Happy Mother’s Day!

From me and my Maw.

And Madeleine and her Maw.

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I just felt like it.

Re-posted from Twitter:

abchao: 14 to go to 1400 followers. #1400 gets a free online room consult, AND I’ll donate here in your name: http://deweydonationsystem.org/

GO!

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Thing For Sale!

I just saw cute Morgan’s oven, TV, paint dilemma on her site, and remembered: hey, we need a new stove too. So I thought, well maybe I can sell this (awesome, antique, perfectly-working) thing with my Internet powers. I only use my powers for good, people!

Perhaps you would like a picture.

Chao Kitchen before and after
Photo right: Lori Andrews

The stove is a Chambers Model 90C, and from what I can tell, it dates from 1950 - 1955. It belonged to the previous owner’s grandmother. All burners, the well and the oven work. The lever that controls the broiler does not work, but could be easily repaired. (Manuals are available for download).

I would like it if prospective buyers lived within driving distance. That is because the stove weighs approximately 36 million pounds. Make an offer in the comments or email me at abchao at hashai dot com.

The end!

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Elsewhere

My boyfriend Nick Olsen has BROUGHT IT in the new issue of Lonny. The whole issue’s pretty amazing, actually.

Sigh. Nick, you’re a DIY dreamboat.

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Bathroom Addition: The Foreman

I have nothing new to show you yet, Internet, but I will tomorrow! The password is: TILE.

In the meantime, please enjoy this photograph of Ed, our amazing foreman on the job. He is super sweet and a genius and we need his hands on everything.

PS. Miss Mad is home from the hospital and doing GREAT. Thank you for all of your good wishes!

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Bathroom Addition: Reno

You guys, I’m no hero. I’m just an ordinary citizen who is adding a bathroom to her house while her teenage daughter has been in the hospital with a kidney infection for 2 days.

Wait, I am TOTALLY a hero.

Workmen wait for no one, not even people who have to spend the night on hospital cots. The improvements continue apace. To wit:

1. Here is the original closet (check that wallpaper!). The other closet is behind the wall they knocked out to make the whole bathroom.

2. Yesterday (please note plumber’s butt).

3. And this morning.

4. A shot of the new closet that’s being built to replace the original closet(s). Y’all, they are making me CUSTOM METAL HANDLES for the doors. Can you EVEN?

This one’s for Erin, who needed some proof that I am not a decorating superhero. Our dining room. It has looked like this all week. Today, it looks worse. You’re welcome.

Thank you for all of your kind words on Twitter and elsewhere. The patient is feeling much better today, and I think we’ll all be home by Sunday.

Hooray!

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Bathroom Addition: Demo

This morning, Mad’s room looked like this:

and now it looks like this:

and our guest/TV room looked like this (with all the furniture removed, please ignore the purple walls that are going away ASAP):

and now it looks like this:

…and that big hole was once two adjacent closets — one in the guest room, and one in Madeleine’s room — that will soon be a second bathroom. One we’ve been waiting for and wanting for a long, long time. Ever since Sars came to visit and our one bathroom flooded. Over the weekend. On a Sunday. PS. It’s Sars’s birthday today. Happy birthday, Sars! We got you a new bathroom.

I’ll keep you updated on the progress as it happens. Our contractor has told us it should take 3 to 4 weeks but things are moving so fast I think it will be done sooner. I may or may not be able to show you after pictures, depending on whether a) I’ve died from the stress of half our belongings being in the dining room or b) I fall into a hole or c) contractual obligations. What the hell am I talking about? I’ll tell you later.

Yay!

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Blog It Forward: Things Inspiring Me Right Now

Thanks to Victoria for coming up with this fun plan! I’m Blogging It Forward to Heart and Craft, so be sure to check her site out Monday. And now, without further ado, my list:

1. Kelly Wearstler. Well, Kelly Wearstler’s hair. And Kelly Wearstler’s black kitchen design.

2. Weirsie! (Johnny Weir, my Olympics boyfriend.)

3. Jessica Helgerson, who is design perfection.

4. J. Crew (and Jenna Lyons, of course, and Jenna Lyons’s house, and that one J. Crew bathroom she designed and oh wait I sound like a stalker.)

5. Black and white stripes, especially on the ceiling. I am going to have to do that to something soon.

Thanks again to Victoria! You inspire us all, girl.

(Photo credit: 1. casasugar.com 2. Getty Images 3. designspongeonline.com 4. jcrew.com 5. Domino)

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Quick Quick An Update

The bathroom addition plans are being drawn up as I type this. Our super excellent contractor doesn’t know he will be posing for headless photos. I guess I should tell him. And when we are finished with this project, I am going to nearly immediately start on our own bathroom remodel. Just cosmetic work for that one, nothing too big. It’s all very exciting, though. Two SEPARATE places to shower! Amazing.

Phase 1 of my  Los Angeles client’s house plan is complete and went so, so well. I learned a ton and can’t wait to go back for Phase 2. My client would like you all to know that, in addition to being connected to the tv show HOUSE, she is extremely powerful and important.

Pictures and more updates of everything are forthcoming. Thank you for your cooperation.

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A Short List of Things I’ve Been Doing

1. Decorating for Christmas. But not too much. I still have to put up the tree/wrap presents/make teacher gifts/discard teacher gifts due to burning/make more teacher gifts/lose my mind. But: all of my gifts have been bought. Boughten. This is a miraculous and beautiful thing.

Is it annoying to use images I uploaded to Flickr weeks ago? I apologize. Not enough to stop doing it, but just know that I feel bad about it.

The delicious sunburst mirror came from a local store, so I am sorry to say I can’t tell you where to get one of your own. Also, the cute white stockings came from Walmart, so judge me as you must.

2. Making curtains out of drop cloths. I mean, come on. Have you ever seen a cooler idea? I got it from the Internet. Here’s what you do: Go to Lowe’s (or Home Depot, or your local hardware store, but I checked all of my options and Lowe’s had the best quality fabric). Buy 2 drop cloths. Wash, wash, wash and dry the drop cloths. Now, wash them again. I hope you have a big washer. Cut and hem the bottom edge (I bought 12′ x 15′ drop cloths, because my windows are 120″ wide and my ceilings are 10′ tall. I stitched the long side to about 10′, and hung them at 9.5′ or so. (The ones I bought were already finished on all sides, with a shirttail hem.)). Hang. THE END.

3. Furiously searching for and downloading pictures of bathrooms for the addition we’re planning in the new year. I don’t know if you can tell what I like from this randomly chosen set of inspiration photos. They are all so different. We are very excited about this project — it’s been on our list of things to do basically since we moved into our house 6 years ago. And there is a teenager I know who is super happy about not having to share with her parents anymore. Hey, kid: THE FEELING IS MUTUAL.

4. In an unexpected development, I’ve taken on a real, live, paying decorating client. I am scared and nervous and exhilarated. It is kind of a trial run. The fun starts after the holidays. More details as they come. The excitement makes me write in little sentences.

I’ll not reveal the identity of my client, but they are closely connected to this person:

Obviously, I’ve written several private meetings into our contract. Consultations, if you will. For art.

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