Inspirations: bathrooms

Here is the problem with inspiration images...other people's crazy ideas can become your crazy ideas.

A few years ago, I flipped past the following photo in an Architectural Digest magazine as Mr. Big was walking by. The shower on the page is certainly cool...but it's John Travolta's cool. Well, apparently Mr. Big felt that it would give him some extra Travolta mojo or something, because it soon became part of our floor plan. Oh, he's going to be upset if he ever reads this post...sorry babe, just makes for good reading... :)

Mr. Travolta's mojo

Our soon-to-be mojo

Hmmm...I'll let you guys enter your comments here. I've also included a few other bathroom inspiration photos for various rooms in the house.

For the master bath

For the powder room

For the "maybe there will be kids someday" bathroom

My dream shower for the guest bath (but only sold in the UK...humph)

Hope you enjoyed! And remember, other people's crazy might just be crazy enough for you. :)

The garage

Not dissimilar to the rest of the house, the story of our garage has been a bit of a saga. We originally were not going to build the garage at the same time as the house. Unlike back home, there are a lot of detached garages here and people use the space above these garages in lots of different smart ways. Seems sensible enough, right?

Part of the reason that we were delaying the build of the garage was due to the fact that we don't know exactly how we intend to use the space above. And trying to get us to make up our minds obviously isn't an easy feat. As we got closer to breaking ground, it became more and more obvious that building over a 3-5 year timespan might become a tad tiresome. So we decided to bite the bullet and build the garage now.

Mr. Big and I are both really happy with the decision...although we still don't know how we will be using this extra space (surprise, surprise). I'm leaning towards a pseudo guest suite and Mr. Big is leaning towards storage and gym space. (Please feel free to email Mr. Big with your preference...as I suspect that I might get some support in this area...)

So here is the upstairs area, which will be complete with balcony and views. The ceiling will be a bit low at the corners, but high enough in the center. We've piped for future plumbing and electrical if and/or when we decide to fit out the space.


It's quite a cozy little space and the views aren't too bad either. There are canal views from the main front window and the back balcony. I think that our friends might be happy here, although I did notice one more view today that wasn't originally anticipated...


...yes, that is our master shower...and it is within a stone's throw from the back balcony. You can all breathe easy because we will have glass privacy block to keep your views "rated-PG". Well, at least that's one decision that we've made. :)

So there you have it...if you happen to stay in said proposed "psuedo guest suite", you'll now know the story behind your surroundings...and all the indecision that came along with.

Keeping our feet on the floor

When we first started designing this house, Mr. Big and I were enamored with the beautiful rustic, plank floors that were available on the market. We had no idea how much to expect to pay for flooring, so there was a huge gasp when we realized that we had been considering floors costing between $18 - $25 per square foot. Gulp.

Last September we went to Miami for a major "home weekend" and found a wood that we liked at a much more reasonable price...around $6 per square foot. Definitely within the budget. It is called American Originals Maple (5 inch) in the color Shenandoah.


I have recently been looking for prices on the internet and have found this wood for as low as $4.50 per square foot. I love finding deals! It's amazing how much you can save by simply putting your selection in a google search.

Well today I came across another option that looks very interesting. There is a website called builddirect.com that sells directly to consumers at very reasonable rates. They have a good selection and will send you sample boards for free (you pay shipping only). The best part? They even ship to the Caribbean! :) Since their prices were so competitive (around $3.50 per square foot), I ordered a few sample boards.




Heck, if we save $1 per square foot on our flooring, that can add up to a few thousand dollars.

Build Direct also has stone flooring, siding, decking materials, roofs, etc. all at pretty good rates. After finishing with our wood flooring, I also ordered a sample of the following stone for our outdoor pool area, as my wonderful husband has been pining over an effect like this for quite some time. At $2.80 per square foot, this is very competitive with anything offered locally.


The internet has changed our lives and business in so many ways. Ten years ago we wouldn't have the bargaining power available to us these days. Yes, the beautiful $20 per square foot woods are worth drooling over, but the above options come very close for a small fraction of the price.

I'll give you all a review on the quality when the sample boards arrive. Keep your fingers crossed!

Inspirations: kitchens

Just because it's been a bit quiet on here in the past few days, I thought it might be fun to put up a few kitchens that have served as inspiration to this point.

One of my favs to this point. Simple and not fussy.

Lovely cabinetry color, great handles and unique counter.
Modern chair gives it a bit of kick as well.

The ceiling built down to the cabinets eliminates the

"what do I put on top of the cabinets" dilemma

Love concrete countertops (although Mr. Big won't have them).
The big chunky one in the first image is delicious.

Very cool range hood and simple cabinetry

As if. How amazing are all of those windows and open spaces?

Hope you enjoyed!

The roof, the roof, the roof is on...

No, no, no. The roof isn't on fire (or at least we we hope not). But it is on the house. We've been hearing that it would be up for the last two weeks, but there were a few small delays. It's not entirely done, but we've got progress. And progress is good.

We haven't shown pictures of the back of the house for a while, so it seems appropriate to start there today. You can see that there is still more roofing to go in, but generally, the house is taking shape nicely. The smaller second structure is the detached garage with a granny-flat-type-we-
don't-know-what-to-call-it-but-it's-cheaper-to-build-now-area. Clear as mud, huh? Let's just call it storage space for the time being. Storage space with some pretty decent views...

I love the fact that you can see the large palms at the front of the house. They are working out really well so far. And for the record, the smaller palm next to the dock started out as a wee 1ft Royal Palm on my back porch. He survived Hurricane Ivan and is still going strong. Apparently palm trees are the only plans that can survive Mrs. Big. :)

The front of the house is taking shape nicely as well. The roof will be finished and tarred (I didn't know this was done...) this week. With the tile order being placed on Monday, the roof may be complete in about a month. Here's to quick sailing on that tile delivery!

