Hanging Art, Blinds and Doors..Upstairs

Well it finally seems like I'm settling into my new home. I'm far from being done but at least the upstairs is near complete. The switches still need to be replaced I've purchased the two button switch type to replace the toggle style, the switch plates need to be installed, one more door to hang, all in all just about there.
I scrubbed and bleached the vertical blinds, rehung, not a fun task nor quick one.  But I must say they don't look too bad.. I don't mind them for now, I kind of like them.
 When my brother Frank came to help me we spoke a lot about how to handle art and the placement of art. We were talking one day and he said "do you know what would look good in the upstairs hallway, and I replied the butcher block",  he was thinking the very same thing. Here's a picture of how that was used, it sits in the upstairs hall.

Another suggestion Frank gave me was to display art on a platform. I have so much sculpture (mostly mine) and nothing to really place it on. I had two 48" x 17.5" x 2.5" platforms made to sit on the floor.
Platforms were made by A.K.Services Alan Kaniarz 
313-972-1010 Russel Industrial

Here's a new piece I bought from a colleague, friend and neighbor (who lives in Lafayette Park) one of my favorite Detroit artist, designer Andy Kem, the lamp is bent plywood. He designed in 3D lazer cuts and then assembles. 

The space here lends itself to experiment and play with the way I'm treating art and furniture. I'm really thinking about the use of space and how the piece becomes a part of the space. Like Mies arranged things as compositions in space. Not hugging the walls, obscuring architecture. I'm trying to consider each piece in space and not to clutter too much.
The painting is one of mine,  I'm rethinking the way I'm even hanging art....It doesn't have to be conventional. 

Here's another piece I purchased at Andy's opening at ReView gallery this past weekend (runs through June 11th) Interlocker images of Andy's work:
http://www.reviewcontemporary.com/
This is the table I bought, he collaborated with another Detroit favorite and friend artist Dennis Hayes.

I was looking for a low profile table for my study to sit between two chairs. I love the room with it's view and also because of the shadows the trees cast. When I saw this table I knew it was the one. 

Seems only right to place my twig bronze sculpture in the same room on the floor.

 Doors hung in master bedroom.

 Bathroom door and linen closet hung.















 I think the blinds are fine for now.

The Upstairs Master Bath Finally Finished!

My first thought of how I was going to approach the upstairs bath was a tad extreme. Thinking I was going to pull the tub and install a walk in shower with a glass door. Heated towel rack, and top of the line shower fixtures. The more I thought about it, a few friends telling me to leave it alone I thought best to just work from the tub out. There are two colors of tiles used in the townhouses upstairs bathrooms in Lafayette Park brown or gray tile.  Mine happened to be brown as shown:

before

after

There was quite a bit of water damage around the tub area, which caused ceiling damage in the
kitchen. Needless to say the tile had to be pulled leaks fixed and walls replastered. One of the problems I had in this unit was the original owner never had anything repaired, so all the plumbing had to be replaced. Stephen Lee did the tile and plumbing. Info upon request, hes very good and a perfectionist!

You can't find the brown 4 x 4 tiles anymore, so I decided to go with a "snow white" tile to replace the brown. I was only given two choices, so snow white it was. I thought it would be white enough, I wanted a crisp look, crisp it is but the snow white has a hint of grey or brown to it. Arctic white I really
wanted to use, next time....... It's bright white and much crisper.

The tile will be installed as the original was four feet up the wall. I wanted to also tile inside the linen closet, but found there wasn't enough space to install a metro rack. It just fits and will have to be installed inside the closet, it's that tight. A bit disappointed that I can't tile but I liked the idea of using a chrome metro rack for my shelving. 

The pipes and valves have all been replaced with new chrome p-traps and valves.
The legs to the sink were zinc but were powder coated aluminum. I prefer chrome so I searched on Ebay and found a pair of 1950 chrome legs that were still in the box.

The sink is one I've never heard of before Rheem-Richmond
I love the sink, new faucet and a bit of cleaning, just like new.

 Linen closet before.

After the tile from the walls and floor were removed the floor needed to be leveled and the walls needed to be plastered. Removing the tiles pulled a bit of plaster with it. This area was the worse, a piece os green board and away we go.

Be sure  sure to clean off all the old grout before staring, this is not an easy task, use caution not to scratch the porcelain.

 all new shuts off at the tub.....

















good cup of Joe and durobond......



 tile works begins....

idea board to work from...









rubber floor tile "tangerine orange"

I decided to clean up the existing light fixture and just use with the light bulbs exposed.

new marble threshold

finished bath, new fixtures, plumbing, tile and floor. Went with Johnsonite Rubber flooring. Easy to maintain, I wanted a pop color.

I love the shape of the sink. Just cleaned it, and installed new fixture and legs.

Linen closet after with metro rack installed.















 

tub fixtures (faucetdirect.com)

The register cover and door hinges have been re plated in nickle. 

So nice to have a finished bathroom. Still working on the downstairs, all done with the exception of the vanity (being custom made) Reworking the old vanity.  Will have pictures soon.

It's a beautiful place in the Neigborhood......

One of my favorite rooms in the townhouse is my study. I spend most of my time there just relaxing and looking out the window. I have a great view and can bird watch from my chair. Here are just a few of the pictures of some of the views....

bark

my blinds

lot's of birds here

jeff and kaya

jess, cal and rocky

winter wonderland