Hmmm...much better?

Beware: My PhotoShop skills are not great.

Well, I couldn't stop myself from experimenting with the colors. I do think I make my point.

I feel the way to make this building more attractive is to paint out all of the blue on the top half of the building (since it only appears there and not below) and replacing it with the yellow from the first floor. Then I think the "sundial" detail would be more appealing if the stark black, gray, and white combination was dialed down to a more subtle 50% strength and the outline was changed from dark blue to a medium gray.

I think then the design would be more cohesive; not such a multitude of colors competing with each other. What do you think?

109 East Grace Street, Richmond, VA:

in real life

In PhotoShop

Here's where I tried my very first idea of replacing the blue with the orange outlining the "sundials".

Please forgive me. Very bad idea.

And here's the full monty:

Before IRL

After PhotoShop

So I got rid of all the blue. Didn't your heart palpitations slow down when you got to the After shots? Mine sure did.

So, Is It An Improvement?

109 East Grace Street before and after

I think this means the building is finished and ready for occupancy. So, what do you think?

Funny thing is, the building has just showed up on the Thalhimer website. Each twin retail space is 1,050 square feet. Of course, you already know how I feel about the paint job but again I have to question their choices. Since the space has been split up into two separate stores; what two retail operations (unless they were related businesses) would want to look "exactly" the same? Especially when that look is so high profile?

The building was built in 1935, which explains the Art Deco influence. What they recently added:


Shiny, reflective, stamped metal and...


attractive copper and steel sconces.*

A look inside:


(Pictures taken through the glass window)

I have to admit I really like the interiors with the skylights and the tin ceilings. I'll have to chat up the workers next time so I can go in. You see, the exterior of the building seems like two stories; much taller than the interior, so I'm curious as to what you see through the skylight. Is there really a higher floor or does the building have a false front on top of the first floor?

So, what do you think now?

* They have been on 24-hours a day since they were installed. What's up with that?

September Blog Update

Sorry, I've been so absent from this blog. However, I do have some posts and projects coming up soon:

• Some of this will be going on this weekend. I swear! I've definitely written about it enough, haven't I?
  
• An update on this building. They were working on it yesterday but I didn't have my camera at the time. Let's just say it involved huge panels of shiny silver corrugated metal. Yeah, let that sink in...
  
• I know it's been a long time, but I also have a new SHELTER study coming up for you. Again, I swear it will appear!

Didn't Expect This, Did You?

Montesorri Baby's Room

But I saw this post on Sew Liberated and fell in love with this child's room arranged using Montessorian concepts and ideas. Isn't it amazing?

Image: Sew Liberated

Richmond Glass Building Update

According to this, the developer Justin French wants to make the Richmond Glass building into student housing for Virginia Commonwealth University. I understand the logic since the building is in the perfect location, just a block from the other two freshman dorms. However, I think it's a waste of what was once (and can be again) a gorgeous building. Using the refurbished Richmond Dairy Apartments, a few blocks away at Marshall as an example, the quality of the building can go down depending on the tenants.


201 West Marshall Street by 100wordminimum

I checked out the Richmond Dairy Apartments years ago when I first moved back and they were quite a disappointment. The apartments themselves looked great; high ceilings, and interesting loft layouts, despite the horrendous choice of wall-to-wall carpet* for apartments that were being marketed to beginning college students. I'm not denigrating all college students, hey, I'm still one! But freshman students, straight from living at home? Puh-lease! That carpet was marked for death at the get-go!

However, because they had decided on college students as desired tenants, the doors of the apartments were already littered with posters and personal notes. Yes, posters like you would see on dorm walls but these were outside in the public hallways! I clearly remember this as being the practice when I was in the Rhodes Hall dorm back in 1987, but even then the school supplied cork bulletin boards for this purpose. At Richmond Dairy, people were just stapling and using thumb tacks and tape on the actual doors. As I was touring the building, the employee who walked me around didn't even mention it, choosing instead to ignore the mess. That was all I needed to see that this was not the place for me (or any other adult) to live in.

So, I say to the developers working on the Richmond Glass Building, please rethink the final use of this building!

Image: from 100wordminimum's Flickr set

*I am sure they have regretted that BIG time by now.

