And So it Goes . . . and Goes . . . and Goes . . .

Oh, Readers! I’ve neglected you for so long. We’ve moved, you know, from our temporary rental situation and into our Rancho. Finally. That whole moving business has taken me away from the computer for all these weeks, but then . . . there’s more. Because guess what? The house wasn’t ready for us when we got here.

Our contractor was running behind when we arrived August 7, and here it is a full month later and our house still isn’t finished. When we got here, our home was supposed to be complete with the exception of countertops. Um-hmmmmm. Not so much.



View from the rumpus room through the newly opened wall

We had floors and walls and such, of course. We had a toilet, sink and tub in one bathroom. There were some cabinets in the kitchen—slick glossy-gray ones from Ikea—but we dared not fill them, because their contents would only be covered in construction dust. We had a temporary, $40 aluminum sink in the kitchen and, thanks to a slow delivery from the appliance store, the fridge and microwave the previous owner had left behind. And because we didn’t want our belongings to get damaged during the construction melee, we put most of our stuff in storage. Nice. 



Old microwave in the hole where the new one will be

 Since then, most of our appliances have been installed, save the custom-colored microwave I just had to have. (When you land on the page after clicking on the link, click on the first little color swatch in the second row—“Wasabi”—and you’ll see what we’re waiting on backorder for.) Pretty Ikea light fixtures have been installed above the kitchen island. New toilets are in. Sinks and sink-cabinets, again from Ikea, grace the bathrooms. Some furniture has made its way inside.

More painting has taken place since these photos were taken (by our good friend Tom Underhill, a professional photographer)—in fact, the inside is nearly done. We chose to do the majority of the house in a saturated yellow—a color we had Benjamin Moore paint custom-mixed to match a Behr shade we liked (Feather Gold). Accent walls are done in Olive Moss; ceilings, fireplace and trim in Pure White; and the main beam, upright posts and additional horizontal accents in Soot—all from Benjamin Moore. (The Soot treatment was inspired by photos of original Long Beach Ranchos seen on the Huntington Library’s digital library.) Our painter, Steve Smith of Smith Prep 'N' Paint, has done a magnificent job, as usual. We've worked with him, and only him, for many years.

Estate sale headboard with vintage sconces from Etsy.com

As you can see from the photos—if you look past the clutter—Jeff Jeannette, of Jeannette Architects here in Long Beach, did a marvelous job on the design of the kitchen and in opening up the wall between the two large living spaces. We’re very pleased with the result.

 Next week, we hope to see the installation of our CaeserStone countertops, with one section of the island topped in butcher block. We’ve been waiting a long time, so we’re looking forward to it. We also expect to get our furniture and art placed in the next week or two. Of course, we’ll keep you updated—but this time in a more timely fashion.

The rumpus room: TV will mount above the console; pocket door to the left



It's dirty--but get a load of that terrazzo floor!



Pretty little bathroom



Paint swatches of the main and accent color appear at the right



Do This. Don’t Do That.

We’re still plugging away. So much is done, but there’s a lot more left to do.

Our Bedroom

There’s drywall up where there were once sad little two-by-fours. The tank-less is in, and so is the furnace. The floor’s down and most of the grinding’s done, but the terrazzo’s still got to be grouted and sealed.

Still, there are no kitchen cabinets. No usable bathroom. No finished place to sleep. I look forward to prettiness, big-time. So while we wait—and fret—we thought we’d pass on some hard-earned wisdom.

Poor Little Kitchen

We’ve never done anything like this before, and we’ve learned a lot about the right way to go about doing a remodel on a mid-century house. More importantly, we’ve learned what not to do. Along the way, there were red flags—big ones—but we didn’t see them right away, because we didn’t know what to look for. So we’re passing along what we’ve learned to our readers, which they are welcome to take or leave alone. Ready? Here goes:

• Do hire a licensed contractor. The first contractor we hired wasn’t. Big mistake. The fellow we’re working with now is licensed and came highly recommended. So while we’re a long way from the finish line, we’re sleeping a lot better now.
• Do check your contractor’s license. You can look up any contractor on the California Department of Consumer Affairs website to make sure he/she is licensed and that his/her license is current. Do it. There are a million reasons why you should.
• Do get at least two or three bids for your various projects. And don’t assume the lowest bid is the best bid.
• Don’t take someone’s word for something if it doesn’t feel right to you. Being told you don’t need a permit and you’re not so sure? Find out by checking with your local building department. The Department of Consumer Affairs website has a lot of useful information to help guide you through your project. Why not take advantage of it?
• Don’t go forward with anything that doesn’t feel right to you. Follow your gut. We averted disaster because we didn’t allow our first contractor—who tried to keep us from involving an architect—to push us around. We did hire an architect, who hired an engineer, who kept our house from falling down when we opened up our wall.
• Do shop around. You can almost always find a better deal on fixtures, appliances or materials, especially if you pay cash. Estate sales are a great place to find hidden treasure. And we love the Habitat for Humanity Restore.
• Do keep all of your information in one place. We assembled a three-ring binder with sections divided by project (different rooms, HVAC, opening the wall, paint colors, etc.), and additional sections with quotes/contracts, budget, receipts, and the like. Color samples, swatches, countertop samples, appliance specs, etc. are also in there. We take this notebook everywhere we go. That way, if a question comes up, we have the answer at our fingertips.
• Don’t let your budget get away from you. Keep track of all expenditures, large and small, in a spreadsheet or with software like Quicken. It’s those little $50 or $100 purchases that will get you—they add up when you’re not looking.