The kitchen!

Given that I have been in the house for over 2 weeks now, had people over for dinner and lunch, have cooked and cleaned up and even managed to use my dishwasher a few times I think it is time that I did an extensive post on the amazing kitchen.

Here's a few pictures for you to browse.....

You can play a game of guess what is behind the door!

It's the mini dishwasher - so cute and so practical.  Made by Siemens it has a clever little attachment that drops the kickboard down as the door opens.

                     What's behind these two large oak doors?

Why the fridge, cookers and microwave of course!  When you have finished cooking you close over the doors in order to hide the cooker - you can then pretend you are eating in a restaurant and not at home!!!

             Spice press built to hide the ventilation unit - nifty!

Two huge flat drawers for cutlery and cooking utensils (there are two larger drawers underneath these).  The cutlery drawers are in black but have the oak drawer makes them invisible when they are closed.  Got to have the clean lines, folks!!!

Hey look what I found when I was unpacking boxes for the kitchen!
It's the cutest little starfish cheese spreader that I brought home from Key West - bought in Fast Buck Freddies, which is now sadly gone.

Here's some other nice things I found when unpacking.  Here's my Ben De Lisi Champagne glasses - they're fabulous and black - they match the kitchen!!

If you are interested in any elements of the kitchen or are interested in hiring our amazing kitchen designer - have a look at Dean Cooper's website for his contact details.

Do you know about Jumbletown?

I stumbled upon Jumbletown yesterday.  


I am getting rid of a couch that I thought I would get re-upholstered and then put it in the new house.  I decided against keeping this couch for a few reasons.


However, I didn't want to throw away the couch as it still has a lot of life left in it!


So I looked on the Internet for how to pass on furniture in Ireland and found Jumbletown.ie.


It is a site that you put up stuff you don't want any more and then people can instant message you and get your contact details in order to collect it.


I put up the couch yesterday and within about a half hour I had contact from three different people who were interested in taking it.  Hopefully it will be picked up from Ciaran's office later today.  Result!


If you are interested in getting rid of stuff or looking for free stuff have a look on www.jumbletown.ie 

Pretty Eau de Neuille Laura Ashley Wallpaper

The second bedroom is pretty much complete*  

Here's a few pictures that I took tonight.

              Night time picture with the bed side lights on.

                        Fireplace with bedside lamps on

                    Fireplace with all lights in the bedroom on

Shutters in the bedroom closed - no need for curtains as the shutters do the job!

                      And this is a photo taken during the day!

*When I said above that the second bedroom is nearly complete what I meant is that it is just about usable and presentable as a bedroom.  It is quite sparse at the moment.  It still needs a few things to really complete it.  It needs a coloured throw, a mirror above the fireplace (have one in mind) and also a painting above the bed (one of Ciaran's which is currently in storage).  

Back online!!!

Yay I am hooked up!

The third engineer from UPC was finally able to get me all set up.  I'm back on the grid.  I've got my landline, TV & Internet.  So happy!

Here's a vid of Bones on the glass stairs that I just posted on Youtube.

Above is a picture of my mother and sister having breakfast in my house.

                               Amy sharing a seat with Bones

I turned my back on Bones and he jumped on to the table and stole a pain au chocolat.  What a brat!

No communication!!! Thank god for Starbucks!

Would you believe I still have no TV, landline or Internet in my house?

I have been trying to get them all hooked up for nearly 3 weeks at this point.  I have had two engineers out from UPC and still no joy.  Another engineer is due out tomorrow so hopefully I will get it sorted then.

Currently I am blogging from the Starbucks close to my work - I drive to work now and it takes me about a half hour to get across the city so I just leave a bit earlier so that I can have a strong cup of coffee and go on my laptop before work.  Life is good!

Tuesday night with the girls!

My best friend Alice and twin sister Amy called over for nibblies and a catch up last night.  It was Alice's first time seeing the house so she had a good look around the place and then said the nicest thing about the house!

We had quite a smorgasbord to eat.  Alice had brought some sushi and salmon mousse with her.  Amy brought some indian chicken pakora's with a beautiful sauce and I had made pizza and mac & cheese.  We also had red pepper hummus with bruschetta.  For dessert Alice supplied gorgeous mini Key Lime Cheesecakes and we also had beautiful little salted caramel and chocolate bites.  All delicious!!!

                                                              Amy & Alice

                                             Me talking and eating, as usual!

                                Mini Key Lime Cheesecake

World Squash Masters

Ciaran is currently in Bermingham, UK for the World Squash Masters.  He won his first two matches!  Further results to follow...


                                         Warming up!

                                         Action shot!

                                                Mid match coaching!

Unfortunately the Aussie was too good for him and he got beaten in his third match.  At this point he will come somewhere between 9th and 16th place - not too shabby!!!

We moved in!

Wow what a busy week!

We moved in to the house on Friday night.  We then spent all weekend unpacking boxes - still not done!

We then received our first house guests on Monday!  Dave and Megan came over from the States for the Bruce Springsteen concert and we were just about able to offer them a bed to sleep in!

I had taken Mon-Thurs off work and boy did I need it.  I had people calling to fix things and set up things all week - I had hoped that the Intenet, Phone & TV would be set up by the time I came back to work today but unfortunately it will be Monday before I am hooked up.

