how did we get here?

This is my first pandemic. There’s a good chance it’s your first one, too. Things have been up-ended, plans cancelled, certainty lost. We’re all testing out new coping strategies and tricks to keep reality and the daily news cycle at bay.

For us, it started in April when we (“we” = my husband) decided on a whim to get a new puppy. The short version of the story goes like this:

Text from friends on Wednesday saying they are picking up a new Bernadoodle puppy on Saturday
Reply text from husband: “I want a puppy!”; reply from friends: “They have a few left.”
Call to breeder: “I want a puppy!”
Friends deliver our new puppy on Saturday.
Kids veto naming him Fauci. We settle on Ferris, because “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

We quickly became a cliche as the pandemic puppy trend took hold. (This was followed by the sourdough starter craze, which hasn’t lasted as long as the puppy.)

The vacation home trend came next. It started with a familiar exchange, and with the same friends. The short version…

Text from friends about 60 days into the stay at home order: “We put an offer on a house in Michigan.”
FOMO took over…maybe we should look at lake houses in Michigan.
Redfin searches ensue.
Memorial day visit to see one – only one – house in Michigan.
Totally remodeled, 3 bedroom, 2 bath + office space. Bonus – it’s one house away from friends.
Offer made, negotiated, accepted in three days.
We’re now Michigan home owners.

In our defense, we aren’t complete lemmings. We’ve visited Southwest Michigan every Labor Day (and some other days too) for the past few years. Our email boxes have long been full of property listings, prompting dreams of lazy summer mornings and sunsets on the beach. But, the dreams had always been pushed to the side by busy summer schedules of camps, trips and of course, work.

The COVID changed all that. We now had an equation that made a vacation home a smart decision.

(#WFH + “remote learning” – travel plans) * low interest rates =

LUNDAK LAKEHOUSE

Since this crisis started, I’ve journaled my list of “bright side” moments every day. Our family has been relatively unscathed during the pandemic — we are employed, we have food, shelter, and good health, we are safe. We have been lucky – so far. But no one is immune to the emotional toll of what’s happening in the world. So, my “bright side” list is my way of finding gratitude in the midst of the chaos.

Here in Michigan, our “bright side” list is long.

Come back, and I’ll share it with you.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

house of fun

We like to entertain. I mean really like to entertain. Book club, supper club, Sunday family dinners, mystery dinners, barbecues, late night on the Lundak lanai, dinners for eight, happy hour. So being out of commission for six or seven months during the house remodel left me in a funk. Not just because we were cooking mac and cheese in the bathroom, but because there was something big missing in our lives.

Cooking for others has been a hobby of ours since before we were married. We didn’t always have room for large groups, but we always found a way to create spaces for memorable meals in our house and in our schedules. We once cleared out the basement and added low tables and floor cushions for a Chinese New Year supper club. One Valentine’s Day Dan and the boys surprised me with dinner in our living room surrounded by dozens of candles and a crackling fire. There was the summer we hosted two different families for dinner every Friday night. The next year we hosted a monthly dinner for eight – no kids allowed. You get the idea.

(Side note: I score high for hedonism on leadership personality tests. I need to eat, drink and host parties like some people need to nap.)

If you know me, you won’t be surprised that the paint wasn’t yet dry on the house project and I was already filling the calendar with a few months worth of parties. We had to make up for lost time, so it seemed only right to get back into the groove right away. It also had the added benefit of creating a true deadline for our contractor and ourselves.

If I was going to host a progressive dinner on Saturday and then a Noonday Collection jewelry party for 50 people the next day, we couldn’t have missing baseboards or cabinet doors. And we couldn’t have bare walls and floors. We wasted no time ordering furniture (prioritizing quick delivery over custom fabrics) and rugs and hanging artwork and buying plants, since we wanted to be open for business again. Window treatments are another story; we’re still living in a fishbowl.

When you’re planning a remodel or addition, you think about how you’ll spend time in your “new” house. You think about how you like to live and entertain. You plan the details around these characteristics that are unique to you and your family.

When we got to test drive our house for entertaining the first few times, and all the planning and details worked just like we envisioned, it was the greatest satisfaction. Here are a few of the details we think we got right.

Butler’s Pantry/Bar: The hardest working “room” in the house. We designed it to be a bar area, but with ample countertop space for a dinner buffet. The cabinets are high enough and not too deep, so it’s easy to use the counter for food service.

It has a small bar sink on one end (out of the way), which is useful as a second station for serving drinks or ice. Also comes in handy for hand-washing crystal stemware, which is conveniently stored in the glass-front upper cabinets.

Instead of a wine fridge, we opted for a drink fridge which could house wine and other kid and adult drinks, too. It can rotate between soda and LaCroix to Guinness and Fat Tire quite nicely.

