Hitting the Roof with Home Renovation

A client came to me with situation of having to completely change her roof. She was in an unhappy state of mind because the workman were making steady process and there was a dizzying array options for shingles. She needed to make a decision and fast. 

She wanted help making the right choice for the roof but while we were doing that could we freshen up the front of the house? The exterior wall color was in great shape...could I choose roof shingles that complimented the main house color and change out some detail color on the shutters and front door to update its curb appeal?

The wine color of the shutters was not thrilling the homeowner. As a fan of simplicity she was even considering removing them altogether. I asked her to hang on and I would find a restrained palette that would suit her taste, work with the architecture of the house and hues of her drought tolerant garden.

From the choices in the asphalt shingles I went with one that had variation to the cool / blue side of the spectrum as well as a darker bias. This would give a little weight to the silhouette of the sloped roof line and the cooler tones would bring out the yellow ochre aspect of the sage green  more.

For the door I wanted a real pop of welcoming color and choose "Heritage Red" from Ben Moore. I choose  Ben Moore's "Twilight Zone" for the shutters to make a real statement.

The look we were after was "clean crisp and elegant". The client is happy with the results and the curb appeal of the house is amazing.

The look we were after was "clean, crisp and elegant". The client is happy with the results.

Ugly Duckling Floors

Before we started gutting the kitchen of this 1920's home; it was evident that after all the people who had chopped and changed things over the years there would be, like all renovations some surprises along the way.

One question that lingered in the air was, "what was under the lino floor?" The answer to that was a subfloor and lo and behold… more lino! Under that, another subfloor and finally,  linoleum glued to the  original hardwood floors with a black tar adhesive.

It looks something like this:

If you're wondering what that diamond shape is in the center, although difficult to read in the photo is the letter "A" scored into the hardwood and painted with enamel.

After pulling up literally hundreds upon hundreds of floor nails, sanding began. First with a drum sander hired from Home Depot. For a smallish kitchen like this we had it out for about 5 hours.

Then a belt sander starting with 60 grit paper and following the grain of the floorboards. Also handy was the wood floor edger for getting right up to the skirting boards.

Then a very thorough cleaning with a shop vac, wipe down everything with tack cloth. 

For the staining, Zar "Dark Mahogany" was used in their oil based line. It was brushed on, then the excess was wiped of in the direction of the grain with a clean lint free cloth. After drying another layer was brushed on and wiped off as before.

For sealing, Zar Ultra Max Waterborne Oil Polyurethane was brushed on. After the first coat, holes were filled with wood putty; a color that most closely matched the area Miniwax's "Red Mahogany" worked well here. Three coats were used letting each dry with a light sanding and wiping down with tack cloth in between.

Refinishing the original floors has kept a piece of the house's history, saved money on the budget and looks beautiful in the new kitchen.

Stop Stairing

Stair riser design by Nathalie Tierce

A client of mine and her husband have an adorable house in the Hollywood Hills. They wanted to update some pretty blah stairs that didn't really say anything about their style nor were they particularly fun to look at. I looked around the house and found some other shapes and patterns that were in other fabrics and things they had and came up with this design for them.