Newlywed's First Home

Because of my finances I've been putting off buying magazines, but the latest copy of Country Living has been tempting me. It's a Makeover issue, I mean, come on?! Luckily, I have a friend that's been "paying me forward" with her copies after she's done with them (she's not a hoarder of mags like I am). So, at the moment, I don't have this issue in front of me.

However, yesterday I opened up my email and found a message from the guy who's story is on the front cover of the September issue and a link back to his design blog, Design Therapy. I thought the story of this little house was definitely worth sharing. You see, it's not just a typical design makeover story as the house was his parent's first home when they got married. They heard it was going to be demolished and had it moved to their property as a guesthouse. And then their son had it redone for under $4,000.

  Lovely, isn't it? Find more photos from the mag on his post here and the whole story complete with the before pictures on the Country Living site here. Images: Country Living magazine

This Town Is Testing Me

Another building is being "refurbished" near me, and yeah, I'm scared. How could I not be?


814 W. Broad Street

Also known as the Richmond Glass Factory since the 1950s, this is what it has looked like ever since I've been in Richmond. Lovely, wasn't it? Not. For some reason a lot of Richmond buildings were covered in this type of aluminum siding. I'm now curious about the "real" look of a lot of buildings in this town.

I can't remember when or where, but some time ago I saw a picture of what this building looked liked years ago and it was gorgeous. I'm sure I saw the picture at work but I haven't been able to track it down since. Which is bad because someone working on the new construction in that area came into work to see pictures of what this block looked like decades ago and we had none. Our pictures were from surveys taken after all of this "urban revitalization" crap was done to the facade. I gave them some organizations to get in touch with, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library of Virginia, the Historic Richmond Foundation. I SO hope they contacted them because it didn't seem that they had an architectural historian working on the project at all.

I forget to show you what the building looked like before. Here you go:

In 1952

And in 1907.

Believe it or not it was actually a electric rail station, the Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway station, in fact. See that great staircase through the door, all gone. And that Italian Renaissance/Beaux Arts architecture has all been hidden under stucco panels and aluminum siding for more than twenty years.

The building is part of the 2004 Broad Street Commercial Historic District's Boundary Increase on the National Register of Historic Places. More information about the building (and the district) can be found on the nomination form.

Flickr user F33 is on the case and photographing the changes being made to this building. We can watch the progress (fingers crossed) here.

Images: VA Department of Historic Resources, "Rails in Richmond" via deadlouisville's Flickrstream

This Is Where I Live In My Dreams

I just fell in love and I bet you will too.

Check out this post at Desire to Inspire.

Fiat Lux!*

I'm sorry it took me so long to post these images from my trip to Historic Fredericksburg. I so wanted to do some research about these floor lamps to add to the images but I don't think that's going to happen. So enjoy the purty pictures!

These lamps were definitely eye-catching. I believe that the details are Bakelite and I love how the middle picture will forever remind me of a very ornate Big Bird's legs.




This lamp had marble detailing on the stem and had a lighted "night-light" base on the bottom. You know I have a thing for lamps like this already.



A six-way floor lamp with a lighted base. Luckily they had this one plugged in so you could check to see if it worked. This one is very similar to the one I own and still need to get rewired.

*Latin: Let there be light!

Is Richmond Renting To Clowns Now?

Then (1982)
109 East Grace Street

In Architecture in Downtown Richmond I found an old picture of the latest building, 109 East Grace Street, in my neighborhood to get a makeover. This building's makeover; going on just around the corner, is not a favorite of mine. In fact, I'm pretty upset about it. Checking the archives I was also able to see what it looked like in 1996.

Then (1996)

Yes, very non-descript. In fact, when they started working on it, I couldn't even remember what it looked like. I could remember the Great Graphic poster shop and Perly's diner, but not the building between them. Now I can see why.

Here are some recent photos I took to show what it looks like now:

Now! (2009)

Yeah, it seems like circus clowns are apparently moving into my neighborhood! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But this place now has two shades of blue, black, white, gray, orange, and yellow paint on it! A few weeks ago, when they started, this was all in white and looked quite lovely with the sculpted arch medallions, the two curved windows, and the glass blocks. In fact, the bottom half still looks nice. However, when more paint arrived they did this:

?!

