My House is Your House: Guest Suites and Housewares Show

Today starts the beginning of the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago. I'm very excited to walk the tradeshow floor, get some ideas for the Bimini House and share trends and tips with you all.

Today also begins the first in a series of posts on guest rooms. This week, we'll have a Q&A with designer Christopher Lowell, products from QVC and a host of other ideas.

We're staying at The Wit Hotel, a Hilton property, here in Chicago. The suites are a great example of what I want the guestroom to look/feel like in Bimini.

From the workspace to the comfy pillows and the modern white, blue and orange color scheme to the luxurious spa bathroom, I feel like every need has been thought of in advance.

Oh...and the warm cookies at check-in are pretty fab, too :)

Some pics (Special thanks to TheLavish.com for some of these pics as they are a better photographer than me!)

The modern color scheme is an exclamation point on the
lavish AND comfortable guest suite at The Wit. Every
guestroom should have an extra place to sit and the orange
chair is the perfect spot.

I love the extra touches like this "Sweet Dreams" pillow. I'm
all for whimsy :)

The workspace in the room is well-equipped and reminds me
that I still am looking for a writing desk of my own for the
guest room

The Guest Bath defines pure luxury. I love the glass tiles-
I hope Keith does, too!

This was, of course, one of the best parts of my arrival. On
the edge of the bath was this surprise: a trio of oils and body
scrubs along with the offer to have a member of the Spa
come up and draw me a bath. I drew my own but will be
copying this idea, complete with the fat spoons that remind
me of a sushi restaurant.

The tray with all of the normal goodies (shampoo, conditioner,
soaps) goes a step beyond at the Wit. They've included a
mending kit, refresh kit and a few more extras. I like how
they are organized on the tray.

BETTER TO SEE YOU MY FRIEND...

It seems like we are on a bi-weekly scheduled update on the house, and this one brings windows.  The story here is of non-egress windows that were tall and skinny on the front of the house..which turned out to be against code.  The solution was to go to fat and chubby checkers....literally... which didn't fly for us.  5 emails and 4 phone calls with the window maker....and we have a "Licursi Special".  Turns out you can custom design windows when you have the right maker...and builder.  Take a look!



Front windows are in...and yes, these are a "Licursi Special"



Back Window are in...as are the sliders!!!



Master Bedroom Windows look super imposed with images...
but no special editing here.  Even the sunset on the front
of the house can be seen on the side reflection.



Master Bath...might be quite the view from either side of the window :-D.

Typically you would see the ocean going by from portholes...
ours has the house across the street and the sunsets over the canal.

Megan's office with the only arched widows in the house.

Keith's office window and door to the upstairs patio. 

Green idea for subcontractors, renovations

We are trying to be green-conscious in the building process. It's not always easy! I know we'll do a lot of LED lighting and we've decided on a tankless water heater. But, I'm not sure we'll do a "living" roof (though how cool would that be?) or have low-odor paints.

I heard about a company today, though, that might make it easy for some subcontractors to green-up their practices--and save money, too!

Recycled Billboard Tarps, available at Repurposed Materials, Inc. are the actual vinyl advertising wraps used on huge roadside billboards. 

You know they have to be weather-resistant and waterproof. Just think of all the uses for them!

According to the company, they are 400 percent thicker than most commercial tarps at 20 mils thick and 12 oz/yard material.

The tarps come in three sizes (10'x30'; 12'x42'; and 14'x48'). Prices start at $60.

I think I'll look into one when it comes time to add some accent paint. Or perhaps Keith could look into it for boat work. And, there's always the slip-n-slide idea as shown in the picture above!

ISO: Solution for Hidden Nook

I didn't get to Friday's "In Search Of" quest due to illness running rampant in the family (me first, then Jackson), but here's the dilemma of the week. There's a hidden nook in what I expect will be Caroline's room. I'm not sure how it happened, but we ended up with a little nook where the exterior wall curves and the framing does not. 

Can you see it in the picture to the left? It's a bit small, sorry!

The only think I can think of to maximize this for storage (that room is going to have an uber-small closet, more on that later), would be to install a pull-out pantry like those usually seen in kitchens.

What do you think?

ROOF & OBSERVATION DECK TAKE SHAPE!!!

