The remodel of our master bathroom has been finished for a few months now, but I realized that I never put up photos on here.  They aren’t great pics, but they show the change well enough, I guess.  The tub is missing from the before pictures because we had to rip it out due to water damage underneath it.  Shortly after we moved into our house we noticed that the wall beside the shower was, well, mushy.  So that was worrisome.  We didn’t know how much damage there was behind the walls and underneath the tub, so we decided to rip it out and see.  We discovered that the tub did not have a tile flange and had been installed improperly.  There was water damage to the subfloor and part of the wall, but nothing too major.  Except now we didn’t have a master shower anymore.  We already we planning on doing a renovation sometime because the bathroom was an early 90s nightmare, but this expedited the process.  Anyway, here are some pics of the before:

Here are some pics of the bathroom post remodel.  We used a simple subway tile in the shower and a moderately priced Kohler fixture with a large shower head.  The faucets are Price Pfister, ordered from Overstock.com.  The mirrors, the light fixtures over the mirrors, and the light over the shower are all from Pottery Barn.  The glazed penny tile on the floor is from The Tile Shop, and the double vanity is from Costco.  The knobs on vanity are not the ones that came with it.  I didn’t like them, so I bought glass knobs from Restoration Hardware and replaced them.  Everything is pretty neutral right now, but I plan to add some color with accessories and shower curtain.  The curtain you see is just a temporary fix from Target.  I am going to pick out some fabric and have the real curtain custom made, because the shower is wider and taller than the standard size.  The lighting in the pictures looks yellow, but it isn’t in person.  There is also a skylight in the bathroom that provides nice natural light during the day.  Anyhoo, here are the pics:

I would really like one of Lyle Owerko’s photos of the Samburu tribe in Kenya, but I doubt my $50 art budget for this fiscal year would quite cover it.  Very cool, but I can also imagine myself awaking in the middle of the night, stumbling to find the restroom, seeing this out of the corner of my eye, in the darkness, and having a heart attack.

I often daydream about what kind of house I want to live in next.  I used to think a nice, old house with lots of character and crown moldings (mouldings?) would be ideal.  Other times I remember that I’m lazy and that an old house is too much work.  So now I’m thinking a concrete box, similar to the one below, would be great.  My dogs would have a hard time scratching or soiling the concrete floors, and I think minimalism like this would be kind of serene.  I might think differently after living in it for a year, but for now, this is my daydream.

“Orchard House” by Anderson Anderson Architecture

I found this site, called What a Lovely Name, in a design gallery.  It’s supposed to help you pick out baby names, and I thought it was kind of cute.  Let me take a moment to point out that this post does NOT in any way indicate that I am pregnant, nor that I intend to become pregnant in the near future.  Mom, I’m talking to you.  Don’t get any ideas.

Anyway, the site allows you to choose names based on ethnic or cultural traditions and personality traits (I guess meaning characteristics you would like your child to exhibit at some point in the future, since babies would pretty much be limited to attributes like hungry, constipated and fatigued).  You also can peruse celebrity names and names from “other worlds,” such as Narnia and Middle Earth.  Take a look for yourself, if you so desire.

Oh my golly.  I can’t even tell you how many My Little Ponies I had as a child.  I had (and still have traces of) a strange fascination with horses, so MLPs were a natural toy fit for me.  I also, like all true children of the eighties, have a strong affinity for Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace).  So, it was to my immense enjoyment when I discovered, via A Blog About Things, the work of artist Mari Kasurinen.  In particular, the Michael Jackson Pony:

I just…I don’t…I just don’t even know what to say.  Except maybe, WHY did no one come up with this in the EIGHTIES??  I feel like my childhood was somewhat lacking now.

I would just like to go on record about how much I love What The Font.  I have used it so many times, and it is usually accurate, which I find amazing.  In case you haven’t used it, here is how it works:  take a screenshot of a font you find online or scan in one you find in a magazine or elsewhere, upload it on the What The Font site, verify the characters, and presto!  Most of the time, it will present you with the exact font you are looking for, or a very similar font.  So for example, let’s say I like a font on J.Crew’s website.

I want to find out what font the “Fall Favorites” text is in, so I take a screenshot of that section of the page.

There is a little bit of obstruction with the legs of the model in the background, but it isn’t too bad, so this should still work.  If there is too much obstruction or if the text is too small, there is a lesser chance of success.  Anyway, the next step is to upload the screenshot of the text to the What The Font page.

Once you push continue, it will take you to a page that looks like the one below, where you must verify the characters.

Once you’ve done that, push continue again to get your results.  You’ll either receive an exact match or the site will suggest fonts that are very similar.  If you choose, you can purchase the font right there and be on your merry way.

As you can see, for this example I didn’t get the exact font, but it is strikingly similar.  The letter “R” is a little off, but overall it’s a pretty good match.

“Her Chair” by Fabio Novembre, $990.  Available at Property.  Also comes in male version.

I found this picture among my Charleston photos.  This telephone post, at the convergence of East Bay and Market streets, was completely covered in gum.  Gross, and yet somehow decorative.  But anyway…

The weird thing was, the gum, which had to have taken a while to accumulate, was here one day and gone the next.  So either:

A.)  There is some poor soul out there who has the unfortunate task of removing the gum.  Because the gum was there late one night and then gone the next morning, this leads me to believe the gum-remover works very efficiently under cover of darkness, leaving dumbstruck tourists like me to wonder aloud, “Wasn’t that pole just covered in……..Huh?”  I also wonder whom this person works for (the city?), how much he/she is paid for the gum removal service, and if he/she gets to keep the coins that are stuck to the gum in various places.

B.)  A consortium of mischievous (and apparently bored) people gathers at intervals to remove the gum.  Perhaps they move it to another pole in town?  Maybe it is a “traveling” gum pole that exists for the purpose of confusing people like me, who are entirely too interested in this topic.

C.) A pack of animals, probably squirrels (or owls), descended on the pole and ate the gum, pennies, shoelaces, etc.

Whatever happened, it’s a sticky situation, indeed.

Okay, people.  This house has been sitting on the market forever, and I’m wondering what’s wrong with it.  I understand that the $600,000 price tag is out of reach for many people, myself included, but seriously.  This place has a PIPE ORGAN!  And who doesn’t need one of those.

So, Woodbine, as it’s called, has been up for sale since May 2007.  The estate was built for Anders Rasmussen, a New Albany florist who once worked as a gardener for the King of Denmark.  The sale price has been reduced a few times, so I’m just biding my time before I can make that organ mine.  Once it drops a few more hundred thousand, watch out.  Find out more about my future home here.

If you were building a new house, which architecture firm would you choose to design it?  I’m actually not too familiar with the residential work from firms around Louisville, but I do really like style of De Leon & Primmer’s downtown office, so perhaps I’d go with them if I were to choose a local firm.

But if I could pick anyone, regardless of location or budget, I’d definitely choose Platt Dana of New York City.  I really admire their ability to make a new (or newish) house believably simulate the charm and quality of much older homes, and their talent in the American farmhouse style.  Check out some of their work: