I love my FLOR!

My Saturday task was to install the FLOR system into our utility/laundry room. I wanted to hide the not-so-pleasant vinyl that was in there and wanted something softer on our feet as we do our laundry.

I have always been a fan of the FLOR system for its practical way of cleaning and not being committed to carpet for life. Just lift one tile, clean and replace. What a great concept.

All you need is three things to install: a "T" square ruler to help you get those straight edges, a utility carpet knife, and the FLOR dots to keep the carpet tiles in place.

The FLOR tile that I have chosen is called Mocha, a mix of browns and warm grays, and this particular blend will visually help conceal the dirt. I also chose this carpet tile for its durability for "high traffic" areas.


Not bad, eh? I must admit, installing these FLOR tiles was very easy. You just need a little patience measuring those odd little crook and crannies.

I had some leftover FLOR squares so I decided to use them for our front entry area. These tiles are very versatile and can easily fit in any space. The color I have selected is pretty neutral, but if you go to their site they have some very fun and bold hues that can brighten up any space.

I don't think I ever took a picture of our front hallway with our entry table. This is what you will see when you first enter our front home. Do you see the white branch-like structure, that holds all our keys. I posted about this branch stand once before, it's from Urban Outfitters. It can be used as a jewelry/necklace stand too.

Our Master Boudoir

Our master bedroom is done! Well for now since we are out of the "home" spending fund. However, the key elements are in. Check out our HUGE king-size bed set against long, dark dramatic drapes that keeps all the daylight out for us to sleep in late.

Our bed and nightstand are from the lovely Room & Board furniture store. And our contemporary, white hi-gloss dressers are from CB2 along with the tall standing lamp. Bed linens, throw pillows and the floor mirror are from West Elm.

Our flat panel tv is finally mounted creating a very clean, sophisticated hotel feel which we just love!

Our home is pretty much as clean as it can get for now. All of our trash & boxes from moving in are out on the curb for the garbage man. And now I am starting to get all my decor stuff out for the wedding so our dining is a little cluttered and messy right now.

Our Weekend (Part II) – More Home Additions

On Sunday, we focused more on our home. We unpacked more accessories and built the rest of our bedroom furniture that were still in the original boxed packaging when it was delivered.

The rooms are still a little vacant, because we are waiting on our BIG stuff (sofa, entry console table, king-size bed & mattress and nightstand) to be delivered this Friday.



I love the initial start of our Master bedroom. I am going for a contemporary, chic hotel room that just happens to be our bedroom. I have always wanted to come home to a bedroom where it eternally feels like you are on a vacation.

We assembled the two white hi-gloss dressers (from CB2) together, and we worked successfully as a team. He didn't break or destroy one thing in the process. ;)

We have a Breakfast Area

Some furniture is finally trickling in, and here's the first of it – our breakfast table & chairs. The walls and table look at little "naked," but over time it will definitely feel cozier.


It just turns out that everything in our breakfast area happens to be from Crate & Barrel. Featured is the Monroe 48" round dining table, the Epoch chair in Cocoa Tweed and the Finley round, white pendant lamp. I bought all these items at different times having in mind, the central focus will be the dining table.

Originally, I wanted this glass table below in a 48" thick glass with a dark wenge oak base. Not to my luck when I went to purchase it, it was discontinued. :( I liked the base a lot, because it had some angle and design to it.

This other glass dining table is from Design Within Reach, and I just loved the base too, but the price tag was a bit over the budget I wanted to spend for a breakfast table.

However, the Monroe table from Crate & Barrel did the job. No solid glass top which was fine, but the base had some of the interest that I was going for. The construction is actually pretty cool; it utilizes ancient Chinese joinery to hold all the solid chestnut wood pieces together. So this should hopefully last for awhile thanks to the Chinese.

A VERY Clean Home

The small renovations, installation of all light fixtures and the painting is finished! Time to clean house. Fortunately, we got some help. Let's thank Quality Maids and Stanley Steamers for their services. Our home is all brand new again.

It's beginning to look like a home...

We have been through so much these past 2 weeks that we are finally getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the recent installation of the new lighting fixtures and the hardware pulls for the cabinets, it's beginning to look like OUR home.

Drink anyone? Have a seat in our new bar stools that I put together. As Hemal was away on another bachelor party for a friend, I was working diligently hard on our home and making sure things were moving along smoothly.

Also, I just love our new trio pendant lights over the bar! I found this great find on Overstock.com with only 2.95 shipping! These are Porcelaino Barrel-shaped pendant lights and they were produced in Italy. These sculptural pieces of art hanging from our ceiling make a simple, but bold statement.