Kitchen Design: The cooking triangle (sink, stove and fridge) are key to an efficient kitchen. But the actual space between counter and island (or counter and counter) is key to not getting a traffic jam in the kitchen when entertaining. Our counters have 48″ between them. Close enough to quickly get the dripping pot from stove to sink, but big enough that during a party (when everyone congregates in the kitchen) you can still get the work done.

I tested this during a cocktail party we hosted for 80+ people. Guests were hovering in the kitchen in front of both ovens (it was really hot and they didn’t move, instead complaining about heat. Duh.), but I could still get the appetizers out without incident.

The refrigerator is also located at the end near the butler’s pantry and dining room, so you can easily get what you need without being in the “chef’s” way. The hutch full of dishes and glasses is also conveniently located at the end for easy access to the dining room.

Multi-generational Dinner for Eight with friends from First Presbyterian Church

Porch/Extra Dining: One of the best last minute decisions we made was to take back the front porch. When we bought the house four years ago we split the porch in two, installing a wall so we could have a TV room. The porch has full radiator heat, so it’s usable year-round. It served its purpose, but with the addition it simply wasn’t necessary anymore.

A few weeks before we were ready to move into the new space, I asked our contractor to take down the wall and redo the floor. We installed pine wood in place of the hideous old linoleum, which I painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint and varnish. The result is a serene entry with a coastal cottage feel, and a bonus room for extra dining or for storing coats for large parties. It’s also Rocky’s new home at night.

Made for Fun: Last month we hosted Dan’s family over St. Patrick’s day weekend to celebrate his mom’s 80th birthday. It was one of those rare occasions when everything turns out just right. Luck of the Irish perhaps. The time spent together, the meals, the memories, the limericks, the silly Irish decor were even more special because it was one of the first celebrations in our updated house. I’m sure we would have had fun no matter what, but the updates to the house allowed us to plan and host this special event. It earned us the official “Fun” stamp.

Someone once said, the fondest memories are made when gathered round the table. We’ve had many, and can’t wait to have many more. After all, if we’re going to be called the “Fundaks” – we need to live up to it.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

my shower has a super power

I don’t know many people who actually like to get out of bed in the morning. Someone who wants to pull back the cozy covers, squint in the morning sun and step onto the cold floor. Unless you are on permanent vacation though, you probably don’t have much of a choice.

Let me introduce you to our shower. Its super power? It can make you hop out of bed and into the shower without a groan or hitting snooze. Here’s a rundown of everything we love about it.

The Shower Head

Dan didn’t have a lot of demands with the new house, but he insisted on picking the shower head for our master bath. He indulged me the rain shower head, which gives the illusion of a spa, but the fixed head was his choice. His one criteria? It needed a powerful spray. Not one that the plumber has to hack in order to get around the village code, but one with a seriously intense flow.

The Grohe Relexa Deluxe 130 Shower Head delivers. It doesn’t pelt you with bullets of water, it lovingly soaks you like a garden hose douses a garden. And as a bonus, its spray is so powerful it rinses out your shampoo in seconds. When the sales manager at Studio 41 (also named Dan) said this was the head for us, he was right.

If you have the ceiling height to play with, hang it as high as you can. Ours is about 7.5′ high. No more craning our heads under a too short head.

(Full disclosure: We have to shower fairly quickly to ensure everyone gets a hot shower. And we probably need a bigger water heater for all that showering and all that water. Sacrifices.)

The Controls

The lowly shower control is an overlooked fixture compared to the all important shower head. One control or two never crossed our minds. But the simplicity and ease of this single control dual flow system from California Faucets is a winner. Plus, your control doesn’t need to be the same brand or system as your head, so you can pick what suits your taste.

The top valve works the fixed head, the bottom works the rain shower head and the cross dial in the middle manages the temp. Now you can use our shower and not scramble trying to figure out cold from hot, rain from fixed. And believe me, you might want to visit our shower. It’s only $5 a rinse.

The Tile Bench

If you have space for one, get one. Great for shaving legs, soaking up the rain shower, taking a brief nap and storing bath products. Make sure your contractor gives is a bit of a slope so it doesn’t collect water.

Light Walls, Dark Floor and Grout

Our shower is only 6 weeks old, but I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing much icky moldy grout or shower scum on the floor. The combo of the dark gray grout and dark floor mask the yuck. White subway tile is nothing new, but it still feels refreshing and clean in a shower with a tile surround. Plus, it was an economical choice, so we could spend our tile budget on the cement floor.

Heated Floor

Technically this is not part of the shower (although wouldn’t that be an indulgence), but the heated floor is the best warm up (pun intended) when getting in and out of the shower. After all, the only thing more dreaded than getting out of bed in the morning is getting out of a shower in the cold. The heated floor solves that problem. And it’s probably not as expensive as you think. The Sabine Hill Lace cement tile has a natural warmth to it, and a great texture, which only gets better with age and the heating element. (Note: We are seeing very small hairline cracks in the tile which are a mystery to our contractor, so we have to investigate. But it still fits the aged patina of the room.)

