Modern Concrete Driveway Update, Grass Or River Rock

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving, even though I'm a little bit late!

 Just got back in town from a weekend of soccer for my daughter and now it's back to work and back on countdown schedule for the house.

Every day we are one step closer, and considering that we have a holiday party planned for Dec 10th there is no time like the present. I am remaining optimistic and just know that some how some way it will all get done!

Well the good news is that our drive way is poured, rock salt treated and the forms are removed. Even though I called them concrete pavers this is really done by forming and pouring concrete in place. It is extremely time consuming, extremely labor intensive AND extremely expensive. As I said before, I am lucky that my husband is in this industry which helped us do this driveway at a more moderate price:)

Here are some progress pictures for you to see where we are currently at.

The concrete is actually darker in these pictures because it is raining here right now, but we added a material (slag) to lighten our concrete so that our end result will be much lighter and whiter.

You will notice a couple of things in these pictures of the concrete driveway in progress.

First: the inside of each and every crack will be chipped for a smooth debris free crack. These were caused by seepage from the concrete when it was poured.

Second, there are holes that we added to give it a little more of a natural "stone" look, and they will all need to be pressure cleaned well and sealed which will give them a more finished look, and will also help protect them from stains and the elements.

 Third, as I just stated, there are holes in the concrete which were done by throwing rock salt on the wet concrete and then pressure cleaning them piece by piece to remove the salt and leave a textured look as shown below.

Fourth, we will be adding either grass OR black river rock in between each line to define and complete our amazing modern concrete driveway. Both options are equally amazing and costly, however the river rock will be less maintenance for us in the long run since we won't have to mow, water or weed it at all. Decisions, decisions.
Here is a sample of one small bag of the river rock that we tested to see what we think.

Here are some bigger pictures to give you a better idea of what both can look like.

And, with grass.

The driveway so far is lookin gooooooood! Since my husband owns a concrete cutting and finishing company and does allot with decorative concrete, there is amazing attention to detail and his men REALLY know what they are doing. If you are interested in this type of work his company is Concrete Connection, Inc as an FYI. We plan to be finished with the cleaning, curing, sealing and adding of the elements by Monday latest (though as my husband knows, I'm pushing for much much sooner :). This thing is taking FO-EVA and I'm waaaaay too excited to wait, but I have no choice. This was for us a big piece of our addition/remodel because this will complete the circular driveway and deflect from our garage addition as opposed to driving up and going right to our new bed room windows. This was also done to give our house a modern face lift which will compliment the paint, and to make an artistic statement.

Let me know what you think~

Oops, Another Post On Bathrooms

Good morning,

Well I hope it isn't getting redundant, but I am posting another bathroom series. Perhaps it's because I see too much that I love and there is too much to choose from, or perhaps it's just because I can't make up my damn mind! Whatever the cause I'm thinking that we truly narrowed it down this time.

Originally I wanted to go with the all white vanity with a carrara top, carrara marble shower tiles and possibly some free floating shelves in a natural wood for towels and display. Mix that with some elegant lighting and mirrors, on top of the polished concrete floors and it sounds like a dreamy white space.

Here are some of the elements that I've posted about and had in my mind.

And here are some pictures of the shelves which I love in most any space for the light airiness of them as well as the convenient and beautiful storage/display ability in lieu of a linen closet that we just don't have space for.

I love that these shelves were done in wood. They add so much interest and balance.

Well the husband has decided that since we already have that feeling in our guest bathroom as seen here, that we should do something a little different. I sort of agree though I would be fine with the exact same feel since I LOVE how that bathroom turned out. I've decided to compromise on this one. As long as I get the luxurious feel of a high end bathroom aka carrara marble, and Robert gets something modern that appeals to him we should both be happy. So the new plan is to do the vanity in a light more natural wood or bamboo with the carrara top, shower, and lighting and mirrors as previously planned.

Sound C-A-RAZ-Y? Well, take a look at a couple of these dreamy bathrooms and see what you think.

I know that there isn't carrara marble in all of these spaces, but there could be and should be! I've also toyed with the idea of doing a floating vanity though since we lack the space I don't want to lose any storage so we'll see about that.

By the way, it has been extremely difficult to find a reliable bathroom contractor to do our vanity and closets. If any of you local Floridians can shed some light on that one I would LOVE to hear from you!!!

Hopefully you won't hear anything more from me on bathrooms until ours is finished.....but it's pretty unlikely that will happen :) What do you think of the new concept? You like the mix of the light wood with the carrara?

Dining Room Dilemma

Good morning,

I am working on a project and hope that maybe someone can help shed some light. I have a client who happens to be a very good friend. We are re-working her breakfast nook which currently has a very dark table and very dark almost black leather parsons chairs. What we need are some nice white chairs to offset all the dark and can bring an airy flow to this cute nook.

Turns out that this is much harder than originally planned! I am looking for a chair that is light to white in color with either no or very minimal antique detail (most that I've found are too antiqued for my friend) They also need to have a wood back and a padded seat for comfort in a light neutral fabric so that as they are used they can easily be changed without much cost or effort.

I would like something with some interest or graphic detail in the back, but at this point the picky factor is becoming less and less on that detail. I am loving the look and I'm clearly a huge fan of mixing colors, styles and textures. This is what makes design interesting!

Here are some pictures that I'm currently drooling over and would LOVE to find.

She's not a fan of faux bamboo as an FYI. I prefer most the chairs in the picture above in a reproduction, but what do you think? Have you seen anything out there???

Modern Concrete Driveway......Like Woa!

Good morning,

I want to share with you a HUGE project going on at the Perez household right now. It involves about 15 workers setting up the forms for our concrete driveway that is being poured hopefully Thursday. We wanted something of a statement and something to distract from the garage addition so we took the driveway out completely along with the rest of the front yard and are forming a massive circular driveway with concrete squares and grass lining each one. Technically they will be concrete rectangles which are a bit more modern, and that is what we want. The plan will then be to landscape along the entire front of the house including where the garage used to be so that when you drive in it appears to simply be a house instead of a house with a converted garage (which it is). We also have a little walk way going down the side of the house with the same forms.  Are you with me???

Here are some pictures of our house as it stands now:

Now, here are some pictures to show you what it will resemble once we are finished:

Now I'm not going to lie, this is a very costly style to do a drive way in. We are fortunate that my husband is in this industry which keeps our costs down to something very close to what we would have spent on pavers. I will break that down for you once this beast of a project is complete.

I think it will be more of an artistic feature than just a driveway and I can't wait to show you the completed results. What do you think so far???