Also, check out our new pulls for the kitchen cabinets – very sleek and chic next to the Dunkin Donut boxes. We wanted to make sure our handymen had enough energy to finish the work around our house. :)

And the grand finale to this post is our dining room chandelier! It stands out so nicely against our newly painted dark blue-green dining room color! I wanted a little more drama in the dining area and felt this color would certainly do it.

Our lovely, modern chandelier is from Zgallerie.com and when it lights up, it looks like the glass hurricanes are floating.

I believe color adds so much more life to your home, and gives it character, and it reflects your character. Hallelujah to no more white walls.

Color & Fresh Paint Everywhere!

This past week our new place has had several coats of paint everywhere. From the white trim to the ceiling, walls and the doors! The place looks practically brand new. Here's a tease to some of the colors in the house. This is only a few of the colors selected for the house. There's still plenty more to see, but that will have to come at a later date or if you visit in person.

The main house color is called "Rain." It spreads from the hallway to living to the hallway upstairs.

If any of you have been to our current home that we call the "Condo," you all know I have a yellow bathroom, and I could not resist but take the yellow with me to my new house. This is our golden yellow Master bath.

Brand new white doors.

And a pop of red for our back door to the garage. It actually matches our front door. Definitely needs another coat of paint.

New Ceiling Fans

I am not a big fan (no pun intended here) of ceiling fans everywhere, but after listening to my fiance and his brother, Nirmal, tell me how much more efficient it will be in keeping the house cool and costs down, I gave in. I must admit, there are some good looking fans out there.

This is the largest fan we have suspended over our main living area with high ceilings.

This is our fave of the three fans, and it is in our master bedroom.

And the smallest of the three fans is in my fiance's loft/office space. He is certainly loving the fans everywhere. He even uses the fan during the winter to keep him cool – such an odd man at times. :)

Chon's "Handy" Work

I had some of my own home projects too. I am all about organization and easy access to things so I had to install sliding drawers in most of the lower cabinets in the kitchen.

These cabinet drawers were pretty easy to install. Only took 4 screws and a power drill. Drawer slides out and back in. I already put some of my registry gifts away as you can see.

I found these drawers at Bed, Bath and Beyond; however, they are now discontinued. I bought the last ones in the store! I have seen them available online too on various organizational sites.

This is a new mirror that I found at World Market, and it's going into the half bath on the main level. The mirror's frame finish isn't exactly what I wanted so I plan to spray paint this a hi-gloss enamel white. Right now, it's a distressed, antique white color. You'll get to see the final product soon in my newly painted bathroom!

"Handy" Hubby

We didn't have all the hired help doing the handy work all around the house. He did get his hand dirty here and there. Check him out doing his first home fix-it project.

Changing the battery in the smoke detector. :)

And fixing a lose screw in the front gate with an Allen key; the handle kept falling off. Isn't my fiance gifted at fixing things or what.

Home Fix-Its

We aren't doing extensive renovations, but definitely filling in some holes... literally. :)

Main Fix-its that were at the top of my list (and Hemal's after much badgering):

1. Fill in cubby hole above fireplace
   
2. Remove all medicine cabinets in bathrooms and fill it in
   
3. Remove and replace light fixtures in kitchen, dining, breakfast nook and all bathrooms
   
4. Fill pot light and 3 pendant lights over bar area (Thank you Nirmal for suggestion!)
5. Paint whole house
6. Hardware pulls for kitchen and all bathrooms

I wasn't able to capture every moment of the renovation since I was running around myself, but here's what I did get with my iPhone.

Here's our handy guy filling in that ugly, cubby hole above the fireplace. I can't stand cubby holes above the fireplace. I know the previous owner had a t.v. in that area, but it truly restricted the layout and the flow of our home. I hopefully plan to feature an art piece or a large mirror above the fireplace.

Bye bye hole... :)

Bye bye ugly medicine cabinet in master bath. They always remind me of apartment living, and they always look abominable inside.

Bye bye lighting fixture. These weren't that bad looking, but we wanted something more modern.

Bye bye boxed lighting in kitchen, and "HELLO" to the new trio pendant lights above the bar! They aren't up yet, but you can see them placed on the bar area for positioning.

Our Home is Under Contruction!!

As you all probably noticed, I have been severely lacking in fun posts due to the fact I have been working on our future home. These past 2 weeks have been a blur and a frenzy of shopping for light fixtures, cabinet hardware, fabric and paint selections for each room of our home!! I literally had to get my act together in 1 week, because we were having workers come into our home to fix and renovate particular areas and they needed to know what was going where.

Although it happened all so quick, I don't regret one selection yet. Keeping my fingers crossed on that; but so far so good.

Stay tuned for more posts in the progress of our home. Through pics, I am trying to document the progressive change of each room. It's quite amazing how little things such as new light fixtures, hardware pulls and paint can dramatically change a room.

Our goal is to be in our new place by the end of April–only 2 weeks away.