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A Pretty View

Some good friends visited the other weekend and their 12 year old daughter said, “your bathroom is aesthetically pleasing.” High praise from a tween, and another key ingredient to get you out of bed each day.

Lights, floors and vanity aren’t just functional, they are pretty to look at and can make a utility room like a bathroom your favorite room in the house.

Although, we don’t pick favorites here. We love all our new rooms equally. Next time, I’ll give you a tour of another part of the very very fine house. Until then, I hope your days are easy like Sunday morning.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

isn’t it ironic

It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought, it figures

Alanis Morissette

Remember what prompted this remodel/addition? The need for a first floor bathroom turned into a multi-floor addition of our dreams. (You can read more in Calm before the storm.) So, isn’t it ironic that said bathroom is the last room finished? Everything else – kitchen, master, family, basement – were all ready for move-in by February 1; six months to the day after we broke ground.

In this marathon project, the bathroom brought up the rear. Figuratively speaking at least.

Over the course of the last week, we’ve fully moved in, moved things around and started breaking in the new digs. Our bedroom moved to the new master suite, while our old bedroom became the guest bedroom. The floors were swept and cleaned. The former TV room furniture moved to the basement (thanks to big Jim’s help), and is now a kid cave complete with ping pong table and a laundry chute for eavesdropping. And the floors were swept and cleaned. New furniture arrived for the family room, and TV and Sonos were installed. Closets were hung, clothes were purged and put away. And the floors were swept and cleaned again.

And yet, the first floor powder room remained undone.

But thankfully it was only a week or so behind. Fast forward a week and now new tile (remember what happened in Oops?) is in. The wallpaper is up. The toilet is down(?). And we even have a door. No mirror or toilet paper holders, but it’s open for business.

Not right.

Perfect.

They say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. But, I’d say we’re close. Kind of done, but not done done. All moved in, but not finished. Maybe, close to done?

The dumpster left a week ago, followed by the port-a-potty a week later. So, seems done. Right?

Maybe not. See, remodeling is like getting a tattoo. Once you start, it’s hard to stop.

We figured that while we’re at it, why not rethink the front room. What’s another “little” project when we’re already this far in? The vinyl floor and awkward divider wall are out of place with the updated entry and flow of the house. It was clear the house “needs” this. It wants to go back to the good old days. So, we made a late game decision to demo our front room (the converted porch, turned TV room) and tear out the floors in hope of finding something great below.

Alas, no such luck.

Layers of linoleum and parquet and adhesive, but no porch floors. So, construction continues and we’ll be putting in new floors this week.

Isn’t it ironic.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

it’s lit.

it’s lit (Urban Dictionary)

when something fun is happening or something exciting is happening and you and your friends are turnt up.

Yep. This house is lit. No, really.

The 25 boxes in our living room (great for fort making BTW), are now gracing our walls and ceilings with their own distinct personalities.

Some are floating orbs of joy that glow like a bright full moon or a moody sunset.

Luna, Schoolhouse Electric

Bistro Globe Milk Glass, RH

Turned down low

Others are work hard, play hard. Like the mullet of lighting (you know, business up top, party in the back). Stripped to the bare essentials, but winking at you as if to say, “go ahead, let’s get this party going.”

Vintage Barn, RH

Odyssey 2, Schoolhouse Electric

Brass City 7 Chandelier, Schoolhouse Electric

Forget global warming. I love these lights so much I am never turning them off. Like Old Man Parker’s leg lamp, I’m going to burn them brightly for all the neighbors to see.

It’s the middle of January. It’s Chicago. And if you’ve been here in the dead of winter, you know that light can turn this…

into this…

So, thank you Humphrey Davy and Joseph Swan for inventing the light bulb. (Sorry, Thomas Edison.) And forget the college fund; that money is going to the electric company.

As my friend and design kindred spirit Annie Dwyer says, “lighting is the jewelry of the home.” So, skip Tiffany’s. Please buy my anniversary gift at Schoolhouse Electric.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

sinking in

The Build
California Closets, cement tile, kitchen, sinks, sub-zero, wolf
2 Comments

When you adjust to “life under construction”, you start to forget that it will ever end. You see and hear all the chaos around you, and rationally you know it will end. But you get so used to this new way of living that it becomes second nature to do the dishes in the bathtub and to nuke something in the microwave in the office. You forget what cooking feels like. You forget what clean smells like. You forget what home looks like.

So, it’s was a bit jarring when we got five new (operational) sinks in one day.

It sunk in.

This will end. We will get to eat off of real plates again. Our dining repertoire will consist of more than three meals (Chinese chicken night, Chicken taco night and pasta). The tub will go back to being a tub (after extensive bleaching). We will get to enjoy the comforts of home. Soon.

We took a quantum leap forward this week. Here’s just a glimpse of what’s happened.

