A day off

You would think that with renovation done and having moved into my new place would mean peace of mind. Quite the contrary. I am finding so many errors, and took the day off today to discuss details of errors with my contractor and run errands. I don’t know how to connect speakers into the wall and found someone in my building who will do it for an hourly fee. I had so many more errands to run, and am taking time off to buy furniture. Buying furniture is no easy feat — which places in NY sell contemporary stuff? Very few. Crate and Barrel, West Elm, and Bo Concept are common. I read reviews and went to places such as Moss and Cassina – Moss had novelty one-of-a-kind pieces (at one-of-a-kind prices), and Cassina had gorgeous Italian-made leather furniture with skyrocketing prices. AM liked one leather chair which cost OVER $6,300!!! Seriously! Ridiculous prices! How come they are still in business? No piece of furniture is worth that much.

So yeah buying furniture is no easy feat because there are very few places in the city. There are small boutique-type places but they must be pricey. Sigh!

Anyway, I was done with my errands by 3 pm, and decided to watch Twilight Eclipse. I watched previous parts on Amazon On Demand and liked the movies. This one I watched in the theater and it was so boring. The entire movie is focused on the love triangle between Edward the vampire, Jacob the werewolf, and Bella who loves both of them but loves Edward more. I tried reading the book, but the book was so much worse. The entire book just had conversations between Bella and Edward, silly conversations. I could not even read half the book. The movies are much better because of the action sequences which I love. But Eclipse was so boring, and I did not see the chemistry between Bella and Jacob – her love for him was so out of the blue. Kristen Stewart is so wooden and dull. Her tone is bla, and whether she is happy or sad or in love, she has the same tone. I could not bear to watch or listen to her. I don’t understand how two awesome guys can be in love with the bark of the tree — really — she is just so yawn. I also don’t get that she was all about Edward and now all of a sudden she wants to spend more time with Jacob. It seems like she is double-dating and expects Edward to be okay with it. Argh! I kept thinking, when is this movie going to get over?

Read Full Post »

Apartment coming along

Its been 8 LONG months into renovation and my apartment is finally *almost* done. I will move in next week – yay!!! I have cleaners coming in at 9am tomorrow — AM is not going to be happy about waking up early on Saturday. Both are guy cleaners. I have never gotten my apartment cleaned by a guy before, and am prejudiced – guys in general don’t do as good a job as women, IMO. So I am not looking forward to it, but really to find two cleaners on a long weekend is tough. I am so excited! I am eyeing a dining table at Crate and Barrel and will buy it this weekend. I have an idea of the types of dining chairs I want, but I don’t think I can get something like that. I would totally love to have the couch from SATC 2 — blue velvet! I love velvet, but its too high maintenance.

I posted my kitchen pics on Gardenweb forums, and people love it. Its so flattering!! I cannot wait for everything to come together. I may get apartmenttherapy.com to come over, but honestly given the amount of love and effort I have put into my home, I maybe overly sensitive to criticism and there are so many haters on forums. Sigh.

After moving, there will still be some work left. My bedroom does not have a door – my architect forgot to put one! And the doorway size is small, so it will have to be done after building inspection. Too much of a headache because that area has to have a dropped ceiling and a door frame built. Some closets need to be done as well. Its like a never-ending thing. I am right now all the way upper east, and its so isolated. Once I move back, I will be closer to the park, subway, theaters, & restaurants.

Read Full Post »

Electrical plan

I had to make so many spot decisions on the electrical plan. Where should every single switch be located? Where should wall outlets be located? How many? One-way, 2-way, or 3-way switches? So complicated! The electrician, contractor, architect, AM and I went through every single location and made spot decisions on everything. It was all so fast! I thought some more and will need to change a few decisions. I also have to change the entire plan of the kitchen. What I have in mind is not easy, and it needs to be executed right to be done well.

Also my architect made an error in measurements for a bathroom which resulted in a few issues. The toilet has to align with a closet, and shower with the sink. My architect had the sink quoted at 1 foot less, but I got sinks that fit the correct size. The problem is, when you enter the bathroom you may run into the sink countertop or see it since its not aligned. The other issue was that the contractor already developed wall framing around the areas where bathroom lighting was supposed to be, and since the architect missed by a foot, the lighting is not centralized. After much deliberation I think we just have to live with the fact that the medicine cabinet and lighting are not aligned – its not that obvious really. I would prefer that it were aligned though. I usually check all dimensions and work of my architect, but she did not send it to me to approve, and I did not think of double-checking.