Let's see...it's been about 2 weeks since an update....We've seen the roof go on, 2nd story rooms take shape, the observation deck go up, and Auburn Win The National Champaionship!  WAR EAGLE!  What a set of 14 days! 

Check out the 2 new posts below a look for a look inside and out!


Ahh...the copula is up...a moment Keith has been
waiting for since he first discoved...well the Weather!




"A view from behind!"



The roof no longer has the "hairy" look, it is now covered
with wood...less leaking this way!



A look from behind the canal into the back of the house...and

what will be the Weather Deck cut in.

We're going to title this one "Access"  This
will the home of the spiral staircase that gets
you to the "hatch"...and then to the Weather
Deck...You Lost fans can appreciate that one.

2nd STORY TAKES SHAPE!

A lot more wood went into the house since the new year.  Here is how the 2nd story is coming along and the how the master suite is coming together.

2nd floor rooms coming together.

Early look at the master suite taking shape.



Master Bay Window coming together.




Even lil' Jackson's trying to test it out!



Went with the Arch!!!

A view from outside the master.

Friday ISO: Writing Desk/Nightstand

Writing Desk as seen in Better Homes & Gardens

We're going to have lots of guests. At least I (part of me) hope so! I've got *lots* of ideas on how to make the guest room the most accommodating and many will be the subject of future ISO columns, I'm sure.

I'm not a matchy-matchy kinda girl. Keith is a matchy-matchy kinda guy, though, which does present its own design challenges, ha ha!

I think He is going to let me have some fun with the guest room, though.  Because I'm not matchy-matchy, I don't want matching nightstands. And, I know I want one of them to be a writing desk.

Keith's brother always has to work when he's hear (sad!) and my parents check their e-mail quite a bit on their visits. I think a writing-desk style nightstand would give people the space and the privacy needed to work. 

I came across this one in an issue of Better Homes & Gardens a few months ago and tore it out. Sadly, they didn't provide credit for it in the resources section. To me, it looks like an Ikea piece or maybe it's from the Better Homes & Gardens' collection at Wal-mart.

Regardless, I'm on the hunt for something that will work as a writing desk AND a nightstand.

Join the hunt!

Everybody thinks They're a Foodie...

But Gina Giradot Melton actually is one. A lawyer-by-day and a food blogger-by-night, I had the pleasure of meeting Gina--perhaps one of my first Tampa friends!--for lunch the other day after reading her website, Zest.

Gina met me at Paninoteca in Downtown Tampa, a quaint little Mediterranean joint. Oddly enough, I'm very familiar with the corner it's on, Franklin and Twiggs, as I've met people--twice--at the coffee shop across the street!

The lunch was yummy and I would go there again.

But, I'm most impressed with Zest. It's a restaurant finder for Floridians. There are a lot of restaurant guides for tourists, but Zest really hits home with the folks who call Florida home. In addition to Tampa restaurants, Gina reviews those in Orlando, Miami and other locales around the state.

So, if you plan a visit to Chez Licursi anytime soon and we go out to dinner? We'll be hitting Gina and Zest up for some recommendations.

Going Up...

Great progress was made on the house even during the holidays! We've been able to walk on the second floor and get a good feel for the view that we'll have in a few months. Next step? Hopefully the weather deck! A boatload of pictures are below :)

As we were waiting to confirm the window sizes, the framers
were busy with the garage roof trusses.

Window sizes confirmed! Second story up!

A look at Keith's office, the picture window in the living room
and our master bedroom windows.

The second story deck. We can get out here
from either the master bedroom OR Keith's
office. I told Keith we need a wine fridge in the
master bedroom in order to truly enjoy this space :)

And the view of the second-story deck from
the other angle.

The stunning view of the canal from the second-story deck.

This is a good look at the seawall and the rear exterior. Lots of
windows should mean lots of natural light!

Jackson surveying the newly-delivered roof trusses.

That cut out? It's for the weather deck!

The roof trusses went up very quickly.

I love this angle that captures the roof trusses and our bay
window from the master bedroom.

This one shows you all the progress we've made. I can just
picture myself on that front porch with some lemonade now.

This angle shows you just how the weather deck sits on
the roofline. Keith can hardly stand the anticipation.

Our hairy house :)

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 :)