Yeah, I Draw 003

Shadow Of Sophronia
1998

oil pastels on illustration board

Yeah, I Paint 001

A Boy I Used To Know
2008
oil on canvas

Quick Fix

Let me introduce you to The Best Salad Ever. Really.



The Best Salad Ever

3 handfuls of romaine lettuce
3 teaspoons of Cindy's Kitchen Raspberry Nectar Vinaigrette
2 chopped hard boiled eggs
1 handful of crushed organic blue corn sesame chips
1 handful of dried cranberries
lots and lots of raw almond slivers

Toss all ingredients and eat immediately.

This Is Love: Photography By Trautima

I came across David Trautima's work the other day and it reminded me of one of my favorite books, Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. David is a Canadian artist who re-purposes household kitchen utensils by deconstructing and photographing them. He then manipulates the images by exaggerating their scale and digitally reassembling them. The results are modern architecture meets Star Wars to me. After seeing his prints, I think every kid in architecture school should be forced to play around with a vintage blender or mixer for at least a few weeks.

You can check out the rest of his work here. I find The Automobile Factory particularly interesting.

Mean Flowers

What should you do when your tenant posts a Mean Dog sign?

Yeah, I Draw 002

2002
ink on trace paper

Twenty Three Percent

That's the number, according to a National Public Radio broadcast that I heard this morning, of Floridians that are delinquent in paying their home mortgage loans.

Check out that story here.

Unplugging Appliances

Does it really save money?

Click here to see the video experiment.

I was interested to learn this since I actually do unplug things like toasters, lamps and hairdryers while they're not in use.

(But all I could think about when I saw this was, Why pay 30 bucks to see if your dustbuster is costing you 10 or 20 cents?)

I Could Totally Live Here

Check out this rooftop lounging space by Peter Gluck and Partners in Colorado. Built in a narrow valley, it was placed perpendicular to other houses, in order to receive the maximum Southern exposure.

Spilling The Beans

So. About the new home purchase.

They didn't accept our counteroffer last week. Not that I expected them to, but I do believe it was a fair offer (and the maximum we are willing to budget for the property).

Anyway, the counteroffer expiration date came and went with nothing but silence from the seller's side. We began looking for other properties, and we found a very interesting building across the river in another historical district. On the upside, it has 3,400 square feet with a view of the water plus a detached two car garage with a one bedroom apartment above it. On the downside, the street is a busier road with some retail on it, versus the virtual mansions on the quiet street that the other home is tucked into.

We were booking yet another trip to the area to check it out (no small feat with Andrew's travel schedule), and guess who finally gets around to emailing me back a revised counteroffer? Days after it expired. And all of the sudden, the large gaps in sales price and closing costs had shrunk. By a lot.

But not quite enough.

Sooo we countered again. At this point I'm okay with losing the property. It has nothing to do with being stubborn, I just know what our numbers need to be, and I believe that our offer is fair. He has until Monday to accept or decline.

This Is Love: Wallpaper

This bathroom was recently featured at Apartment Therapy, and while I've always considered myself a no-potpourri-or-wallpaper-kinda-gal, this kind of makes me rethink that mantra.

Hurricane Bill Update

"...BILL APPROACHING MAJOR HURRICANE STATUS..." says the National Hurricane Center. "MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 110 MPH... WITH HIGHER GUSTS. BILL IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO AND BILL IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE TONIGHT OR WEDNESDAY."

Polaroid That Space

Lately I've been noticing photography. Fantastic photography showcasing lousy places. I'm not going to point them out, but there are a few websites (one in particular) of the home and architecture genre that I normally wander around that I'm talking about. But I'm starting to feel like it's all about the pictures. Beautifully taken photos of really below average spaces.

You know what it reminds me of?

I've heard talent scouts say that models should always be photographed using a Polaroid camera. Because Polaroids don't lie. They capture your raw form, fuzzy and flawed from the worst possible angle. You can't hide the bags under your eyes from last night's bar hop or that slightly crooked nose that you won in basketball when you were ten. There's no distorting the truth.



If you can pull off sexy in a Polaroid then you're golden, they say.

And, really, it goes for buildings, too, I think.

Yeah, I Draw 001

2009
pencil on paper

Say Anything: 5

"Prior to the dawn of cable and the internet, one had to go to the city to experience culture. Today, the town is wired and one may choose not to go to the city learn of Woody Allen." Kazys Vamelis, Teen Urbanism

Wow

Check out this Polish couple's photographs of the country they live, work, and travel throughout.

