Wow…where to begin. I picked up Kelly on Thursday afternoon and we went straight to Tuscan Stone, on Galvez, under I-10. I didn’t even know that place was there. They have a big selection of stone, from onyx, marble, and granite to travertine, slate and limestone. I presently live in a condo with darker tones than I want for the Constance house. I found a beautiful piece of tile and am basing my color scheme for the kitchen on this. I’m not actually using this tile, just using it for inspiration.
We chose a granite for the kitchen countertop and bar. Here is a picture of the slab…it doesn’t really do justice to the beauty of this stone. I had considered limestone but was told that it is a poor choice for kitchens because it is so porous. It would be so disappointing to have spills stain this, plus the limestone they had in stock was not a very good match colorwise. Here are the granite slabs we chose. It has the soft green tones I was looking for and granite is highly durable in the kitchen…
For the master bath I wanted something that was elegant but not too formal. We found a beautiful piece of vein cut travertine for the countertop. Here is a picture of that…
I love the striated pattern and the way it looks like waves breaking on the shore. There’s lots of movement and it will look beautiful on the countertop.
For the floors we’re using the samples below which are storm tumbled travertine. We’ll use a combination of sizes ranging from 2X2’s for the shower floor and for accents on the main floor. We’ll do a 12 inch border of the 2X2’s and use 12 inch squares for the main floor. We’re also using a subway type shape for the walls which will go about 4 ft up the walls…
This travertine is rustic and beautiful and we won’t slip on the floor because of the rough texture…We’re considering radiant heat flooring in our bathroom because it’s a corner room and will be cold in the winter. We’ll just have to price it out and see if it fits in the budget.
We had meeting with the the contractor, the electrician, the elevator rep, and the painters. We told them what to bid and what our ideas were to try and get some idea of cost. We have a budget and will have to make some compromises between what we need vs what we want.
Since I will have to go the the New Orleans Historic Landmark Commission for a permit to fence in the adjoining lot we went over to the Bank, an architectural salvage shop to take pictures of the gates we’d found on a previous visit there. Sean pulled the gates so we could take pictures of them. I made an appointment with an architect who specializes is historic renovations and he gave me some preliminary requirements which upon further inspection makes me think these gates may not work. Apparently there is a 7 ft limitation on height. He also told me that the gates can’t be too ornate. In essence, the gates we chose will probably not work and here’s why…
They are 9 ft tall and probably too ornate. I’m going to meet with him tomorrow to argue my case for reusing salvaged elements to give them new life. Don’t know if it will fly but I’m going to try…let’s see what he suggests.
We’re having the Bank manufacture shutters for the windows as well. They will be unfinished and oil rubbed.
Work has begun to tear up the concrete sidewalk on the Constance St side of the building. They were here with jackhammers yesterday morning and by the afternoon this is what it looked like all along the sidewalk…
The bricks were delivered to the lot. I found used Old New Orleans hard tans, which are the appropriate bricks for a sidewalk. They are harder than other types and I got 5 palates, which amount to about 2500 bricks.
The previous owner also gave me some bricks which hopefully will be enough to finish the job. The sidewalk on the Terpsichore side of the house looks like many of the original bricks are still there…they are just overgrown by grass.
Hopefully we will be able to scrape the grass off the surface to expose and re-level them. I’m hoping we find most of them there.
Lane took a trip to Wynona Miss. to look at some wood a friend has agreed to give us for anything we might need for the build out. He brought some samples and this is what they look like.
There’s cherry, pine, poplar and walnut and the grain in the samples is beautiful. We’re planning to take a big truck up there some time this week if all works out to pick it up. Apparently there’s plenty so it will have to be a coordinated effort.
We also went to look at the elevators to make our selections for the cab finishes. This was a painless process and we got to stand inside some of the cabs to get a feel for the size. Ours is going to be a 54 inch square…big enough to hold a wheelchair and an extra person or two. We’re going to frame in the space for the elevator, but because of possible budget contraints, we may install it at a later date.
As you can see, we got a lot done this week. Steve, our contractor, also told us that the project will possibly be finished by the end of April. We’re pushing for that and will probably wait to rent the condo until that time. That will prevent us from having to move twice which is comforting to me…
Stay tuned for more…as we continue to work away….
This picture is taken from the kitchen looking toward the pantry and vestibule leading to our bedroom suite. The pantry is to the right and my closet is just next to it on the left.
