Friday ISO: Table-style desk

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!
I'm kicking off my 2011 regular series a bit early. Every Friday, I'm going to post a query of something I'm looking for, be it furniture, linens, accessories, etc.

I'll need your help in sourcing them!

For the first one, here it is: I'm looking for a large table that can serve as a desk for my new office. I'm thinking trestle-style so that a desk chair (velvet tufted???) will fit underneath it. My initial thought is to go with a white piece. But, the photos that I chose below tell me my brain is thinking something else!

Here are some inspiration photos:



From West Elm





Of course, it would be great to find a used one and paint it :)



Oyster Rockafeller...Er...Licursi

A while ago, Keith and I suscribed to Coastal Living to get ideas on decorating. I flipped through one issue and saw a beautiful oyster painting.

What excited me more is that Keith liked it, too! We tend to disagree when it comes to artwork. I hurried to find out who made this.  Unfortunately, Coastal Living didn't give credit to the artist. All I could make out was the signature, so I googled "Bellamy Oyster". And Found It! Bellamy's artwork lives on interior designer Jane Coslick's  web store.

The website says that Bellamy Murphy grew up on the water and spent countless hours fishing, crabbing and shrimping. It certainly still serves as inspriation. 

I'm proud to say that this painting will hang somewhere in our house. I'm trying to find the right place, but it's proving tough to "see" the final house from the blueprints. I think it might go in the entry where everyone can see it when they go in.

Where do you think it should go? (Hint, the blueprints live at the bottom of this blog!)

Sticks & Stones

Lots of progress on the house this week--it's starting to look like a house! It's been fun to stand in the actual "rooms" and get a feel for the space. The builder explained that there were phases where the house would seem big (post-block, after drywall, etc) but we're in a small phase now. The studs seem to dwarf it all. And, while I know the house will be much larger than our Ohio house or the condo we're renting now, it's odd to be able to walk from one side of the house to the other in a matter of seconds. I'm anxious to see the second story go on (which is happening as I type) and then for the roof, electrical, plumbing, drywall...

This view is one that won't be there once the drywall goes up! It's the
guestroom looking into the family room and kitchen.
Great view of the two-story family room.

This is my office (Megan's). We made the closet a bit smaller
so that the pantry was a bit bigger (see below). I've been playing
with space layouts now that I see where the doors will be :) 

It really has been fun to watch the building process through
Jackson's eyes. Here he is in the living room.

Stairs! They actually build the first three steps
from scratch (the remaining treads are one-piece).
I love how the bottom fans out.

A good view of the newly-bigger pantry. I can't
wait to see how much food we can stuff in here.
And, see what Jackson manages to hide!

Poll: Wrapped or Unwrapped Gifts from Santa

When Santa visits your house, does he leave wrapped or unwrapped gifts? We have dueling traditions in our house. My vote? Unwrapped. Because it's one less thing for Momma to do!

How about you?

And, if he does wrap, is it a "special" wrap?

A new blog to follow: Centsational Girl has the Thriftstore Eye

I just came across a new-to-me blogger, Centsational Girl. I love her recent post on Thriftstore Finds. She's got a great eye.

I love, love, love, Sarah's House on HGTV. One of the things I love to do is Thriftway Shop. I haven't found all the hidden spots in Tampa, but I have found one that I love called The Missing Piece. I check their site on a regular basis to see what new things have come in.

But, where I fall short and where Centsational Girl and Sarah come in is seeing how a piece could potentially be reupholstered, painted, etc. to be so lovely.

I can identify the lines I like, but would have no idea on where to begin to take it to get it "spray coated" like Sarah suggests on her show all the time.

Nor do I know if that would be less expensive than buying an already-perfect piece.

Maybe we can coax Centsational Girl into giving us a few tips...

200 steps to building your very own house

Keith just found a detailed calendar of the steps it takes to build a custom house. It lives at the b4build website. I printed it out and am poring through, scratching off the steps that have already been done. It looks complicated in a good--and bad--way. There are 197 steps for Pete's Sake! I think we've determined we're at step 66ish.

A Hidden Pantry

We visited Keith's Uncle Tony over Thanksgiving and fell in love with his kitchen. I asked him where I could stow my diaper bag so that it would be easily accessible for Caroline. He pointed me to the pantry. I proceeded to show him the size of the diaper bag and told him No Way would it fit in one of his cabinets:

And then he revealed a true masterpiece. Jackson, our 4-year-old is a true connoisseur of pantries.  Naturally, we had to call Dave at Cabineture to see if this could be done with ours. He's on his way this week to check out the kitchen now that it's been framed. Fingers crossed it's possible!

The Cabinets

I've been planning my ideal kitchen for a very long time. Probably since we stepped foot into our first house. I've been clipping magazine articles, scouring the Home Depot and Lowe's aisles and salivating while watching friends and family redo their own kitchens.

My dream kitchen has dark cabinets, light counters and a white, subway-tile backsplash.The layout would be open and have a huge, walk-in pantry.

Imagine my delight when I got the chance to do just that! Here's the cabinet layout and elevation as well as the color cabinets we've selected.
In the picture to the left, you can see that we have a large center island. The cooktop lives here. The wall oven/microwave combo is in the corner and the sink is in the bar-top area that overlooks the eat-in kitchen.

In the picture to the right, you can see the cabinet detail. Our cabinet guy is Dave Chaney at Cabineture Inc in New Port Richey, FL. Hit me up if you want to call him. He does fabulous custom cabinetry!

Fort, Ancient Ruins or the Future Licursi Dream Home?

The Answer is C! This week, we've been watching the walls go up on the first floor of the Bimini Bay Home. It's been interesting to see just how quickly the concrete block does go up. The Schmidt Brothers also build both stories out of block giving me a great sense of security against Hurricane Season. Enjoy the photos!

Day one of the block building

I really do like the sunsets in Tampa. And, our great
 photographer caught a good one here :)
This is the one that I thought made the house
 look like something out of Rome.

  

A garage!



A view from across the canal