Your jaw will drop.

The Neverending Story

So, like I said, our Absolute Final Counteroffer expired today at 5.00pm. Of course, the Seller comes back to us at a minute after five o'clock. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING YOU. Not. Even. Kidding. And with a counter offer. Of course. We're negotiating over some terms and a piddly amount of cash, and to be honest, this may be one of the most ridiculous deals I've ever been involved in. It leaves me with little faith that the closing will even run smoothly if we actually do come to an agreement on terms. Who's with me for voting this guy off the island?

Itsy Bitsy

For years I've been daydreaming of a small detached studio space where I could read, draw, paint, or just let my mind wander. Think beachy, airy surf shed meets cozy, intimate retreat space. But, like I said, it's only been a fantasy. In the past, two things have mainly gotten in the way of my whimsical work area idea; either I wasn't living in a property with a suitable yard or I had too much square footage (because I was living alone and couldn't justify an additional outdoor office space) inside of my home.

Well, that may be changing. Most of the places we're looking at in North Florida either have detached garages, sheds, or patio areas, which would be perfect for my mini library plans. My mind has been racing lately with visions of an overstuffed chair surrounded by floor to ceiling bookshelves flooded with natural light. Perhaps a matchbox size window bench with an easel that pulls out of the wall and some tiny built-in speakers? A little pitched roof with loads of flowers, of course, and maybe a little mint in the window for sensory enjoyment? Or maybe the entire place unfolds in some magical way, opening with barn doors or a detachable skylight, like a little jewelry box...

This sixty four square foot home in South Carolina has been inspiring me lately, as well.

Say Anything: 4

"I'm not satisfied with the explanations that I get from television or from school." Erykah Badu

First Bag Of Mail: Demolishing Tile

Hi Kelly! :) I have a quick question for you. My boyfriend and I are doing some do-it-yourself renovations to his house. We want to tear up the tile on the floor in his kitchen/dining room. He thinks it's ceramic and he says that it's sealed. As someone who fixes up houses, what would you suggest would be the most effective way to go about this? Our ultimate goal is to stain the concrete throughout his house. Any advice would be appreciated. (Ever think about doing a question and answer section in your blog?) By the way, you are a great read!

Happy Sunday,
Ann
Ann's Bag Of Goodies

So, Ann, you want to know about the lovely process of demolishing tile, do you? Well. Are you ready for a good time? Is your refrigerator stocked with beer? Are the little ones pre-occupied? Is your patience properly in place? Once you've checked yes to all of the above, there are a few ways you can go about this process. I highly recommend the first one.

1. I know most of your project is intended to be do-it-yourself, but you really should consider paying someone to demolish the tile. If you ask me, it is well worth the approximately $1.00 per square foot that I usually get away with paying. I just use a handyman since there isn't a lot of training or skill required to get the job done. Let them give you the price for the job then offer to remove the tile and dump it yourself. Use this as a negotiating tool. Paying someone to do it could save you a lot of time and, depending your level of experience, many cuts and bruises. Also, instead of finding your local dumpsite for the dropoff, try tooling around your neighborhood to see if anyone else is doing a renovation or dumping that they'll let you piggy-back on. It'll save you both a few dollars.

2. It is possible to use the old sledgehammer and flat bladed chisel for the job, but keep in mind how large the area is and how old your kneecaps are. (I have no idea what your age is, so don't take that personally. I'm only thirty, but my knees have suffered over two decades of running so they're probably as rickety as your grandmother's.) If you decide to go this route, let me warn you that this is about as much fun as eating sand. Actually, I take that back. Eating sand is way better.

3. This is the option that most do-it-yourselvers (I'm aware of that's not a real word) I know choose to do. Rent a demolition hammer. An electric jackhammer will get the job done faster than any other destruction method you can employ by hand, and your boyfriend will probably have a good 'ole time doing it. You can rent one for less than $100 a day, which should be plenty of time to knock it all out. The problem with this method, in my experience, is flying shards of sharp tile plus inexperienced operators. I've never seen someone try this for the first time that DIDN'T end up cut up at the end of the day. If you're going to do this, for crying out loud, wear pants, goggles, gloves and have a really ugly face. Because if you cut up your pretty mug on account of a suggestion of mine, I will feel mucho terrible. Probably. So in other words, please refer to my first suggestion.



