Sid dropped off the promised flythroughs the other day (created by the very talented Rob), and wow—what a difference they make in my understanding of how the house will look when it’s finished. From looking at the blueprints, I certainly got that “this wall will go here” and “these cabinets will go there.” But I really had no idea what things would really look like. Well, that has changed … and I’m more excited than ever. The flythroughs even include suggestions for paint colors and cabinet and countertop finishes. Their choices are certainly nothing I would have chosen on my own, but I do like them a lot! They give a very clean, retro-yet-modern feel to the house.

Click on the image below to start a slideshow with several perspective sketches and three videos.

After months of pleading, I finally convinced Roger to go to the Strip Club last night (although with the name of the place I didn’t think it would be that hard!). Roger had a misconceived notion that the restaurant was of the Kincaids variety—special occasion steakhouse only. However, once I told him the St. Paul restaurant was by the same owners of our favorite Town Talk Diner, he perked up a bit and we made our way through some of the … ahem … shadier areas of St. Paul to find the restaurant at about 7th and Maria—on the bluffs overlooking downtown St. Paul.

Without reservations, we sat at the bar (although it was just 5:30 p.m.), but knew we were at the best seats in the house when owner Tim Niver greeted us and offered us a drink. (We’d experienced Tim’s hospitality on our first visit to Town Talk, which was the sole reason we returned just a week later!) I was convinced that Town Talk made one of the best sidecars in town, but last night’s cocktail at the Strip Club was, without exception, one of the best I’ve had. Our starters included a plate of artisan bread, soprasetta (salami) and crucolo (cheese) that was enhanced with, surprisingly, clover honey. The deviled eggs – one pickled in beet juice for a lovely purple color—delivered a kick. For our entrée, we shared the rib platter for two, with a side of slaw and the most crumbly, tender corn muffin on the planet. We then topped off our meal with a rhubarb tart, which was, sadly, the lowlight of the evening (slightly too tart for my taste, although the pastry crust was quite good, and I certainly had no problem finishing it!).

Of course, the evening became more lively as additional libations were poured by Tim and his incredibly experienced bartender, Dan. The woman next to me got in on the fun and bought me a drink; Tim mixed enough that five of us were able to toss back her coffee, cream, vanilla vodka and crème de cocoa concoction. As drinks were poured for other patrons, she and I were the lucky recipients of the leftovers, meaning I sampled more than my fair share of drinks paid for. Both Tim and Dan obviously take pride in the work they do behind the bar, as they should. Their mixed drinks are exquisite, topped only topped by their gracious hospitality.

Sadly, I am afraid that the two of us will not go back. What, you say, with such a glowing review? Well, Roger and I seem to have the terrible habit of falling in love with a place and patronizing it just a week later because it was so good the first time. Of course, the second time never lives up to our expectations … and, it will certainly be hard to top an evening as lovely as last night’s. However, we may be willing to take that chance; the Strip Club is far too good not to visit again.

Since we received the initial design concepts from Sid about a month ago, we’ve “mixed and matched” several ideas from all three drawings and came to a final conclusion on what we’d ultimately like our house to look like. Sid came back with a composite drawing — and a preliminary budget estimate which indicated that, of course, we could only afford half of what we really wanted! So, in the spirit of compromise, I gave up “my” remodeled bathroom in favor of some of the other items on our wish list. (Roger’s quote: “I can poop in a $10,000 bathroom as easily as a $30,000 bathroom.” Nice.) So, here’s what we’ll be doing:

• Remodeling the kitchen: This will involve pushing a wall about 18 inches into our living room to create more working space, and lots of wonderful cabinets and drawers. We’ll also get a new walk-in pantry and a counter-top height eating space.
• Creating a mudroom: We’ll put up a 4′6″ wall in the family room to create a mudroom-like entrance with (we hope) a bench, shelves, hooks and storage for shoes and bags. We’re also taking out the fireplace (which we don’t use).
• Reconfiguring the family room: While we’ll actually be making this room a bit smaller to get rid of its existing “bowling alley”-like feel, we’ll knock down another wall to open up the space.
• Making the living room “livable”: This space, which we currently never use, will become a multipurpose space for dining, entertaining, playing piano, reading in a comfy nook and more.
• Finishing parts of the basement: We’ll demo the office to create a new workout room for Roger, and also finish the main area to become a rec room, with his and her office-like space. The storage area and laundry room will remain unfinished.

Yesterday we met Sid to go over the blueprints, elevations (drawings of what the different walls, cabinets, etc. look like), and the electrical plan. Sid has also promised a “flythrough” of the space, which, if the technology gods allow, I’ll try to add to the web site this week.

The biggest stressor right now is trying to figure out what to do with all our “stuff” in the next month before the remodel begins. We’ve decided that most everything (kitchen supplies, furniture, books, etc.) can get stored in our garage, but figuring out how we’ll watch TV or fix lunch over the next three months might get interesting.