31.5.07

double dare


Today, after much sought help with the "experts" (by "experts" i am referring to several construction workers still roaming the neighborhood which were the ones responsible of making the house's electrical outlets, architects doing our neighbors' lighting, and whoever claimed to know about electric installations), finally a brave one said he would do the task.

What casanuncajamas desperately needed was two chandeliers (which belonged to my parents who bought them when they were newlyweds) hung from its ceiling. the problem was, one of them needed to be hung from a double heightened ceiling. that's why nobody wanted to do it.

What makes our man brave is not just agreeing to do it... it's how he did it. yes, it's him in the picture, and that's the way he did it...


23.5.07

heirlooms (the after shots)

Finally here. after a two month wait, my grandmother's furniture which i had reupholstered, finally arrived. i was pleasantly surprised to see that everything turned out just as i had imagined (except for a minimal detail in the paint of the chaise lounge- the guy decided to show off and opposed to what i had ordered, which was plain white paint, he added a mustard colored brushed finish, but we already have plans to fix it). i had such a hard time deciding on the fabrics, especially since AG wasn't there to help me decide. but after seeing the results, i think they were good choices.

I heart my old new furniture!top to bottom: chair (with added buttons), love seat (renovated to be a little mid century), art deco chairs (painted and reupholstered in a brocade inspired fabric), day bed (with the weird finished base, barely noticeable in the pictures).


14.5.07

paint it black


So, we really want to be a DIY couple. that, and considering our tight budget for house decoration, we decided we would paint by ourselves one of the dining room walls (we had never painted a wall before, but how hard could it be?). so, black walls it would be!

We painted the first wall and once it was finished, we still had another new can of paint, so we went for a second one. the difficult thing about dark colors is that they bring out all the flaws the walls have. but the trick is applying several layers of paint. we did a pretty good job and now the dining room is looking great! it's really beginning to come together in my mind (after some color touch ups on my grandmother's heirlooms...).top to bottom: AG applying the first coat of dutch boy 10A-6 top hat paint, me admiring our work.


13.5.07

empty house:blank canvas



Here's a look at the empty house. lots of light, lots of airy spaces, lots of white. the perfect start to create a home.

heirlooms (the before shots)

I love heirlooms. i love the concept of salvaging stuff that once belonged to someone in your family in a completely different era and in such a different way of living. my heirlooms belonged to my grandparents. their house had been shut off for a very long time and recently, the time came to clean it up because it would be sold. since i live far away, i told my mom which pieces of furniture i remembered from the house, in hopes they could be handed down to me. and i was pretty successful.

I have pieces no flea market could ever carry, vintage stuff in mint condition and with such quality... they just need a few touch ups to just be perfect. and the best of all is, each piece has history to it, which is priceless... i bet grandma would be proud. she always supported my artistic flair.



top to bottom: display cabinet, mirror, love seat (which will be completely renovated), a couple of mid century bureaus, an art deco chair, a day bed (which i like to call retro chaise lounge), and a deer head (don't call PETA on me! it belonged to my grandfather, he used to go hunting and it always stood in his study, so i have memories of that deer since i was a kid, you know it has sentimental value...)

12.5.07

floor plans



This is the layout for casa nuncajamas. on left, first floor and on right, second floor.

On first floor: garage, garden, (high ceiling) dining room, bathroom, kitchen, patio, laundry room, maid's room (which we plan to turn into a second guest room). on second floor: master bedroom with balcony, living room, terrace, guest room, bathroom and study.

Since we wanted to decorate each room according to a theme, after bouncing ideas, we pretty much agreed on almost every theme we wanted. the garden is tropical oasis. the dining room is vintage modern brocade (yes, inspired on the whole brocade home line). the kitchen is going to be pop artistry. the living room and terrace is aca tiki (inspired on the glamorous acapulco of the 50's-60's and the kitschy tiki decor). the guest room will someday be cabin in the woods, and the study is mid century mod. no theme for the master's bedroom yet. i wanted it to be either cloud in the sky or powder room, but none were approved. yet.



backstory...


La casa de nunca jamas, which means "the never ever house" and the backstory on how it got it's name. the antigroom (ag) and me still lived on our rental apartment (which you can see here and here) but waiting to receive our new house (which was on construction) due on september (2006). the wait turned out to be until march (2007).

After the much awaited day, we are finally here... and while the house was "finished" for the builders, for us it's just the beginning. this is our new project and we are looking to print our personality into every corner of the house. and make it ours.