Oh, how I hope this is just a gimmick so that the building gets noticed. Because.... believe it or not, these places are available to lease from Thalhimer but I still can't find it on their site? Yes, this is what they did to it before getting a tenant! Do they need to watch some Discovery Channel or HGTV shows and get some tips on making a property enticing or what?

Images: Black & White from VDHR, color images by myself

Richmond Makeovers - A Time-Honored Practice

Sometimes, even after almost two years, I find books at work that I've never seen before. Most of the time, I suspect it's because a co-worker has taken the book to their desk and never officially "checked" it out. Bad employees, bad!

Well, here are two great resources for historic pictures of my neighborhood; Architecture in Downtown Richmond by Robert P. Winthrop and the oversize gem, Broad Street Old and Historic District: Richmond, Virginia, both were compiled and published by the Historic Richmond Foundation and are out of print.

The magic of the oversize one is that is has panoramic shots of city blocks as they looked in the 1920s and then again in photographs from 1986. The most amazing thing about that is that you get to see wonderfully ornate (Edwardian Baroque?) building facades that were covered up in later years with "modern" facades in order to look contemporary. These are now the buildings most in danger because people think they are boring and plain. If only they knew?! Oh, to do an updated version of this book today!

Example: 13-17 East Broad Street, the Charles Stores, Co.

Original

As Remodeled

Demolished

The building went from Victorian brick to Art Deco stucco to...a parking lot.

Images property of the Valentine Museum Collection

To Do List

First Priority:

• Paint armoire green FINALLY = have paint
  
• Paint wooden medicine cabinet*
  
• Create fabric divider curtain for kitchen = have hardware and fabric
  
• Install shelves around the French doors = have wood, brackets, and nails
  
• Finish installing pictures on other side of the living room wall = have pictures, nails, and anchors, if needed.
  

Not As Immediate:

• Reorganize front hall closet
• Buy or construct new slipcover for loveseat
• Paint TV-tray tables (purple or orange?)
• Create Anthropologie-style duvet cover from this fabric OR sell fabric
• Paint bedroom dresser (major sanding is needed first)
  

* at least prime it at the same time when I prime the armoire

Wisdom From Dr. Wende

Check out this comment from my last post about clutter, that just blew me away. This is even better than the Buddhist quote.

"If you're going to find out who you'll become, you need space in your life for who you are, rather than storing reminders of who you thought you were going to be."

Dr. Wende

Wow, Wende, just wow...

Is It Time For A Purge?

Note: I actually wrote this a month ago and forgot to post it. However, the feelings are still exactly the same.


One thing I've been thinking about is giving away or donating so much of the "stuff" in my life. I know I've talked about this before when mentioning the Apartment Therapy Cure, but I don't think I was really taking it seriously. I have a lot of stuff waiting for a different life than the one I am currently living. I feel I can't get rid of this stuff because what will happen when I do have an opportunity to use that thingamajig or that deeley-bopper?

Yes, I could force myself to use these things now; I could force my life to fit the stuff OR I could get rid of the stuff and the seemingly accusatory feeling I get when I see these things. Truly simplify my life so that I can just live my life without placing anticipatory pressure on it. You know all the One day...I will need this crap CRAP.

If I haven't needed it for the eight years I've owned it then why is it still taking up space on my shelves?

The thought of a brand new apartment with loads of empty spaces to fill with souvenirs of future trips and tchotchkes picked up along the way does excite me but it is far from what I live with on a daily basis. I think a lot of the stuff I have now gives either the feeling of a life unlived or of temporary place-holders for the "real" stuff rather than me being prepared for whatever might come. Of course I will still hold onto some things like my satin BCBG cocktail gown (I WILL wear that again) and my Maleficent Mardi Gras costume (you never know when you'll be invited to a Disney character theme party, right?) But the little things you just happen to accumulate along the way but wouldn't take with you if your dream home suddenly appeared, well I think I can get rid of them a little ahead of schedule. Maybe it can speed up the process.

Or hey, maybe without the baggage my journey will be easier and less hampered?

I Could Work Here...

yeah in my dreams. Somehow I always seem to need a surplus of desk space so I can stack "junk" all over my desktop. It's the way I roll.

However, someone else, especially someone with a laptop (I still possess a huge desktop monitor, not even a flat screen!) could really love this desk.

