{"id":30847,"date":"2020-06-23T00:01:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T07:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=30847"},"modified":"2020-06-23T00:01:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T07:01:20","slug":"brand-new-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/brand-new-place\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lights Are On. But the Guests Have Yet to Arrive. Sheltering in (Our Brand New) Place. Week 15"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"walnut-fireplace-mantel-brand-new-place\"<\/a>
A new custom-made walnut mantel replaces the old one, which was dwarfed by the large brick fireplace. We put in the marble hearth a few years ago. Dark gray aluminum windows are by\u00a0 Blomberg. The picture window replaces one that used to open — a serious falling hazard for small children. We’re glad that’s gone. Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sheltering in (Our Brand New) Place. June 22, 2020. <\/strong>Week 15<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’d like to invite you one more time into our brand new place. Indulge me. Please. Come on in and take a look. Because, sad to say, I fear that you folks, my readers, are the only company we’ll be having in our new living rooms for months to come.<\/p>\n

I’d planned a big open house for as soon as the work was done. Show the place off.<\/p>\n

\"walnlut-mantel-brand-new-place\"<\/a>
The walnut mantel<\/a> was locally milled especially for our old brick fireplace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’d invite invite family and friends. We’d invite the neighbors who’d put up with trucks and noise and porta-potties for seven-plus months.<\/p>\n

We’d crack out the leftover wedding champagne. We’d put some beer on ice out on our sweet new deck. We’d go big — hire a caterer. Celebrate.<\/p>\n

And after that, in the months that followed, we’d have modest gatherings and little dinner parties. The kids would fly in from afar and sit around an 8 1\/2-foot table in the new dining room.<\/p>\n

\"picture-frame-hardwood-floor-design-brand-new-place\"<\/a>
The original hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms were red oak with a picture frame border. The subcontractor matched the border when he laid down new flooring in the kitchen. We opted for a clear finish that will turn a little amber over time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"brand-new-place-residential-hall-skylight\"<\/a>
Would a skylight be worth the extra money? Yes. It brightens the dark upstairs bedroom hallway nicely.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"brand-new-place-residential-desk-niche\"<\/a>
A very patient electrician, Martin Ortega at Roberts Electric, lit up this otherwise dark hallway desk niche.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jon and I would be living in a brand new place that’s spiffed up and presentable at last, after years and years of putting up with that worn-out look that houses acquire when babies arrive and burp all over the place, then grow into frisky kids who push ride toys across the hardwood floor, and then, without warning, become long-legged teenagers who can’t find a place to put their feet, so they make do with the coffee table, and then after that disappear into the world and leave their exhausted elders with a house looking like it’s past its sell-by date.<\/p>\n

So, beautiful as our new space is, it’s a little sad. It’s a place designed with guests in mind, guests who won’t be arriving any time soon.<\/p>\n

But you’re here! And hopefully you enjoy getting an inside look at a new reno as much as I do.<\/p>\n

The big, splashy elements are terrific. (See them at “Hey, HGTV Fans. Take a Look at Our Remodel.”<\/a>) One of the benefits — which I hadn’t anticipated — of<\/p>\n

\"brand-new-place-foster-wall-sconce\"<\/a>
A Foster wall sconce with clam shell shade from Rejuvenation fits into a small, odd spot in the desk niche. We’ll look for an Edison bulb to put in there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

removing the wall between the kitchen and the dining and living rooms is that we now have a large, L-shaped open space with light entering from three different directions. The light shifts and shines into the space from different angles throughout the day as the sun moves around the house. It’s magical.<\/p>\n

And the can lights! There are 38 of them lighting up every corner of the new rooms and hallway, giving off so much light that we actually expect to be able to read in our living room from now on. They’ll also shed some nice soft light on the pictures we hang on the walls.<\/p>\n

Those are the big things. But our brand new place has many details that are also pretty cool. Check out the photos.<\/p>\n

More adventures in remodeling at “Our Remodel Has Kept Us Company<\/a> — I’ll Miss the Carpenters, Electricians and Pile Drivers.”\u00a0 More about living in a pandemic at “At 78, I Have a Lot of Living to Do. Do the Deciders Care?”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"brand-new-place-barn-light\"<\/a>
We chose a row of four barn lights for our deck. The selection of damp-rated LED bulbs is slim; we’ll make do with these for now. And, yes, we’ll get the house painted . . . soon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"brand-new-place-crate-and-barrel-pendant-lights\"<\/a>
These three pendant lights<\/a> from Crate and Barrel will hang over an 8 1\/2-foot long dining table that seats ten, we hope. Notice the abundant, dimmable LED can lights in the ceilings. Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"brand-new-place-crate-and-barrel-pendant-lights\"<\/a><\/p>\n

See the renovated details of our brand new place. Lighting. Millwork. Floors. All designed to wecome guests who, sadly, won’t be coming by any time soon.\u00a0 Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,41],"tags":[2304,2305,34,2306,2307,2308,82,2309,2310,2182,2311],"class_list":["post-30847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","category-sheltering-at-home-chronicles","tag-blomberg-windows","tag-crate-and-barrel","tag-dont-miss","tag-hardwood","tag-lighting","tag-mantel","tag-on-the-funny-side","tag-pendant-light","tag-rejuvenation","tag-remodel","tag-skylights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}