Next, a few more things to keep in mind:

1. This will be dirty. Dirtier than a raunchy magazine rack. The amount of dust and debris will surprise you, I promise. Cover everything in your house that's not in the demolition area, including taping off all doors with plastic. After you're finished, you should strongly consider having your air conditioning vents professionally cleaned.

2. A lot of times the tile will just pop up once the grout has been removed. So it makes sense to tackle the grout first, then try to get underneath the tile.

3. The sealant that you mentioned on the existing tile was most likely a clear formula mopped over the it to protect the porous nature of the material. It shouldn't have any bearing on the removal.

4. This is a good resource to check out tools of the trade.

Lastly, in terms of staining concrete:

I adore stained concrete. There are so many directions that you can go with it, and I love the look and feel of concrete. I have had a bit of a nightmarish experience with staining it, though. During my last year of architecture school, I was working on my very first private commission, which was a home in the South Florida community of Lighthouse Point. Inspired by some retail floors she'd seen that were stained concrete, the owner had a company (that she hand picked out of Texas who specialized in staining concrete) come out to apply stain her slab. The first problem was that leveling and prepping the floors was quite a chore. There was some existing settlement, and even after we floated them, they were never quite perfect. Keep that in mind. The next problem came to my attention recently. While working with her last year on another project, I went to her home for the first time in years and got a good look at the floor. I was so disappointed to see how the sun had caused extensive uneven fading of the stain. If I had known it would change the character of the color so drastically over time, we might have considered a lighter stain with just a high gloss seal of some type. So those are a couple of issues that I'd want to be aware of moving forward if I were you.

I hope this answered your question, Ann?

Good luck with your floors!

Pearl Collects Rent

The Landlord from Will Ferrell

Say Anything: 3

"I'm much more myself. I'm comfortable with who I really am. It's very disappointing for people. I don't walk around all day thinking about romantic french poetry and writing songs. Actually, it's a very small part of my life." Robert Smith

Say Anything: 2

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight." E.E. Cummings

Say Anything: 1

"Now in the reality I built for myself, what did I do? I took one tone. I gave the work order; I neutralized it by one tone. One of the reasons I originally started with black was to see the forms more clearly. Black seemed the strongest and clearest. But then somehow as I worked and worked and worked it pleased me. You see, one way about my thinking -- I didn't want it to be sculpture and I didn't want it to be painting... But -- the thing is that it's something beyond that we make. My work has never been black to me to begin with. I never think of it that way. I don't make sculpture and it isn't black and it isn't wood or anything, because I wanted something else. I wanted an essence." Louise Nevelson

Lease Agreements

With all of our vacancies, I've got contracts on my mind.

When writing a lease, these are a few extra things that I like to include in my agreement:

1. Please supply the name of your bank, account number, and social security number below*.
2. There will be a fee of $100, to be considered as additional rent**, for each returned check.
3. Lessee shall install and maintain hurricane shutters on the premises at all times a hurricane is in the box or shall be strictly liable for all windstorm damage to the premises.***
4. Lessee grants lessor a lien on any tax refund for any amounts due and owing.
5. The failure of Lessor to enforce any provision of this agreement or applicable law shall not act as a waiver of any future right to strictly enforce the same.
6. This lease constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto.
7. Lessor or Lessor's representative will provide 24 hours verbal notification when entering the residence. No notification is required when entering to maintain or repair property.*****
8. Pets are prohibited, unless approved by Lessor in writing.



9. Lessee authorizes Lessor to run a credit report and background check.
10. Lessees accept the premises in "as-is" condition as of this date. Lessor's obligation to maintain the Leased Premises is waived.

Although I could have many times, I've rarely enforced any of these. But it's still a good idea to protect yourself, you know?



*This is important since evicted tenants often change their bank and place of employment to avoid being tracked down.
**When posting a 3 day notice only rent, no other damages, can be listed as the amount due. Listing additional fees will cause the court to kick back your request.
***Help your tenants' put up their hurricane shutters. It's just the right thing to do.
*****Leaving a personal item, such as a piece of furniture, in the property will also grant you access to the residence automatically.

*I am not an attorney. For legal advice, please seek qualified legal counsel.*