New sinks – master bath, kitchen, powder room trough and bar/butler’s pantry

New appliances (from Abt) – stocked with the essentials

Closet install (from California Closets) – just waiting to be filled (with shoes)

Master tile (from Virginia Tile) – grouted and ready for scrubbing

At this rate, we’ll be showing the final reveal by February. (Knock on wood.) And Dan will probably win the family bet on the completion date.

The prize? A very fine house.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

oops.

Mistakes happen. Most of us do what we can to prevent them — but they happen. As any self-help, leadership or children’s book will tell you, the best thing you an do is learn from them and figure out how to keep them from happening again.

We’ve only had a couple of mistakes so far in rebuilding this house. <knocks on wood> Two were preventable and could have been easily avoided with better communication. The other would have required a dog whisperer or a bigger bladder.

All of them cost money.

When I was 13 and our family moved from southern California to the DFW area in Texas, a new custom-built home helped to take the edge off the culture shock. We got to pick out every detail, from the Laura Ashley wallpaper to the crown molding. My sister Kelly, being 4 years older than me, got first dibs on bedrooms. So naturally, she chose the biggest and best room with the large bay window at the front of the house. And just like the plot of a John Hughes movie, I declared it unfair.

The Grapevine house we built in 1985 (photo 2015). The top bay window was Kelly’s room.

My mom had a gift for making things right, though. She took great care to make sure presents were equal at Christmas and that none of us felt slighted or left out. Since this was a custom-built home, the solution was to add a picture window and window seat to my smaller room overlooking the driveway. I felt satisfied.

When we got to town a few weeks before the start of the school year following our cross-country drive, our first stop was to see the progress on the house. It wasn’t ready for us to move in yet (that would take 4 more months!), but we could see the dangling carrot of the new home. We walked around the exterior of the house in the twilight and pointed out each room. There was Kelly’s room, the guest room…but when we got to the driveway, there was no picture window. No room for me! I was crushed.

Of course I didn’t know it in the moment, but there was a room for me, just no window. A builder’s mistake. Eventually it was fixed and a window added, but not quite like we envisioned. These things happen, and if you aren’t onsite to monitor every move, they can happen a lot.

This is what happened two weeks ago when we didn’t monitor the powder room tile installation on our house remodel. Can you spot the difference?

Proper layout

Not right.

The tile setter installed the Sabine Hill pieces on a diagonal, instead of a normal grid pattern. The design is correct, but the diagonal placement along with black grout (not our choice) turned our bold design pick into a busy distraction. The crusher is that we waited 10 weeks for the tile to arrive from the Dominican Republic and removing the mistake would also mean another delay. Of course, a few more weeks at this point is a rounding error. (I’m just saying that to make myself feel better. It’s not really working.)

Then there’s the roof color mistake. We opted not to replace the entire roof and just do the new and main portion of the roof. The smaller area of roof over the front door was replaced just two years ago and we chose a slightly darker color for it knowing we’d eventually replace the entire roof. So, we asked for the new roof to match the existing.

See the problem with that communication? We said “match the existing,” but we didn’t clarify which part was existing. It took a few days for us to notice, but the new roof matched the old existing roof that it was replacing, and the front of the house still has the slightly darker shingles. Anyone with OCD will quickly point this out to us.

Two mistakes that could have been averted with better communication and more supervision.

And then there’s the most recent gaffe.

Over the weekend we were focused on other things and neglected to give Rocky any water all day long. By bedtime on Saturday, he was barking and looking for any drop of liquid to quench his thirst. Once we realized what he was upset about we gave him enough water to fill about three bowls. He quickly slurped it all up. Of course we knew he’d need to go out to pee before bed, so we made sure he did his business.

Sunday was Christmas Eve and a travel day. We had to evacuate for the holidays so the floors could be stained and varnished. The sanding was already done and the raw naked floors were ready to be made beautiful. We had the car half-packed to get up early and drive to Lincoln to celebrate Christmas with the Lundak family.

Dan found the very large puddle when he woke up. It wasn’t on the vinyl by the front door. It wasn’t on the finished wood by Rocky’s bed. It wasn’t on the ceramic tile in the new mudroom. It was on the raw, naked, sanded, new wood by the back door. Dan soaked it up as best he could. A minor annoyance in the process of getting out of town.

Then two days later we get this text from our GC…

The floors were cupping and the acid had discolored the wood. The three bowls of water turned into replacing all the wood in the stained area, re-sanding and then starting the staining process (that’s dripping with irony) all over again.

At this point, all that matters to us is that we get back into our house on Sunday, New Year’s Eve, and can stop being nomads.

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Oscar Wilde

The lesson here? We’re human. We make mistakes. It might mean a little delay or a little more cost, but that’s just the price of gaining experience.