This obviously won't be our view for long (as there are regular murmurings about neighbors building), but we'll enjoy it for as long as possible.

So there are the weekly photos...we hope everyone enjoyed them!

Wow

While merrily making my way to lunch earlier this week, I passed by this sign on the side of the road. I think that I actually said "wow" out loud in my car. And yes, I was by myself.

Who would ever put iguanas and pools in the same sentence? And is this really that big of a problem here? It just struck me as so odd and funny...




...that is until I remembered that we have some iguana friends that enjoy living under our dock. And these aren't little fellas. And even more, that dock will be about 10 feet away from the pool.


It's very possible that the last laugh in all of this could be on us. Who would have thought? Looks like we may be calling Pool Patrol after all!

Inspirations: bedrooms

And it's time to move the inspiration to the bedroom. (Just inspiration pics...geez). As you will soon see, I appear to have gone through a bit of a poster bed phase. However, after searching out the perfect bed, it has become apparent that its not the bed (or the bed alone anyways) that makes the following rooms. Somehow they all give off a sense of calm...something that I'm certainly hoping to capture!

This first image has been the "be all, end all" bedroom inspiration for quite some time. The low hanging light gives a really neat intimate feel to the lounge area. The ceiling is fab. Not too masculine, not too feminine. And while I'm quite certain that those ficus trees wouldn't last three minutes in my presence, I might just have to give them a try.


Here are more beautiful rooms. The piece above the bed in the first photo never fails to capture my attention. The headboard and the neutral linens give it a real resort feel. In fact, most of these rooms are rather neutral. Does that mean that I am boring? Probably so. ;)

The daily victories

I'm quickly coming to realize that you have to celebrate the small, daily victories that take place in building a home. It's just simply too overwhelming to consider the entire project, so why not celebrate the small decisions and construction feats. At least this is what I tell myself.

Recently Mr. Big and I have been trying to decide on our roof tiles. We both agreed on Mediterranean tiles, but there is a wide variety to choose from. Red, salmon, salt and pepper, glossy green (blech)...you name it, they make it. There are five homes currently under construction which showcase the tiles offered locally. The picture doesn't do them justice, but voila:


We went back and forth between the second (my favorite) and last (Mr. Bigs favorite) for ages (as in we've probably been out there more than six times to try and decide). On Wednesday, we did our last "drive by" and all of a sudden Mr. Big preferred the second house...FAB. Except now I liked the first house. Huh? (And yes, I was even frustrating myself...)

This morning it was time to pull the trigger, and after being completely frozen on this decision for two days, I ventured to the roof supplier to get their suggestion. Well, am I ever glad that I did! A new 2007 color line was introduced (who knew that roofs had model years?), which had all of the elements that we were looking for. I didn't even need to consult Mr. Big because I just knew that he would be thrilled.

So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our roof choice...the beauty of all beauties (in our eyes at least).


I felt like doing a little happy dance when I left the offices. One more decision down the drain! (P.S. Mr. Big loved the new tiles)

Boys, pay attention...

Around the holidays, I posted about finding the online mecca of men's gift ideas at Uncrate. The pressure to come up with clever gifts somehow miraculously dissappeared after scrolling through their suggestions. It almost felt guilty having it so easy.

So imagine my pleasure when I came across the female version today...Outblush. There are literally loads of ideas for gifts for girlfriends, housewarmings, etc. I was giddy over gorgeous bags, clever garlic graters, and useful travel lotions. It's certainly worth a visit. (Psst boys...don't say I didn't help you on this one!)

An opportunity for development

I would consider my interest in lighting as an opportunity for development. Sounds like "performance evaluation" term, doesn't it? Other than the chandelier post below, it's just not an area that evokes much emotion. Many people have outlined how the proper lighting can have a huge impact on a home. Yes, I hear them, but to be honest, I would rather drool over textiles and artwork (and yes, I realize that drool would ruin the artwork...).

While perusing a magazine today, I came across this cool little gadget...a parrot corkscrew. How cute is this? Seeing as it would make for a fitting Caribbean gift idea, I googled it and was sent to a lighting website of all places. (By the way, the corkscrew also comes in other fun colors and you can find it here...)

Lumens Light and Living is an interesting site because it has all different ranges of lights, from $30 to true art pieces (loads of zeros behind those!). The nice part is that the styles are generally fairly contemporary, while offering more than the standard white plastic shade that you see on most sites these days. Just for the record-keeping, here were a few items that caught my eye:

Porcelain pieces by Justice Design that give off a beautiful glow
(and are surprisingly reasonably priced)

Basket sconce from Dform that gives a similar effect


Wall sconce by Sonneman (perhaps a bit too ordinary?)



Okay, I can hear my dad groaning in the background with this one,
but for some reason, I like it. Sorry Dad.

After looking them all over again, I think the porcelain lights are taking the lead. I'm pretty pleased with these finds.

But before I close, I have to leave you with one more treat from the site. I was very eager to see this floor lamp after the following description:

The (Mrs. Big doesn't want to get sued so she removed the name) Large Floor Lamp, by (again covering her rear), is a bold statement of tightly clustered, sculpted metal flowers forming a nosegay light bouquet for indoor living area tables or floors. Guaranteed to garner attention in any environment.

Are you kidding me? I realize that I don't know much about design (and please excuse me if I am offending you...), but I am quite certain that one of my brothers made this in the fourth grade for a science fair project. And it's worth pointing out that this is listed for a mere $4,060. What a bargain considering the lovely red cord that you get with it! Don't all rush out at once please.

Well, I'm feeling a bit better after my excursion. I may have opportunities for development when it comes to lighting, but then again, I'm not the only one. :)