Where have I been?

It's been a long, long time, I think one of the longest blogging breaks I have been taken, partly involuntary, partly deliberately. Projects around the house, work with clients, other work and visiting family have been distracting me to the point where I felt I could not take another moment writing about it all.
Life has changed here, living without our dog still impacts us and the decision not to have another pet has also kind of made an impact...

Where did I leave off? Our outdoor house project, which had been originally initiated by storm Sandy and started in mid December, has finally been completed. 

Before:

The old front design did not do much in bad weather or a hot summer day.

And now:

Now in rain, snow or sunshine, there is protection from the elements.

A new roof and a newly designed (by yours truly) portico give the house new balance and added protection from the environment. It is a huge success and seems to attract all kind of attention in the neighborhood. Which makes me smile every time! It took us a long time to arrive at this point.

On a recent winter evening

After this we have moved inside and, although there is more work to be done, a few important things have changed here too. For starters we cleaned out and insulated our attic. 

Together with the new roof this has impacted our heating bill, which went down a good 20% since January. And it has been cold. The kids have complained about to warm of  rooms over night, something we've never heard before.
We feel the house is warmer altogether and that is a big difference. We also exchanged the attic vents, so they close in the winter. All things you might think we've had done years ago, but no....

I painted our hallway August 2009

Next week we also going to have two rooms painted professionally. YEAH! The family room, below, which had been effected by Sandy and needed a window replaced and our hallway, which had been done a few years back by me and needs a makeover badly. It will not make that space larger, but we always feel refreshed, when we change colors....we picked coral...

Major spring cleaning mess...

But in the meantime I also had energy for a good spring cleaning, which for the first time in many years was done, to my utmost surprise, with a swift hand and lots of parting from things, I thought I will never let go off. The result is an enormous feeling of relief.
And a clean living space.

The old trunk was a lucky curb find! A second, smaller one was snatched by my daughter for all her gadgets.

Another find: The Lamp base. One man's trash is another one's treasure. Indeed! I just fixed a tiny broken leg, here still missing.

The Ficus tree lives outdoors from spring until autumn.

We just love it!

The book shelf extends through the entire length of the room, which is most
helpful with a tiny kitchen. I keep china and glasses there as well.

(The color we've chosen is only a few shades darker then this one, no major change.)

Many books, old magazines, junk and leftovers from odd projects went away and it makes me happy to see suddenly more space where I thought I had none. I only hold on to things I need desperately to remember: Moments back in my life. Which still seems more then enough!
But I am so inspired, next I'll move to our bedrooms to take the closets apart.....

Morning smoothie, bananas, berries, coconut water and more....

The change of lifestyle, which I had begun exactly one year ago has also impacted our family, my husband has joined me now in a quest for healthier eating/living. We are now 70% raw, largely wheat free and mostly vegetarian and we have never felt better. Weight loss has only played partly a role in it, but the changes in our health have been lasting and amazing. My husband's heart pain has been gone since last year and has not returned, my joint pain, back pain and mood swings are all things of the past as well. Especially as a woman approaching menopause, there are countless benefits! I have so much more energy and this has made perhaps the biggest impact in our family life. And we have tackled issues, we never thought we would. It has been a great journey so far and we will stick to it! The great thing is, it never feels like a sacrifice or limitation. We do splurge on occasions and love coffee and chocolate (70% and up, lol) and the occasional glass of wine, as much as anybody else. We've realized over the last year that many shops and restaurants have jumped on the bandwagon of this healthier lifestyle and to ask for certain foods has never been easier. We find juices, smoothies and raw foods and is is rather amusing how I started this a year ago with not many knowing much about it and now almost no weekend passes, where I cannot read something or other raw food related in the WSJ, NY Times or different lifestyle magazines! OK, it must have hit main stream...which is actually really good! Give it a try! There is also a large online community, ready to help and connect with!

With my soul mate, together for more then 20 years! I am a lucky woman!

I have a feeling all these changes in my life are wonderfully connected and to be able to leave things behind is also the result of my new lifestyle. I feel empowered and ready to go another 50 years.....And I am grateful that I met this challenge and succeeded.

Things are good around here and this is thankfully not impacted by setbacks, like the lost project, which I had been working on for the last few weeks and the clients pulled out because they felt it is too big an undertaking to get their minds around. I can relate....
But when one door closes another will open and something will come my way.
You will be the first to know....

I apologize for this enormous long post, which surely will test you patience. But it only shows how much I missed talking to you all! I will come back to write and read all your posts, my (blog) friends. I've missed you.



xoxo 
Victoria





All images via Art House Design by V.Zlotkowski

Moment in time

I hope your moment in time is good! Happy weekend to you all! 

xoxo

Image V.Zlotkowski

These are a few of my favorite things

I am humming....
But today I will have to add a couple of things to girls in white dresses and fluffy kittens...

Our Christo moment....during the process of getting the new roof.

As our project outside and few improvements inside near their completion, a few of my favorite things have finally made their appearance. Major projects take a long time to complete, the details can take time and the moment, when one finally "sees" the changes can be a challenge to wait for. 

Insulation up in the attic, what a difference!

Yet I am fully aware, I do not deal with a project, which takes longer then a couple of weeks. Two months, maybe a few more days. Small problems do occur, like the one below. But nothing really upsetting so far.

Delay: Wrong window delivered, by next week the new one will arrive.

So my patience has not been tested that much.

And look at the new light fixture. I am in love!

So much nicer then the old one...

Finally: Our new upstairs landing lantern with an Edison bulb!

The new outdoor portico lantern. Portico needs still priming and painting.