While I have been annoyed at the lack of interpersonal skills in my contractor and his manner of saying stupid things and throwing tantrums, he is proving to be very helpful. His ideas are good, he points out anything that is wrong with the plans, he gives his opinions on everything, and does not hesitate to say “this is BS” if he thinks so even if the idea maybe mine. I don’t mind that – I kind of prefer that he is opinionated and outspoken because it gets me thinking. And his ideas are good, he speaks from experience. But he is more practical than aesthetic, and I try to balance both. When I took this job, I had no idea how many decisions I would have to make. I mean, even where the switch should be located.

AM and I have different opinions on small things – should 1 switch control 4 lights or should we have 2 switches control 2 lights each? He thinks the fewer the switches the better, and I think that the fewer the lights we use the better. Our building pays for electrical bills so we don’t need to conserve electricity, but I don’t want to use more lights than necessary. We decided to rely on our contractor’s decisions wherever we disagree. I see now why my contractor thinks architects are impractical – architects just draw on a piece of paper while contractors execute and know more about the stuff. Architects focus on aesthetics and may sometimes be impractical while contractors are always practical while being aesthetically-challenged sometimes.

Read Full Post »

Bocci

I came across the Bocci light fixtures while surfing for lighting. Gorgeous, gorgeous fixtures designed by Omer Arbel. They look like candles floating in water. These pictures do not do it justice. They are pricey – each globe costs $200 with the pendant. They come in clusters of 5, 10, 14 or more. 14 is ideal, but too expensive!

The new American Eagle store on Times Square has these fixtures on the entry floor. They probably spent $10,000 on it — yes I counted them, and they had around 52 of these. But the store display does not do these fixtures justice. There are track lights brighter than the Bocci all around this fixture, and since the track lights are way brighter, the Bocci’s visual awe is diminished. What a shame! To spend $10K and not even worth it. Waste of money if you ask me. The Bocci is best when its the only lighting in that area, although it doesn’t give off enough light to be a primary source.

Club Monaco on Columbus Ave also has these fixtures – I will check them out today. Gorgeous, gorgeous fixtures, best seen from afar.

Read Full Post »

Plumbing fixtures

I ordered plumbing fixtures (faucets, sinks, shower system, etc.) from many brands since I did not want to put all my eggs in one basket. Kohler, Grohe, Hansgrohe, Duravit, and Dornbracht. Kohler is heavy, sturdy, made of metal, and highly recommended by my contractor. But its too thick and traditional-looking for my taste. Dornbracht is my fav – I love love love their fixtures. Sturdy, sleek, contemporary, gorgeous looking. Pricey!! I ordered only 3 from Dornbracht because of the $$$$$. Totally worth it though. Hansgrohe is quite good too, and I wanted to make sure that I get all metal fixtures because some of their stuff is plastic.

I like Grohe the least – its all plastic. The plastic is called resin and is supposed to be more functional than metal (or so they say), but honestly why will I pay for plastic when I can get metal for the same price? To me the stuff looked flimsy. I wanted to return, but the store will charge me a restocking fee of 20%-25% for returns. What BS! Anyway the salesperson told me she had no complaints from Grohe so I should keep it. I will never buy Grohe again unless it blows my mind.

Duravit is quite good and very reasonable. I got really good rates. Its sinks are very common in NY, and they come in various sizes which are perfect for tiny Manhattan bathrooms. I bought some stuff online, and some from two stores. I got the best prices online plus 5% off plus free shipping plus no tax! But the stuff in stores seemed to look better than online which had minor scratches. Overall I am happy with my choices.

Read Full Post »

Renovation week 8

I cannot believe that its already end of week 8 since my renovation officially started!! Week 8, and yet we haven’t even completed milestone # 1 which was supposed to be done in 1 month. Sigh! Christmas holidays, New year’s, bad weather, all excuses to not come to work for contractors. I was hoping to be done with major stuff before winter!

I used to take 1-2 hours from work to meet the contractor & architect, expecting that the time would be enough. Now I just take half the day off – no point rushing things when you have big issues to resolve. I ordered plumbing fixtures, so that is done. The plan needs some last minute changes, which is done. I am not happy with the kitchen plan, and am waiting for my architect to come up with more ideas. Now I know why people say that always keep a stash of money aside because there are things that you don’t expect will come up, and they require money — more money than planned with the contractor. He opened the wall of the bathroom and asked us to change pipes because my building is old, and the pipes are in a poor condition. My super said to replace the pipes from apartments above (which are in my bathroom) because we will have leakage issues which will ruin our tiles. The contractor needs a wider wall to accommodate pipes and electrical. So many details!!

Yesterday, my architect was preparing a plan for bathroom vanity. How high should the vanity be, how high the sink, shower, etc. I was like just go with the standard, because my head is spinning and I don’t want to make these decisions. So my architect made them for me. Too many details…

I suggested one idea to the architect for a room, and its coming along so nicely! That one idea has resulted in so much more space, and now the room looks way bigger. I keep telling AM that and he keeps saying I should stop fishing for compliments.

I cannot wait to see how everything comes together!

Read Full Post »

Home sweet home

AM comes back from India tomorrow – I am so excited. Its been a long 2.5 weeks apart. Finally he will be back… yay. Every year he leaves and every year he says I won’t leave you by yourself for so long and every year he does it again. Haa. Its been a busy time though with apartment renovation and what not. The Board of our building rejected our request to move the duct blocking the proposed bedroom entrance, so we have to change the entire plan. It sucks and I was incredibly upset, but in hindsight it saves us a lot of trouble. It would have taken time and money to shift the duct – access to the apartment below, waiting for owners of below apartment to get back to us, breaking their wall, shifting the duct, and patching the wall again. Too much effort!

My contractor is annoying. He must be 45+ and yet he behaves like a kid. Extremely unprofessional. He wants to be in charge and he wants us to listen to him and do as he says. He is extremely uncooperative and does not get that its not his apartment, its ours, so what he wants to do does not matter. My architect is in charge most of the times and dominates conversations with electrician, plumber, etc., and the contractor does not like it. Like I care what he thinks. He sulks in a corner complaining about how he is not needed and how nobody is paying him any attention. When the electrician asked him questions, he kept saying “don’t ask me don’t ask me”. I did not hire him to babysit him — thank God AM is back – he can manage him now. All the contractor does is complain all the time, and my architect gets really annoyed and tells him to shut it, then he complains that she is unprofessional. He doesn’t even return my calls in a timely fashion. What a contrast from his behavior before we signed the contract. I really won’t recommend him to anyone, but his prices are good and his contacts (plumber, electrician) are very good. I guess no contractor is good, and I would rather compromise on interpersonal skills than work quality.

Read Full Post »

Week 2

The demolition has been completed. Week 2 and everything has come to a standstill. I am waiting for the building architect and his engineer to let me know if we can move the duct which serves as a kitchen vent for the entire building. The Super is being annoying and saying no to everything. The contractor offered him money but the guy won’t budge. I do hope things work out – at this point I really cannot change the floor plan. All alternatives are worse.

My contractor is extremely annoying. Whenever my architect is around, he behaves differently. He is uncooperative, makes a big deal out of everything, tries to act funny, and smokes. Its so annoying. AM is in India so I have to deal with the damn guy. I trust my architect — she has a very good eye for things. She is able to look at photos and point out good ideas. Even though I may not have agreed on a few things initially, I have come around because after seeing photos I realize that she is right. So even if I don’t agree now, I know that she is right and its best to do it her way unless I feel strongly about something. The best decision I made — fire old architect, hire new one!

The contractor is another story. All contractors are like that — they will argue about everything and will do whatever they want. Any change you want to make, they will argue. I met one contractor who was much better, but his prices were way higher. Anyway this guy makes a recommendation which doesn’t work for me. He tells me, the Super is stupid, your architect is stupid. Everyone is stupid. I have a solution — here is my idea. He has such a big ego — a big big ego. So I made the trip to listen to his idea just to please him and motivate him. I wish AM comes back soon – the guy listens to AM, but with me he is annoying.

The worse things is, he smokes in my apartment. He has no manners and won’t listen when I tell him not to smoke. Its so disrespectful. How can someone smoke in someone else’s place when the host is saying no? So ill-mannered. I really really hate it when he smokes. Hate it. Its the most disgusting habit on earth – smoking. When we go to meet him in his office, he shuts the door and chain smokes. Its disgusting. I cannot breathe. I cannot stand it when he smokes in my house. If a contractor smokes before the owner, his men will think its okay to smoke and smoke in my apartment. The very thought disgusts me. I really wanted to write in the contract that every time he or his men smoke, I will charge him $1,000.

Read Full Post »

Ages…

Its been ages since I last wrote here… ages. I have been sooooo busy these days with the renovation and work. I got a haircut today and my hair stylist, as always an advocate of letting my hair frizz stay, and I always want to straighten it out. Straight hair is easier to maintain, falls less (he says its a misconception), and is less entangled. Frizzy hair gets entangled and is all over the face. I have thick unmanageable hair, and straight hair keeps it out of the way — I don’t need to wash my hair everyday if I straighten it out. But I have this debate every single time I get a haircut. My hair stylist is awesome and after trying several places including well-known ones, I found him and have remained loyal.

I had dinner at Vatan, my fav Indian place. I went all by myself since AM is in India. I miss him a lot although its just been 2 days, but it was nice to go there — AM does not like Vatan. The waitress was like “you are all alone all by yourself”… duh — this is New York. Women wine and dine alone as and when they please.

My renovation has hit a standstill. We found a riser 12” wide in a wall — I was supposed to have an entrance there and not cannot because the 12 inch riser which is really the exhaust for the kitchen in the entire building blocks the way. There is a riser in the middle and on the side, so I cannot move the entrance by a few inches left or right. The only way is to move the riser or change the entire plan. I am quite bummed with the options — the room sizes are reduced a lot. Plus the space is less open. But I can do whatever I want in the bathroom and have it whatever size. I prefer the old plan. The building Super says I cannot move it. I told the building managing agent that they did not inform me and I have to incur costs of starting the process from scratch and breaking the wall. I am hoping that blaming the building will compel them to allow me to move the riser. Wishful thinking I guess… my contractor says to threaten to sue them. Not a bad idea — I could pose as a lawyer. Maybe that will move the needle.

Does anyone feel like slapping Nigel of America’s Next Top Model? He always talks like he needs to drink water… you know how your mouth is dry and you have to drink water else you use a specific tone… hard to explain. Anyway, Nigel bugs me. He sucks up to Tyrant Fangs all the time, and I cannot stand him. He is half Sri Lankan. The brings me to Tyrant Fangs – I mean Tyra Banks — she looks and behaves like Cruella Devil. She has lost weight this season though and looks much better. But she is annoying, and the highest paid actress in primetime TV — $30 million per year. I mean, what kind of a loser watches her talk show? Her crazy antics? OMG!! I cannot cannot stand her. Anytime she is on the screen, AM leaves the room. He cannot stand her and Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex & the City. Seriously, Tyrant’s show is sooooo dumb. Who the F watches it?

While commuting to my old workplace, I passed Tyrant’s studio and saw a long line of people waiting to be let into her studio in the morning. I would rather stay late in bed. The woman is crazy.

Its so lonely without AM — I miss him terribly. He left on Wed, and I could not sleep and was bored to death. Somehow even though we may not chat, I may watch TV or surf the net, we may be in separate rooms, it makes a BIG difference just knowing he is around. Even if he may come in late from work, just waiting for him is enough. Now I don’t feel like watching TV or surfing the net. I am so used to him and without him its so hard.

Life is hard. People who renovate need to literally leave their jobs because main places are open only on weekdays 8:30/9 to 5/5:30. I was late today — I had to go to Blackman, a plumbing store. Customer service is non-existent in NY… extremely poor. Salespeople at Blackman don’t even have the courtesy and are not even service-oriented enough to change their voicemail – their voicemail says they are open on Saturdays, their website says that, but they are short-staffed and are not open on weekends. The building doorman told me last Saturday that 30+ people had come to the store that morning and he had to turn them away. He told them to change their voicemail but they are too lazy. I mean its just a voicemail. Tells a lot about customer service. No wonder people buy online. People go to stores to view products and buy for best prices and convenience online. I plan to do the same for some products — I don’t trust the Internet.

Read Full Post »

Moving out FINALLY!!!

So after planning and writing about moving out and renovation starting, I am finally moving out today — yay!! Renovation starts Wed. I am excited yet nervous because renovation brings with it more nightmares. AM and I have been bickering so much with stress at work and at home with the renovation and disagreements on the contractor. AM doesn’t want me to change my mind, and I think that I should change my mind as long as we have not made a purchase yet. So I am still making a final decision on materials. I am not completely sold on one recommendation from my architect, and am still looking. I don’t know what to do with one bathroom – I want it to be completely practical with porcelain tile instead of stone, but I LOVE stone. Limestone, sandstone, soapstone, marble, slate, sigh… the options are endless. The beauty of stone can never be captured in man-made materials. There are so many porcelain tiles out there that try to mimic stone, but the layers, depth, translucent characteristics in stone can never be captured.

I literally feel my heart beat faster and the thrill down my spine when I look at beautiful stone – they take my breath away. I saw a gorgeous Travertine in black with white filling — so gorgeous.. I had no idea black Travertine existed. Marble in all its variations — there are so many different types of marble — Botticcini, Etrusca, Carrara, Calacatta, Vermont Verde, Nero Marquino, etc. I LOVE LOVE Calacatta as do many others – there is something about the white marble with majestic veins… the veins have gorgeous sparkle. To be continued… AM needs to disconnect Internet for moving. Sigh!

Read Full Post »