Next Door's Project - Part 2

Remember that photo from the previous posting on my neighbor's bath remodel showing the trim and the paint color? http://havenonhanover.blogspot.com/2011/01/here-comes-decorator.html Did you notice that it was kind of dark? Well, that's because the painter decided that the bad track light had to come down so he could paint the ceiling. He said he was going to go get a work light but guess what, he never did. So, the painter and his assistant worked in the dark.

Today, the electrician showed up to hang the chandelier and guess what? The light shone on the shoddiest paint job in all of the years that I've known what a paint brush is. No one patched, sanded or skimmed. The contractor said "well, they were working in the dark, you know." How do you respond to that? So, today the painters are back. I would have fired their little arses but I'm not the contractor and for that I'm thankful. I feel awful for the homeowners who are being taken advantage of. I told them not to let them touch a brush to the wall paint until the walls and ceiling have been inspected. I have a feeling this isn't going to go well.

Update: the walls and trim look much better but now the homeowners don't like how the room has been laid out. The tub and toilet are practically kissing so, guess what? The plumbing is being redone so that the toilet and radiator swap homes. Up comes the tiled floor. It is difficult to know what to say. No drawings were done, the contractor just assumed that the original plumbing placements would be okay. I wanted to cry. So do the homeowners. Where were the plans? Where was the tape measure?

I think we could star in an episode of Holmes on Homes.

P.S. No building permits in site.

Winter Hiking

Late last week I heard on the news that in celebration of Martin Luther King Day all National Parks were going to be open and free to the public for the weekend That information, coupled with a weather prediction of sunny skies and a high temperature near 50 and I start dreaming of getting up to the Shenandoah National Park.

When the Haven on Hanover family lived in Northern Virginia we used to do a lot of hiking in the northern part of Shenandoah. Now that we're near the southern entrance we have a whole new set of hikes to explore.
Several years ago Harry found a Guide to the SNP on the internet. It is a very detailed and comprehensive guide to hiking in the park, divided into North, Central and Southern sections. We found a 5.3 mile circuit hike near the southern entrance. packed a lunch, camera and dog treats and the four of us (2 adults, 2 dogs) set off.

I love hiking in the winter - no crowds, no bugs, no snakes and the views of the mountains are so much more dramatic.

One of the first stops along the way was this grave site - I'm not sure we would have seen it had it been summer.
We wondered who William Howard was and why he wound up here all alone. I came home and googled his name - someone already did the research. Don't you just love the internet? Instant answers!

The hike then led steadily down hill (I couldn't stop thinking I was going to have to go uphill at some point, pay backs are hell) to a series of waterfalls all fighting to not freeze over.
This small waterfall was losing the battle.
Doyles waterfall, pictured above, looks like Old Man Winter to me. An angry Old Man Winter.

Years ago I read about a waterfall's affect on one's mood - Nature's Prozac. We sat down on the rocks and had our lunch here so that the negative ions could work their magic. I don't think I needed the boost as just being in the park was enough of a mood elevator. But why chance it? After a brief rest and lunch consumed we headed back up the mountain to where the trail intersects with the Appalachain Trail, otherwise known as the AT. If you don't know, the AT is the nation's longest marked footpath, at approximately 2,179 miles. Harry often dreams of making the entire trip. I say you'd better get started, time's a wasting. The section we were on was pretty easy - I thought about all the thru hikers who came before me. I could do it, yup, as long as there was a nice Bed and Breakfast at the end of each day.

As we were walking along, Lion, our poodle all of a sudden stopped dead in his tracks as if he'd seen, heard or smelled something. Having seen bears in the park before I started to think he was getting ready to protect us from a crazed bear coming out of hibernation. Harry laughed and said he thought the rock ahead of us was what was concerning him. Hah. Sure enough, our citified poodle got spooked by a rock. Poor thing, too many sidewalk hikes!! You can only imagine what seeing a bear would have done to this poor creature. Thankfully we didn't see any scary wildlife and only a few other humans.

I'm sure Martin Luther King would have approved of having the parks open in celebration of his life and work. It sure made me appreciate this little part of our great country and the efforts to preserve it.

Happy Hiking!

Here Comes The Decorator

My next door neighbors came over to Haven last Saturday in a panic as they had gotten started on bathroom renovations with a contractor and they felt like they had gotten in over their heads. I was only too happy to do a walk through and give them some advice and have now been hired to see the project through. These neighbors moved to the Fan about a year ahead of Harry and me, purchased a house that had been subdivided into two apartments, and have since brought it back to a single family home. The wife is a very talented watercolor artist, potter and gardener so therefore, has an eye for color and scale, but just has trouble verbalizing what she is seeking in the transformation of her space. Add to that a streak of sentimentality that has caused her to carry around her grandmother's claw foot tub for years looking for a permanent home.
Above is a magazine page (sorry, don't know from where) of inspiration for the Powder Room. The contractor was given this photograph to go off of and he got it mostly right but there were some issues. For one, the top piece of molding was supposed to be a shelf so that the wife could put some of her pottery around. So, they placed a 2 x 4 all around the room, notching out when they came to both sets of radiator pipes. That just had to go. They also had made the executive decision not to put in a vent fan and to put a down light right over the sink. Ugh. Not the right kind of lighting for a vanity. So, we made an appointment for me to meet the contractor on Monday morning so that we could go over the changes.

I got the feeling they weren't happy to see me. Their faces gave that away. I know they weren't happy to have to pull out work that they felt was finished. Sometimes I think contractors think that decorators don't know what they're doing - that we're just fluff.

So, forging ahead, I asked them to change the top piece of trim - or to rip it and rout it. I had convinced the wife to not clutter up the space with things on a shelf. Then I asked them to drywall over the ceiling can opening, make two openings for sconces over the sink and put in a vent fan. Then I asked them to drywall over the built in shelf that was on the opposite wall from the door. Silence. The husband told them that I was now the contact person. I thanked them all for being so flexible and understanding and asked them to call me when the first piece of trim had been changed. To make a long story short, they did what I asked, it looks great and when I went back over there late in the day the carpenter was singing. Phew.
Here is a shot I took with my iphone yesterday while the painters were taking their turn in the Powder Room. The tub is getting a new paint job and will get placed today. The walls are Benjamin Moore Silver Lake and the trim is Benjamin Moore Decorator White.

The ceiling is getting this little gem of a chandelier and the sconces, pictured below, are off being electrified and will be placed on either side of the Pottery Barn Mirror, in the brushed finish, shown (polished below the sconces.

It is fun having a project right next door - I can pop over several times a day to check progress or answer questions. This week a jacuzzi tub is being installed in the master bath - help is needed in deciding how to do the decking around the tub as well as the apron. More on that tomorrow.

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

The Lobby is Open

Harry got all excited last week when he was out in the Short Pump part of Richmond and saw a new store opening, Hobby Lobby. He thought it was going to be a model airplane kind of shop. One look in the window and he discovered he was wrong. He came home sounding very disappointed and it had the opposite effect on me. I made a mental note to get there as soon as I could. I had heard about Hobby Lobby from a neighborhood friend who has been eagerly awaiting the opening. She is from Texas and was very sad when she moved here and found out that there was no Hobby Lobby in Richmond. She even made pilgrimages to Fredericksburg on a regular basis to shop there and she was very excited about the shop opening here.

So today I ventured out to Pump land, as I call it, hoping that the crowds and traffic from the holidays had died down. Hobby Lobby shares a strip mall with Home Depot and Target so the crowds could be bad. I took my chances that the average Richmonder would be sleeping in and afraid to get on the roads as we had some snow last night. Lucky day - no traffic or crowds.

So, art friends, beading friends and decorating friends, a trip to the Lobby is well worth your time. The art supplies are varied and well organized. I didn't spend too much time in the beading aisle as the beading police are watching my every move. I was looking for pillow inserts and they had every size imaginable - even the large 18 x 36 that I'm looking to put on my Living Room sofa. I'll have to tell Harry that they do have a somewhat impressive model section. Michael's craft store has to be shaking in their boots. Hobby Lobby beats their selection hands down and also has home decor items that rival Home Goods. And it looks like they have regular coupons, too. Sorry, Michael's, my heart has been stolen away.

Happy Crafting!

First Visit to The National

I'm embarrassed to admit that last night was my first ever visit to The National Theatre here in Richmond. Friends had purchased tickets to see Greg Allman and invited us along. I was never a huge Allman Brother's fan but Harry wanted to go so being game for just about anything these days I agreed to go. Gosh, we haven't gone out to a concert in the middle of the week in years - if ever. Back in the suburban days it was too hard to do it even on the weekends - the traffic, the crowds, the annoying fans, blah blah blah. But living in the Fan, you hop into your car at 7:00 for a 7:30 concert and you have time to park, grab a beer and find your seat. The concert was so much fun. We had seats about 10 rows back and could really see the musicians perform. No need for binoculars. There was a lot of talent on that stage last night.

The National is a music-lover’s fantasy land. They have a state-of-the-art V-DOSC sound system, only the sixth installed in the country and only the third installed on the East Coast There seemed to be a great view of the stage from anywhere in the venue. With wooden floors, brick walls, and seven full bars, the room’s clean design and sharp style I'd say it is one of the best concert halls I've been to. Another reason to love the River City.