And better communication — with humans and dogs — could definitely help.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

practicing hope

Stick with me on this one. It’s going to get a bit spiritual. But no matter your religious beliefs or traditions, I hope you can relate to the theme of this post — hope.

This past weekend marked the first Sunday in Advent. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means coming. To mark the coming of Christ, we light a candle each week of Advent, with the first week signifying hope. That same day I stumbled on an email recommended by my mother-in-law that talked about the season of Advent and the “Time for Practicing Hope.”

Then it hit me. Beyond the never-ending mess, the constant inconvenience, the stress and the anxiety and the worry, there’s always hope. This project is a constant exercise in hope. Hope that the project will go smoothly. Hope that no one will fall off a ladder and die. Hope that we won’t regret any design choices. Hope that the eventual increase in property taxes won’t suck us dry. Hope that it will all turn out okay and someday our home will be back to normal (and preferably be dust-free).

Hope is a powerful thing. It can get you through times far far more challenging than living in a home during a remodel. In this year of increasing global and local uncertainty, hope is what we cling to when we really want to just crawl under the covers and turn off all media. But what’s great about the holiday season is that we get to practice hope all over again. Kids hope that Santa comes. We hope we get our lists crossed off in time. We hope the last-minute Amazon delivery gets here on time. We hope there are no family feuds on Christmas Eve. We hope that joy will appear and that we will remember we are here to love one another and this planet.

We may be getting extra-credit building up our hope muscles with this project, but in some small way I think it will serve us well in the long run when there are far more serious reasons to call on the power of hope.

Oh, and if you think we hope to finish the house this year…we’ve already lost hope on that pipe dream. But end of January is looking better and better.

And there is a silver lining of not being done by Christmas. We are taking a simple approach to the holidays with only a wreath and a half-lit skinny tree as decorations. But look out 2018 – I’m saving up extra tinsel for you.

Meanwhile, here’s a brief view of the progress. Let me know what you think!

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Featured by Molly James-Lundak

the grateful list

I love Christmas, but Thanksgiving is a close second. It’s the last holiday that hasn’t been overtaken by consumerism. There’s no Thanksgiving themed aisle of candy and decorations at the store. We don’t buy gifts or special sweaters to show we’re celebrating. And how cool is it that this holiday is all about being grateful?

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are the top five things I’m grateful for during this house renovation…

1. A sense of humor

If you can’t laugh at the dust or the 7:30 am hammering on a Saturday, don’t live in your house while it’s being remodeled. Trust me on this. It’s not for everyone. Sometimes we’re laughing just because it’s a better alternative to crying. And sometimes we’re laughing because there are two porta-potties in our driveway. Not one, but two. Who knew that stucco-guys could be so particular about their johns. Brings new meaning to the phrase BYOB (bring your own bathroom).

2. Tradesman that show up and do good work

We are officially done with drywall. (Yeah!) This guy was here every day for 10 days straight (weekends and evenings included) to get the job done. Sometimes he had a whole crew of cousins and mariachi music with him, sometimes he was solo. I admit that having drywaller houseguests all weekend for two weeks in a row got a little old, but it’s better than the alternative. We’ve heard horror stories of no one showing up to work on a project for a week or so at a time. Not the case here. They are moving pretty fast – even on stilts. They aren’t so good with clean up, but all the trades have done an excellent job so far. That’s all we could ask for.

3. Windows that remind me to enjoy the view

Bedroom with a view

Family room full of light

One thing we love about our house is the corner location and all the light we get from the East, South and West. The new addition (on the West side of the house), is full of windows to maximize the sunshine. The result is open and airy and a constant tease at what’s to come when we get to wake up and look out these windows each morning. It’s easy to focus on the mess and the incredible inconvenience of it all, but when the sun shines just right through these windows, we remember that in just a few months we’ll be enjoying the view from the comfort of a new kitchen or bedroom.

4. A chill dog

When we started this project, I was most nervous about how Rocky would handle it all. I thought he might bark at all the workers or go stir crazy being in a confined space. Ironically, we’ve been the ones barking at each other (from time to time) and going crazy living in just a few small rooms.

We have no access to our backyard, so Rocky has to go out front to do his business. Every morning at 6:30 we just open the door, he goes pee on the front lawn and comes running back. Except for chasing the mail lady in the rain that one night (what is it about mailmen and dogs?), he is very obedient and comes back in the house like a good boy. He especially loves checking out the workers and the new space and rolling in the dust.

5. Reviving game night

We had to get out of the house last weekend. There was drywalling all day, combined with dust and noise, and it to top it off, it was cold and rainy. Trifecta of unpleasantness. Lincoln was especially bored, so Dan decided to go get a new game that they could play at Starbucks on Sunday afternoon. Colby and I went along for the ride and to do homework and work-work while the other two played games. The new game of choice? Exploding Kittens.