We had a great night on Wednesday for the Bruce concert.  We went to Tribeca in Ranelagh for big burgers (sustenance) before the show and then walked to the concert venue (stopping off for a drink in Kiely's of Donnybrook on the way.  We used to live all the way over the other side of the city so if we were going to a concert in this particular venue we would generally have got the bus or train over and then a taxi back home. It was brilliant to be able to walk - only about a half hour each way!  Bruce Springsteen was phenomenal, he played for nearly three and a half hours.  The weather had been really bad all day with bigh heavy rain downpours intermittenly but amazingly it stayed dry for the whole concert.  I enjoyed all of his songs but in particular "Because the night" which he performed with his wife Patti.

Today I came back to work, Megan and Dave headed off to Paris and later on Ciaran leaves for Birmingham for the World Squash Masters. I have the house to myself all weekend and then my sister is coming to stay with me for a few nights on Monday evening.  I have promised her a curry from "Diep at Home"!!!

Below is Bones in the basket of a Dublin Bike.  The Dublin Bike Scheme is so great - €10 for a years subscription and access to the Dublin Bike Network.

Let's conversate!!

The conversation pit in the front room is nearly built!

There are drawers under the bench for storage which is so convenient as there is not so much storage space in the house as a whole.  We also don't like "stuff" lying around, we prefer to have it put away in its home and only taken out when it is in use.

Can you imagine yourself sitting here chatting to people at the house warming party?!

Push for the finish line

Huge amount of activity at the house this week.  There is a final big push to get everything finished and ready for us to move in to on Friday.  The bench seats are being completed as well as the painting and a few other bits and pieces. 


                Here's a picture of the bench in the kitchen.

I wonder how many people will comfortably sit on this bench?! 


We are planning on just moving the beds in on Friday and then we can move everything slowly in after that.


Even though we are sure to be extremely busy on Friday evening, Ciaran is planning on playing a game of squash in the middle of the move as he is training hard for the World Masters which he is travelling to Bermingham for in a week's time.


I have taken a few days off work next week to try and organise things and we also have Bruce Springsteen tickets for his concert in the RDS on Wednesday night........busy busy!!!

Lenticchia!

Peter Zumthor's "Lenticchia" lights have been fitted in the master bedroom.

I think these floating orbs are stunning! You can't see any of the fittings or how they are suspended - amazing!

The front door has been painted a really smart red colour. 

Grooming a Shi Tzu!

Bones went for a groom yesterday.  He gets groomed by Jason, in Puppy Kutz (Ph. 085 843 8789), who always does a marvellous job and really looks after Bones.

  

When Bones got in to the car I noticed he had a cute little bow attached to his collar.  It had a little badge attached that said "My groomer loves me" - how adorable is that!

Here is a short video of Bones that you may find funny! ;-)

Custom built bespoke kitchen in LPA

I'm very much hoping that the house will be ready in a few days and we will be able to move in this Friday.  Fingers crossed!

The bench seats in the front room and the kitchen are being made and there are some painting elements to be completed.

I had a chat with the kitchen designer Dean Cooper today about the way the kitchen should work.  He was extremely helpful and explained exactly where to store everything in order to use the kitchen in the most ergonomic fashion.  He also pointed out little details and fittings that make the kitchen so special.  Some of the fittings were got in from Switzerland, Austria and the USA.  The dishwasher has a kickboard with a small fitting that drops the kickboard when the dishwasher opens - very nifty!  Dean also pointed out how the kitchen does not have any filler pieces because it was a bespoke kitchen that was built exactly for the kitchen space in this house. He then went on to give me some tips on how to keep the kitchen clean and looking its best.  All really helpful info! 

The mantlepiece in the second bedroom has been painted - I love the ornate detail on it.

Here are a few more pictures that I took today as you can see the house is just about ready for us to move in to.  The upstairs is just about ready with very little to be done.  It is the downstairs that has more work to finish it off.

Smart parking!

Last weekend we visited the monthly flea market in Dublin City - a fun little market with some real gems.  In particular there was a man selling 1960's Danish furniture.  It was all really good stuff in perfect condition.  I had to remind Ciaran that we had the Smart Car with us so we couldn't buy any large items.


I also saw a cool ice bucket in the shape of a pineapple! Fun!  My sister had been telling me how cool these are.  They are very retro!


When we arrived at the market the car park looked full and we didn't think we would find a space.  But of course we were able to squeeze our car in to a spot that was not usable by any other car!

Shiny floors and Laura Ashley Wallpaper!

I had planned to move in this weekend but there is still a few things to be completed so we have putff the move until next week some time.  I'm a little bit disappointed but sure one more week is not too long after a long

The floor has been completed - top coat of varnish has been applied. Have a look here at some great pics of the house

                  "Lilac" wallpaper in Eau de Neuille from Laura Ashley 

"Josette" wall paper in White/Dove Grey from Laura Ashley

The carpet runner has just been laid!

It is a light grey colour and has been whipped (stitched) on the edges.  The carpet compliments the wall colour perfectly!

By the way the weather is atrocious here in Ireland.  It has been forecast that 3 weeks rain is going to fall in the next 12 hours.  It is so bad that all there is to do is crack open a bottle of vodka and try stay dry! For more great pictures have a look here >>>>> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.246696885366655.52106.122333021136376&type=3

Good wood!

The oak wood floor in the bedroom has been stained a beautiful dark earthy brown. I think it is looking good!

It is looking so good that I think we should just move straight in.  And that is what we are going to do this weekend!!!!!


Woo hoo!  New home!