I have to admit I don't know any of the other musicians coming to The National in the next month or so. I've been "out of it" musically for a while but plan to get up to speed this year. I don't want to turn into one of those people who can only listen to the music of their youth. Although, I have to admit I prefer it. It was strange to sit in a theater with lots of graying adults - I don't see us that way!!! Last month I stood in line for tickets to James Taylor (okay, yes, it is music from my youth) and was aghast to see all the old people in line.

That's enough blogging for one week. Off to D.C. for some real work and visiting old friends. Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend.

Happy Listening!

The Governor of Salvage

The Richmond area has a plethora of salvage yards - a plus for those of us trying to renovate old homes. Last year we had some luck finding a door for an opening between two bedrooms in which the original door had been removed - at Caravati's. There were several doors to choose from and they made it so easy for us by taking the door to the paint stripper. After it had been stripped, and without too much trouble, Harry was able to hang the door so that the kids and the house guests at Thanksgiving had some privacy. Caravati's was also the source of a load of heart pine that the floor people needed when patching some bad spots during the first stage of the renovation.

Fast forward to the next project needing an old door. The laundry room, which in its previous life was a bunk room and before that a trunk room, had a very ugly hollow door, installed, I imagine when some previous owner removed the door with the transom (gasp) and installed the bunks.

Above is the bunk room as it looked when we purchased Haven.
In this shot you can see the hollow door still hanging after the room became our laundry room.

So, off we went, back to Caravati's, in search of a nicer door. The dimensions were funky so we weren't too hopeful. And, sure enough, no luck was had in finding the door.

I had read on another local blog, http://darlingoctopus.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/salvage-yard-heaven/, about Governor's Salvage.

Words nor photos can accurately describe this place. Have you seen the t.v. show Hoarders? I can't really watch it as I'm fearful that I'm one tube of paint or roll of fabric from starring in an episode. Anyway, hoarding is a compulsive issue in which a person continues to obtain belongings and is unable to get rid of useless items. Even the most useless items that most people would describe as junk, is unable to be thrown away for the fear that it would be needed in the future. Well, in this case, it was moved out to a yard and has become a business. Very smart.


Wouldn't you try to sell one rusty bathtub before acquiring another? Maybe they all have different charms, I'm not sure as I didn't climb up to inspect further.
This old iron scrap is pretty.
Lots of statues scattered hither and yon.
Love all the old stained glass windows. I wondered about their previous lives.
Does anyone need an old wagon wheel? Might make a cool coffee table. Harry needs a metal shop. I'm a sucker for anything with a bird on it. But I was trying to stay focused.


Ah, finally, the doors. Eureka, we found several that would work and wound up with a 15 light door that didn't need more than a good sanding and a couple of coats of Benjamin Moore White Dove. We decided to go with a 15 light door so that the noise from the machines would stay inside the room but the light from the window could come through to the very dark back hallway. Harry is working on the base trim and I'm trying to decide what sort of storage to put above the counter and machines.


I like this look from Crown Point cabinetry. I wish I had a sink in there.



In my dreams I'm doing laundry and sewing at the same time with that gorgeous thread. Hah.

I need a trip to Ikea to check out their kitchen cabinets. Anyone have any suggestions?

Happy Laundering!!

Back in the Blogosphere Again

Hello again blog friends. I took a very long break from blogging - reading and posting. Here it is 2011 already and so I'm going to try to get back up in the saddle again to reconnect and get inspired by all those great blogs out there. If you remember, I posted last January on what I wanted to accomplish in 2010. The first thing was to get out from behind my computer and get to know Richmond. I got on my bicycle almost every day this past summer and fall. Found some great coffee shops on my ride.....

What an amazing row of ginkos.....Heard some great music at the Cathedral Joined the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Rode around in circles at Byrd Park... I could go on and on. I love this city now more than ever.

The second goal was to paint more. Two of my paintings were in a show at Crossroads Art Center
My paintings are in the second row from the left - the Ibis and the landscape. Thanks to Adele Castillo, my instructor, I feel like my art has improved immensely. No sales yet but it was so much fun to be a part of a group show.

My third goal was to run the Ukrop's 10K with Harry and I amazed myself that I was able to finish. I still don't love running - I'd love to know when that will kick in. Both of my parents have had triple by-passes in the last couple of years so I'm trying to get more exercise and avoid that whole heart surgery scene! We start training for the 2011 race next week.

The fourth goal was to start the research for our master bath project. Research, unfortunately, is all that did happen. More on that later.

Richmond really does feel like home now. We've made some wonderful new friends and have shared some great times together.

Now that Richmond is feeling like home, Harry has accepted a job back up in Northern Virginia. We're not sure what to do about Haven so for now we're going to rent an apartment and drive back and forth.

I hope to post about trying to live in two cities at the same time on this blog in the next year. I can't make any lists for 2011 right now except that I'm going to try to reconnect with my old blog friends and make some new ones.

Happy 2011.