gypsum and fish

what is that, you may ask. oh let me tell you. those are sheets of drywall that will be hung tomorrow! woohooo! i'm so excited about it.

on monday, the foam insulation was blown into the exterior walls. i came home to the familiar fish smell. today, we passed our insulation inspection. tomorrow, a crew is coming to hang the gypsum! (my favorite name for drywall.)

last time around, we hung the drywall ourselves (with lots of help from family and friends!). it took us a long, long time. this time around, we decided to spend the money to have a crew hang it for us. it isn't as expensive as one might think.

i'm meeting the ladies from my small group at psycho suzi's right after work tomorrow, but i might have to sneak home between to see the walls!

favorite interior designers

i posted about new creations the other day. now it is time to talk interior design.

the following ladies are two of my favorite, favorite, FAVorite interior designers. i first read about their work in domino magazine, which unfortunately folded last year. i think they both use contrast in a really interesting way.

first up is mary mcdonald, who decorates commercial and residential spaces. she's gutsy. not for the faint of heart. lots of saturated colors and bold prints but plenty of white, too. i was able to grab a few images from her site. enjoy!

 [all images from mary mcdonald]

next up: windsor smith. a touch more feminine, delicate. glamorous, but still bold. she has a collection of furniture, rugs, and fabric, too.

 [above images from windsor smith]

 [above images from house beautiful] 

those last two are just gorgeous, in my opinion. i'm posting these images in part because i'm starting to formulate my design plan to furnish the living room, dining area, and our master. i've been dragging my feet, not making any decisions about how to move forward. we've saved some money for fill-in furniture pieces, and this is garage-sale season! we won't buy all new things. we'll mix and match to work with what we have. but we'll buy some new pieces, and before we do, i want to have a plan. so that's why i've been spending extra time compiling favorite photos to get ideas for how to proceed. hopefully, it will save us from making impulse purchases and wasting money. because those who fail to plan, plan to fail. :)

an evening at the foshay

are you in need of a date night? we were. it was my turn to plan, and i kept it a surprise. we started at california pizza kitchen. but that wasn't the best part.

ben has an interest in the foshay tower and its history. i read on abraham piper's blog that visitors can go up to an observation deck on the top of the building! i've lived in minnesota for 23 years and i had no idea. apparently, ben didn't either, because he was really confused when i drove him downtown, parked in a ramp, and walked into the w hotel. he told me later that he was worried i was taking him to a twins game! ha!

for $8 each, you get a special elevator key that allows access to the thirtieth floor. there, a small museum displays pictures, newspaper clippings, and documents relating to foshay, his companies, and his mail fraud trial. a staircase leads you up to the observation deck. you step out and...there it is! the city in all directions!

the weather was lovely and the wind wasn't too bad. the whole time i was up there, though, i didn't feel like i was quite with it—i didn't feel queasy, but i felt a little googley-eyed. the views are great. we saw target field, the convention center, brit's pub, and all the way out to the black dog power plant, which is near our house. we saw a wedding that looked to be in a little courtyard at the top of the [northstar?] hotel. [using the telescopes, ben could even determine that one guest had particularly strong tan lines.]

we had a good time, and i would recommend it. it's one of those cool things to do in the city that make you feel special.

unidentified treat

ben loves treats and i love buying treats for him. [a potentially bad combination.] i was in the area today and picked up this delectable sweet for him. ten points if you can tell me what it is. totally predictable, btw.

[sorry for the bad shots. this is probably practice for when we have kids and i have to capture fast-moving things. :) that dessert didn't last long, but he did offer me a bite. yum!]

new creations

last week, we got the electrician started in the master. our master still looks a lot of ugly. big time.

i thought i might fill in the post gaps until things get more beautified by going outside the happenings of this house. i posted about design*sponge being an inspiration, but there are plenty more sites out there!

first up is new creations here in minnesota. the owner/president/CEO steve tuttle attends our church. i had spoken to him and his wife about renovations at my parents' Christmas party, but a recent facebook request brought me back to his site to check out his work again. definitely inspiring.

the company's name comes from 2 corinthians 5:17: "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. the old has passed away; behold, the new has come." the company works on remodeling projects including kitchens, bathrooms, additions, and basements. from the looks of the before-and-after pics on their site, they do some great work. it is so cool to see the "new creation."

 [image from new creations]

i love the company's foundation of faith. taking something old and run down (like a house that has seen better days) and making it beautiful and useful definitely has a spiritual parallel. check out his site. (and no, i'm not being paid to say this!)

in my next post, we'll flip to the other side of the renovating coin: interior design. have you gathered yet that i am extremely interested in this topic? ;)