But while I am so happy to see the light fixtures functioning and all these things are truly wonderful, I still had been waiting impatiently for something completely unrelated. 
I am a fan of Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce book series. If you are not familiar, go and check it out, his books are a major delight for all fans of great mysteries. Set in England in the 50's, in and around a mansion and the nearby village, Flavia, the 11 year old heroine, solves crimes with smarts, wit and charisma.

That Buckshaw, the old mansion, is falling apart and unfortunately could soon be lost for seemingly ever present financial problems adds to the charm and makes me feel right at home. I can certainly relate. Although our home is, thankfully, not in quite such disrepair (anymore) and our financial situation seems a little more secure, we too fight the endless battles of fixing an old house with regularly occurring maladies, from leaking pipes to toppling chimneys. 
So, now you may imagine my delight, when the latest installment of the series, after a long time waiting, stuck yesterday in our mailbox. After a rather haphazardly thrown together dinner I withdrew into my bedroom, closed the door and dimmed the lights to cozy up to 'Speaking From Among the Bones'. Hard as it was and to make it last a little longer, I stopped reading after one hour or so and since then I have sneaked around the book, almost unable to wait 'til tonight to continue the pleasure...It's so hard...It's right here...And it's as good as the others, maybe even better!
Oh, the waiting has been so long and then the reading fun it's over so quickly. I might just start at the beginning again and read them all after another!
Do you have book series you cannot put down? 

So, between the daily to make decisions about light fixtures, copper flushing, windows, paint colors and books to read, at least the last one has been easy!

Wishing you all easy decisions and a happy weekend! 
I cannot wait to reveal to you all the finished project soon...


xoxo



All images by V.Zlotkowski

More sunshine?

I have been contemplating some embellishment over the garage portico and my thoughts have turned towards something like a sun plaque or wall art. I am not 100% sure about it yet, but I was wondering what your thoughts are on this. Tacky or not?
The place in question:

My ideas:

Or this perhaps:

Or that?

What's your take on it?


xoxo



All images via Google image, no credit taken.

Material men

Old copper and dried hydrangea

Seeing all the different materials around the house, in their strange settings, or shall I say unfamiliar to me and yet intriguing, made me wander around to take some pictures. I love salvaged materials, or the ones used for building, like wood or copper. It's like jewelry for the house, decorative and useful at the same time. Poetic and dramatic.

And this is what I found:

Old half round dental molding from over the front door

 

The tree reflected

Roofer's toolbox

The roof is taking shape and the porticos are almost done, it looks certainly beautiful, even in this unfinished stage.

My trusted contractor and his crew on the roof are
doing their work above and beyond my expectations! 
Thank you, guys!

All images V.Zlotkowski,  copyright 2013

Snowy morning

Detail of an old piece of dental molding, found under the half round detail, covered with siding, over the front door.

Not quite unexpectedly we were woken rather early this morning by another call from school: There will be a delay, due to inclement weather... and while my kids turned around and dreamed another sweet dream of dodging yet another test... I was thinking of our half stripped roof and the delay it would create there. But I love the pristine white and my husband took a few great shots before the workers came and removed the snow to work on the details inside the garage and moldings. It is cold, but the men are used to the outdoor work. I supply them with hot tea and they are unfazed by any obstacle.

8 AM

You can see a little of the newly created molding, details, which I designed with my trusted contractor.

Unfinished detail inside the portico, there will be a small lantern hanging in the center.

Today will be no roof work, obviously, but I was told they might continue tomorrow. So I am looking forward to more emerging details on the house front. A happy day!

Wishing you all the same!

xoxo

All images by V. Zlotkowski and lightingdirect.com

The new year

The new year has started without much fanfare, we spend New Year's eve quietly at home. We all miss our oldest, who had been with us for the holidays. Has it been almost a month since his arrival was looked forward to it, with so much excitement? I can hardly believe it.

Now he is back with his brother in Berlin and I wish the city would be nearer....
But there is so much to plan ahead, we are already thinking of the summer months! And being closely connected always helps us bridge the far distance.
Until then we also have a few new projects at hand.

Do you remember the remodeling of our drive way and front entrance? We had created a new walk way and added the small columns with the lamps atop. But the roof had to wait then. That was two years ago and now, due largely to hurricane Sandy, we are again building in the front.
A large town tree has had hit our garage and broke through the support beam and also damaged the wall along the side of the house, back to were the addition to the house (our family room) lies.

We needed immediate action and work had started already before Christmas. Of course this was the perfect time to get a new roof and while we were at it, we thought to finally fulfill a long hoped for wish. We are adding a portico over our entrance. As you can see, the old one, below, does nothing in respect of protection from the elements and architectural does not fit in with the portico over the garages, which had been added in the 50's by previous owners.

Something I had planned for a long time, but as you can imagine, it was never a priority. Now we took our chance a made our move...

My idea went along these lines....just instead of the balcony roof below, we will add a portico with two square columns and a lantern.

It is still a work in progress, an old house is always good for some surprises and so our bill has gotten longer as the work weeks pass. Now the portico takes shape...

A rotten beam, nicely hidden under layers of paint, a completely clogged up drainage pipe from the gutters to the ground, too old wiring for future light fixtures, you name it, we find it.

This is the original roof line, just fixed already...new beam!

But as with all renovations, we had something like that in mind when we started a few weeks ago. These are not truly surprises.
Our contractor is a man of integrity and craftsmanship, something we highly appreciate and value and together we will manage just fine! 

As I write this a huge dumpster has been delivered to the drive, to receive all the junk and the old roof, which will come down tomorrow.

This is all so exciting!

I have been ill with the flu over the last days, today is the first day I feel somewhat better and it has been now, that I feel compelled to write in my blog, for the first time this year!
I have been reading on and off your lovely posts and I am so happy to be back in business!
I hope you are all off to a great start, I cannot wait to catch up with all of my blog friends!


xoxo





All images by V.Zlotkowski