If you haven’t played Exploding Kittens, it’s now more popular at 602 William than TV. It’s fun. It’s vindictive. It has kittens. The perfect combo. And any time you can play games with your kids that don’t require batteries, you do it. Be grateful they want to spend time with you, it may be short-lived.

Giving thanks this year

Wherever you may be this Thanksgiving, we hope you look around and can see bright spots in your life. The turkeys in power may bring us down, but we still have much to be grateful for. We have a roof over our heads and love in our hearts, and for that we are incredibly thankful.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

end of the first trimester

Home construction is a lot like a pregnancy. It takes a lot of planning, can cost a lot of money, and causes a lot of pain. But when it’s over, we forget the trauma and are consumed with our beautiful new baby.

It’s been three months since we broke ground, so in pregnancy terms we’ve made it through the first trimester. And while we pray this doesn’t go a full term of nine months, there are probably three solid months to go.

Those aren’t the only similarities. The home remodel small talk we hear at every party or walk around the neighborhood sounds vaguely familiar, too.

When you’re pregnant people say: “You look great. I can hardly tell you’re pregnant. When are you due?”

What you’re thinking: “People lie. And they’re blind. Will this ever be over?”

And when you’re remodeling people say: “It looks great. It’s really coming along. When will you be finished?”

What you’re thinking: “People lie. And they’re blind. Will this ever be over?”

My pregnancies were never difficult. No real morning sickness or serious problems. But I hated not feeling like myself. That’s kind of where I am now. The remodel is not difficult, there are no major problems, but we’re not living like we normally do.

There’s a constant layer of dirt on every surface. There’s no real meal planning and much smaller loads of groceries. We eat yogurt and ice cream out of the cartons to save us from washing another dish. Licking a knife now makes it clean. There’s a microwave and hot plate in the office. There’s a coffee maker and tabletop convection oven in our bathroom. A refrigerator and toaster in our living room. And a mix of clean and dirty dishes in our bathtub. And did I mention the dirt?

But just like when you’re a first time parent, the kindness of friends makes all the difference. We’ve had so many lovely dinners at friends’ houses, where we savor real home cooked meals, clean floors and, of course, the best company. We’ve borrowed a kitchen to satisfy a baking itch. And there are offers of doggie play dates and borrowing houses during vacation. Every offer is so appreciated and helps dilute the little frustrations that come with living in a construction zone.

We’ve also embraced the little surprises along the way. From discovering pretty wood detail on the stairs hidden behind drywall and opening up the entryway (our contractor’s brillian idea), to spending more family “together time” (since we’re always sharing the same 300 square foot space). And I love the bursts of creativity when we’re planning where outlets and lighting go, and start imagining how it will all come together. I can see how this might become addicting.

So, what will the next few months (or trimester)bring? Things like stucco, installation, and drywall, and then the long process of finishing (floors, tile, lights, cabinets, etc.). That means trying to stay upbeat, overlooking the hassles, and keeping our eyes on the prize. A few holiday distractions will help, too. Then, before we know it, all the pains will be a distant memory and we’ll be enjoying our fresh new old home.

But that’s where the pregnancy comparison ends. Since unlike a new baby, we’ll be when this is through, we’ll be sleeping through the night in our new master suite.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

decisions. decisions. decisions.

Hick’s law is the time it takes for a person to make a decision based on the number of possible choices you have. Increasing the number of choices will increase the decision time. It’s also why busy leaders like Steve Jobs and Barack Obama chose to wear the same outfit every day. Why waste brainpower on choosing an outfit each morning? Save the decision-making for which features to have on the next iPhone or how to get healthcare reform passed.

It’s not the same as being a major world leader, but when you’re building or remodeling a house, decision fatigue is real. A new set of decisions come at you each day. Some major and some that seem like minutia. How far apart do you want the kitchen light pendants? Which lights should be on each switch? Do you want oil rub bronzed or chrome hinges? It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

But it’s also exhilarating when each decision is made. When you’ve found the perfect _______________ (light, tile, wallpaper). Seeing it all come together is like planning a great dinner menu or putting on a killer outfit. Just slightly more permanent (and expensive and stomach churning).

We’re now at the point when most of the big design decisions have been made. Tile is picked and ordered. Bath fixtures are waiting to be shipped. Boxes of lights are stacking up in the garage. Kitchen cabinets are being built.

Since I can’t wait to see it all in place, I might as well give you a preview. So, here are just a few of my favorite picks so far.

Powder Room Sink

Antique Style High Back Farm Sink Cast Iron Porcelain Wall Sink, Navy, 24"

Powder Room Wallpaper (Amy Wilder’s prints are fabulous)

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Master Bath Floor (Cement!)

