 years, it's still not done.  Anyway, I happened to look up and loved this view and how well the artwork in the kitchen coordinated with the piece we have in the 2nd floor stairwell.

I've been meaning to post a photo of this print for a while now.  This is actually an infrared photo that a family friend took (and edited) in downtown Baltimore.  I loved it the minute I saw it, and begged him to share the file with me so I could print it.  I was able to print the high-res version as a 12"x36" poster (waited for a half off poster printing sale at Staples and got a killer deal), and then we had a custom frame made.  It's one of my favorite pieces in our home.  I keep telling him he should start an etsy shop with all the great photos he's taken...

The image to the left is this "Saarinen + Poulson" print from Blue Ant Studio.  (If you love mid-century chairs, check out the other prints - I had a hard time picking which one I wanted!)

Happy Holidays from enzy design!

This year has been an adventure!  A few months ago, I decided it was time to dedicate 100% of my focus to enzy design, so I took the leap.  I quit my day job, and moved into my home office.  It's been an exciting yet scary transition, and I have all of YOU to thank.  I've relied heavily on my husband, friends, family, colleagues, blog readers, and clients for their support.  Without that extra encouragement, I'm not sure I could have done it.

I'm fortunate to have a client base already built up, and I've been reasonably busy from the beginning, which is not typical for a business that's just getting started, especially in this economy.  Having enzy as my side business over the last 3 years has made a big difference, and I'm so glad I've planned for this slow growth (and therefore lower risk), rather than diving into deep water with no idea what to expect.

I strongly believe that I am a better and more successful designer because of the communities I am a part of (local networking groups, trade associations, and the many many online and blogging communities).  These communities keep me connected to the design industry, and they also introduce me to peers within my industry.  I am so fortunate to have met all the wonderful people I now know because of these connections.

Small businesses have a much better chance at making a difference if they work together to make a larger impact than one person could do on their own, and we all have so much we can learn from each other.  Through the upcoming year(s), I will continue to make these communities a priority, because I know that I receive back much more than I give, and I am extremely grateful for that.

I'm looking forward to what the next year will bring, and I wish all of you the feeling of excitement and optimism that I'm experiencing right now.

Happy Holidays!

Love to all of you,
Nicole

Deck Update

This weekend we scored a few chairs from a local consignment shop.  The shop, Now & Again, was reselling all the old patio chairs from the local favorite, Blue Plate Diner.  Unfortunately there were only 3 left when we discovered them.  I'd love to have a few more, but for now we're thrilled to have the 3 we did get.

You can see our blue chairs in their previous home here:

And now back to their new home:

Paired with the new table and bench from Ikea, our deck has new life!  I love the bright pops of color the chairs add.  Since our garden is all veggies and herbs, we don't have room for a lot of colorful flowers, so I need to rely on the planters and accessories to spice it up a bit.

Living Room Progress

I was going to wait to post pics of our finished living room, but realized it might be years before I get anything posted at the rate I'm going.   So here is what our living room currently looks like:

Things to do:

1.  Finish the gallery wall (i.e. add art to the frames)

2.  Make throw pillows, with the following fabric I have from Tonic Living:

Bella Porte, Citrine 

(yes it's the same print as Gate Citrine from Robert Allen for Dwell Studio)

Flatiron, Black

Stanford, Orange

3.  I have to do something about that ceiling fan...

Though it's unfinished, here are a couple photos of the various phases this wall has gone through since we bought the house.  I need this as a reminder of how much we actually have accomplished.

when we bought the house...

after a fresh coat (or several coats) of paint and some major cleaning (before the nasty carpeting was torn out):

the ksl sofa find I HAD to have, and grew to despise shortly after:

just a few weeks ago, gallery wall in progress:

My Dining Room

I've posted dining room photos before, but not since I got my incredible wide-angle camera lens.  So I wanted to share this with all of you.  It's definitely my favorite room in our house, for now.  The gallery wall in the living room is still in the works (though I can assure you that progress has been made!) but I'm hoping my room allegiance will shift to the living room eventually, since that's really where we spend all our time.  Yes, I admit... our coffee table is our REAL dining table.

On another note, I'm off to KBIS (Kitchen & Bath Industry Show) this week!  

I plan to post photos and comments about all the great new products I see on the enzy design facebook page, so check it out if you're interested!  I'll also follow up in the next couple week with KBIS blog posts.