I just saw this cute setup, the Trovato Office-in-a-Box, on the New York Times website and saw that it was available at OfficeMax of all places for only $150. Compared to similar setups available (without the stool/storage cube) like the Jay desk & hutch available at West Elm for $330, this is a true bargain.

Affordable cottage in the NYT

700 square feet and bought for $95,000!!

I have to give it to The New York Times. When they catch my interest, they usually get it big time. You may have seen this first set of pictures on other blogs already because this place in the Catskills is beautiful. But what what struck me is how it truly was something I would be interested in. That price is incredible, it's almost impossible to find a house that cheap here in Richmond, though of course most people I know can't afford a weekend house, let alone a place two hours away from where they live and work during the week. However, I loved how they furnished the place with hand-me-downs, and purchases from Craigslist and to top it off also used it as the venue for their outdoor wedding! That's the way to get the most for your money!

I love the use of the green, which seems to change color subtly throughout the house. It's definitely cute and country but not too so. Check out that incredible stove, unfortunately it doesn't work though.


(Click to enlarge)

That gallery wall- designed hallway blows me away and reminds me of another that I featured on this blog before. The newspaper was supplied with a rundown of their decorating costs. Decorated for only $2,352! Other homeowners featured in the newspaper's regular features can't seem to even get a closet organized for that little amount of money.

This cottage reminded me a bit of this cottage I found in an old issue of Cottage Living, from the 80s, that I bought when I was in Fredericksburg. I love the cottage aesthetic, the airy feel, and the simplicity. The use of the darker green for the window blinds is perfect, it adds a dash of color that works as decoration 24/7 when the shades are up, whereas white curtains (the obvious choice) would add nothing to the room.

In this bedroom shot (one of my favorites!) the different shades of green with the rich yellows, the red side table, and the orange tones of the spool-turned bed really speak to me; a mix of harvest tones mixed with white gives the room a warm and cozy feel.

So, two clowns meet in Afghanistan ...

Every once in a while I check out the New York Times Real Estate section.

No, not to look at the expensive loft high rises that the city is famous for, but instead because I like to check out their Habitats columns. These stories usually focus on the middle class of New York; the artists, musicians, and store owners and the unique homes that they create for themselves.

Image: Ruby Washington/The New York Times

This past one I read though had a bonus; it was not only a story of a graphic and space-conscious apartment but also a love story. Please check out the lovely story of clowns Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone here.

*Definitely don't miss the video interview (half-way down the screen page); that's what made my heart melt. What a story, what a job/mission, what a great couple. I wish them the best!

Also if someone has more detailed pictures of Christina's wedding dress created out of miniature white balloons I would love to see them! Now that's creative!

UPDATE: Christina, herself sent me this lovely wedding portrait. Too cool, right?

Anthropologie, give some credit, ok?

I just received the latest Anthropologie catalog and from the very first picture I thought I knew where they had set this photo shoot. However, there was no information within the catalog to confirm. I'll have to search the Web for that, but before doing that, here is my guess:

An architectural masterpiece designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragan; Casa Gilardi, in fact? With maybe a few shots of his Cuadra San Cristobal too?

Check out the shots:


Compare them to pictures of his work and it's pretty clear to me. In fact on page 13 of this July 09 catalog there is this quote "Any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake" by none other than guess who? So why not give the location; the incredibly gorgeous location, credit?

I have been a fan since I was a freshman art student in the late 80s. I actually heard of him through a great book that I bought, Casa Mexicana that had pictures of his buildings, his own home, and the homes of many others, including Frida Kahlo and Robert Lopez (aka El Vez!).

Images: Anthropologie July 2009 catalog

Does It Ever End?

Due to some last minute signatures needed from the VA State government, I had to stay home today from work. So, yes even more money I won't get paid this week.

So I am taking the time to get rid of some clutter and stuff around the house. There are so many surfaces, boxes, and closets that need to be dug through and pared down. For the longest time, just the thought of doing this could paralyze me. I've decided to work slow, moving from one area to another, and taking small breaks (like this one!) as I go. Wish me luck.

Talking Flowers and Bramble Vines

My first look at Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (courtesy of USA Today)

I wrote about the fashion before, now I want them to bring on more behind-the-scenes photos of the set design. Wow.

Images: Disney Pictures