Master Bedroom Light

Kitchen Backsplash (and the first item I picked for the house over a year ago)

Kitchen Island Lights (I’m in love with Schoolhouse Electric)

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It’s a great feeling to have all the major decisions checked off the list. Like finishing your Christmas shopping before December 1. Now it’s time to turn the creative juices off for awhile, while we summon all the patience we can muster.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

raze the roof

In 10th grade I was really looking forward to geometry. It seemed more useful and practical than 9th grade algebra. Want to design a building? You need geometry. Decorating a new house? You need geometry. Need to get the Apollo crew back from space? You need geometry (and physics and the help of Katherine Johnson) .

Our big geometry project was assigned in the spring semester. We had to design and build a model house. I had been drawing floor plans on graph paper since I was in single-digits. I loved to create different layouts, add in furniture, and dream of building a house worthy of Architectural Digest. This was my time to shine.

Naively, I chose to build my house out of photo mat board. Each cut was a struggle to keep a straight line while getting the Exacto knife through the thick board. But the slate blue walls and chocolate brown roof were sure to wow the teacher, along with the modern design and innovative floor plan. It was a labor of love. And I was proud of my first architectural masterpiece.

But the roof wouldn’t hold up to rain, and the pitch wouldn’t drain well. I got a C (or maybe a D…I’ve tried to block it out). My architectural dreams were dashed. Not to mention it killed my GPA that year, along with any future interest in math.

So, when we started to talk roof lines at the house, I glazed over. I just nodded, like a foreigner who doesn’t know the language.

It was a last minute request to fix the roof and ceiling in the stairway leading to the 3rd floor attic bedroom. It’s a great room – the whole width of the house – but to get there you have to stoop all the way over or be under 4 foot 2 inches. It’s wonky. If you’ve been up there, you know. You might even have a scar or a lump as evidence.

With the new addition and roof, we “overbuilt” the old roof. That means there was space between the old roof and new roof that would just be wasted. Or, we could remove the old roof and add a foot of headspace to make a bumpless entry into the attic bedroom. This was the request. It wasn’t on the plan, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to raze and raise the roof.

A quick huddle with the architect, contractor and carpenter and they threw out geometry and engineering. All I cared about was how much will it cost and how long will it take.

The answer? Not much and not long. Although Colby would beg to differ.

We took the plunge. There were a few days of no roof, no wall and just plastic sheeting separating his bed from the outside. It really was like camping – but with a comfy bed. We are just lucky that the weather has been a dream this whole past month. So, the roof is now raised, but getting walls are a whole other story. In fact, I’ve stopped lying to Colby and now just say that I don’t know when he will get walls again.

I still have a mental block when it comes to geometry and how to make sure the angle of a roof work right. But ironically Colby does geometry daily right now. He just knows better than to ask me for help.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

no complaints

In the last two weeks, we’ve seen the devastating impact of not one, but two, category 5 hurricanes with Harvey and Irma, we’ve watched more political and social division and human tragedy with news of DACA and the earthquake in Mexico, we’ve marked another 9/11 anniversary, the northwest is on fire, and then (then) there’s North Korea.

So when someone asks me how the house project is going, I think – no complaints. Because really, how can I?

Here are some of my non-complaints over the past few weeks. There might be a whole post dedicated to complaints in the future. But not now. Not yet.

As our architect Debra McQueen said, “the house is emerging.” In a week we went from dirt floor to first floor framing. (Hover over each image for a description.)

Gravel first.

Floor trusses. Very important.

South basement windows.

First floor walls go up.

Windows into family room.

After another week we now have a full cement basement complete with outdoor stairs, a fully framed first floor with second floor trusses, and a new structural beam to ensure our house doesn’t fall down. We’ve also lost our kitchen, our basement stairs and our foyer floor. Trade offs.

Mudroom & French doors.

Kitchen-to-be.

Imagine a stove there.

Butler’s pantry & powder.

Basement looking West.

Basement looking East.

Side note: the small cracks I’d seen growing in my office over the past three years weren’t just the house settling. Apparently an existing beam in the kitchen ceiling wasn’t really doing its job anymore. After 100+ years, it was time to retire it and bring in a modern beam (in blue) that also can be pushed up higher and give us more ceiling height. See, even surprises (and more expense) can’t be complaints. More ceiling height = 🙂

There are inconveniences. Temporary annoyances. Hassles. Anyone who has been by our house can see that things are not normal. That’s putting it mildly.

But we have a house. We have water. We have electricity (sometimes…and only when the refrigerator and microwave aren’t running at the same time). We have food before us and love between us. So, no complaints here.

And soon, we will have more house to fill with family, friends and love. Something the world needs more of.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

letting go

It’s been a milestone week for our family. Not really because of the house project, but because we sent our first born to his first day of high school. And it struck me how the house project and our life are triggering parallel emotions. The ongoing process of letting go.

Just five minutes after seeing my freshman ride down the street to new experiences, new friends, and new challenges, the crew came to tear off the back of our house. When the truck drives up and the sledgehammers come out, you have no choice but to let go. Same as when your 5’10” baby puts on the backpack and doesn’t look back.

