Black and White Wednesday - "Our black and white beauty"

Last May, when I posted our finished renovation here, I mentioned I was holding off on showing a little beauty we found.

You see, we had a Yamaha upright piano, purchased with our wedding money a few (ahem) years back. But there really was no room for it anymore on the main floor without crowding things in. (And I'm trying so hard to break that habit.)

So, we decided it would have to go. It simply was too heavy (really, really heavy) to bring upstairs to the loft. It was a fairly easy decision because I knew what we were after. (hehe)

(I didn't anticipate how attached I was to our old piano till I saw it being moved out the door - I kinda, sorta burst into tears.)

But, when I saw our new baby (grand) coming in the door, my mood quickly changed. We had a whole bunch of recording equipment that we weren't using, my old synth. keyboard and 3 of our 4 guitars which were stored under our bed - collecting dust. Sold them all along with our upright and bought....cough....sputter....gasp....

this

Beauty!!!

It's a full recording studio with a full, built-in sound system that can shake the house. And the most gorgeous sounding grand piano with full orchestration capability.





Even though Dahlia hasn't officially started piano lessons, she knows how to turn this on and get all sorts of crazy stuff going. A favorite is - she'll give me a cue like this "ok, Mom...hit it" and I'll shout out "who let the dogs out?" and she'll hit the key that sounds "who...who" - like the dog.
(Get it!)



My Mother, who was really a stage mother in disguise, would have loved this piano and I know she is happy that I continued to play. She'd be thrilled to know Dahlia will be playing too. Dahlia thankfully still has memories of my Mom, playing her piano in her apartment. She remembers it more vividly because she has pictures of her Nan in her little photo album.

(Yet another good reason to capture the moments that count.)

Bienvenue.........chez nous !!

Finally.........it's done!

(ish)

After 3 long months, I'm happy to say our renovation is done. (The "ish" is still a few door frames, base boards, a little painting, decor and....oh yeah...a MASSIVE amount of cleaning (cough, sputter, choke) and unpacking to do.

My poor garden is calling me and the kiddies could handle a little more Mommy time but the big stuff is done (read - I'm never doing this again!!).

But

I'm grateful because I really love it. I LOVE IT!!! Hear me?

So....let's start at the front door.

The foyer.

View from the back.

And now....drum roll please

Ma cuisine.









Little touches ( I used ever last square inch).





See in there....in the corner? My very first and favorite cookbook.

Ever.



Little tea sets - brought back from China.

And my favorite - purchased quickly and oh -so -guiltily from a tea house in Beijing.

(I could stare at that chubby shape all day.)

Ahem.....for those of you who need a potty break....or just a break....you are excused. I know this is long but it is my one and only last renovation so I'm showing it all.


Drawers, drawers and more drawers.

Love, love, love!!!








I'm in love with my faucet.



My kitchen is not big - but I like it that way. I'm a solo cook and everything is within arms or a few steps reach. So get out of my way 'cause I can fly.

And my diningroom is very large so this size kitchen is perfect for me/us.






And the (old library) now family room - connected so I can see everything and we can all be together. Walls and closets and a powder room were removed and re-located to get this view.

And I spend a fair amount of time just staring and grinning.

All CD's and DVD's and toys and games are tucked away. Just my beloved books hold center stage. We use to have our piano in here too. We sold it (along with a whack of recording equipment) and bought a little beauty which I'll reveal later. It's in the loft - where we lived for the better part of 3 months - so there's no way any human eyes will see that cacophonous area except us for awhile.








Did I mention I love my books?

(This is about a quarter of them. I gave/threw away about half of what I originally had in this room and we have book cases in the loft, my art studio, and Dan's office too. And Dahlia's collection is....ummm.......pretty big and growing.

I know....you don't have to say it!))

My all-time favorite book is on this shelf. Can you guess?

Ta-da!

I don't know why....I just loved this book. Period.

Well, that's it! I still have to finish up the powder room and a few other things which I'll show later. (That is if you're into powder rooms.)

:)

And to all those who have sympathized and waited patiently - thank you.

And if you're renovating....well....God bless you!

And may the force be with you.

Black and White Wednesday "A tiny tease"

So, our endless renovation is just about finished, tomorrow should be nice and sunny so I'll grab my camera and go crazy.

I'll post the finished product on Thursday. Meanwhile, for Lisa's black and white theme - I thought I'd give you a tiny preview.....just to whet your appetite.

Family room mantle. Just a quick peek.

And my favorite part of our new kitchen. (Well....one of them.)

There's the tease.

More on Thursday.