We prepared for the week by packing up our kitchen, office, closets, basement and all that stuff that we forgot we had. We tried to think through what we’d need over the next 4 or 5 or 6 months, but then we’d get tired and just dump stuff in boxes willy-nilly. We packed it in every nook and cranny we could find, leaving us Jenga towers of boxes in random places. It’s like the few weeks before moving day, except that a few weeks will be half a year.

The hardest part was to say goodbye (for now) to all the cookbooks, platters, plates and tools we use to cook and share meals with friends and family. A bigger, better place to cook and entertain is a major reason for the remodel, but this will be the longest I’ve ever gone without planning and hosting a dinner party or casual dinner for friends. I feel serious withdrawal coming on. As Summer and Fall turn into the holiday season, I’ll need another way to satisfy the craving to make memories around a table and a meal. And I may need to find a kitchen to rent for my multi-day Christmas cookie bake-a-thon.

So, letting go (not Frozen’s “Let it Go”) is becoming my internal mantra. Sometimes I’m pretty impressed with my ability to look beyond the makeshift kitchen, messy rooms and dusty counters. So much so that Colby was shocked I didn’t have any comment about the clothes on his bedroom floor. I had not been abducted by aliens, but suddenly the clothes on the floor were the least of our challenges. Other times, well, let’s just say that it’s a mantra for a reason — because I need reminding. And when power was out in most of the house for two days, the mantra did me no good. It also didn’t stop me from lecturing the kids to stop their whining and complaining and appreciate all that we have, even without TV or Wifi for a day or so.

Privilege is alive and well at 602 – and so is not always practicing what I preach. I hope this project will have a nice side benefit of building resilience, patience, and gratitude for all of us. You can never have enough of those three.

We did let go of a lot of our house this week. The white office door now opens to nothing. The basement was jackhammered for a full day on Saturday (yes – working on a weekend!) The basement and kitchen walls are plywood. But we still haven’t lost the working part of our kitchen yet — even though it was all packed away in preparation for the demo. The weather continues to cooperate, for which we are extremely thankful.

This coming week will see more transformation as basement floor gets poured and they prepare to frame. And I’ll be anxiously awaiting what we need to prepare to let go of next.

But it won’t be this guy…since Lincoln also started a new school year this week. Grade 4 and his last year of elementary school.

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

first impressions

Week one. This isn’t so bad. Workers are friendly and prompt. Demo day(s) are noisy, but bearable (think dentist drill without the drool). We even got a first floor bathroom on day one.

New first floor bathroom

Things are moving. Fast. So fast that we had a half-day notice to move out of our breakfast room.

It was my first panic-stricken moment of the project. That night we needed to pack for vacation and our niece (+ one) was arriving to stay for a few days at our house during Lollapalooza. We hadn’t even figured out where the table, chairs, sideboard, pictures, dishes, etc. would be going for the next 6 months. But Dan and Colby were quick to get it mostly cleared out before I even got home from work. Luckily they know – “if mom ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Construction crisis #1 averted. Continue reading →

Featured by Molly James-Lundak

calm before the storm

This is our house. Doesn’t it look lovely? Calm. Quiet. Peaceful.

In full disclosure, this photo is six months old. Back when our dreams were somewhere between pencil scrawls on scratch paper and blueprints from our architect. When the sky was the limit and anything was possible. Before permits and construction loans. And of course, the impending purgatory of no kitchen or backyard for more months than I can come to grips with.

It’s a very very fine house. Prime location. Roomy. Corner lot with fabulous light. When we bought it three years ago I was smitten with the screened-in porch, and the promise of cocktails and the ability to freeze time there. (The Lundak Lounge had a lot of good days.)

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We knew we’d want to update the kitchen and needed a first floor powder room (“Yes, there’s no bathroom on the first floor, you have to go up the stairs and use ours.”) But one thing led to another, and if we were going to add a bath and improve the kitchen, why not add a family room, a master bedroom, a basement room. You get the idea.

Over the next 5 or 6 months (ok, I know I’m kidding myself…it will be spring break by the time we’re done with this project), we’ll be ripping off, building up, moving around and making this 108 year old house a modern family home. Feels like we are stepping off the ledge into the unknown, except that we know enough people who’ve done big remodels that we are fully sober, eyes wide open. And we’re still going for it.

But, it’s all new to us. So, why not document it?

So, here’s to the 602 before the chaos starts. (Cue deep breathing.)

very very (very) fine house

adventures in first time home remodeling

how did we get here?

house of fun

my shower has a super power

The Shower Head

The Controls

The Tile Bench

Light Walls, Dark Floor and Grout

Heated Floor

A Pretty View

isn’t it ironic

it’s lit.

sinking in

It sunk in.

oops.

practicing hope

the grateful list

end of the first trimester

decisions. decisions. decisions.

raze the roof

no complaints

letting go

first impressions

calm before the storm