Chapter 17 – Two More Things

Directionally Correct

The move-in is complete. The last boxes are unpacked, the furniture in place, and the county hauled away what can only be described as an industrial-scale cardboard situation. At one point, the flattened boxes and overflow trash bags stretched down the street easily the length of an 18-wheeler.

And yet, somehow, the house still sits at 99.99% complete.

Not because of anything major. Quite the opposite. We’ve officially entered the phase where every room has two things left. 

Two things.

Ramiro and I each have our lists. CJ has his. None of them are big enough to stop life from happening, but collectively they represent the strange final stage of any renovation: the part where the house is fully livable, mostly functional, and still somehow unfinished.

It’s funny how often renovations are described as “done” or “not done,” when in reality there’s an entire gray zone in between. We spent months obsessing over structural beams, layouts, HVAC runs, lighting plans, and flooring transitions. These last two things in every room? They’re the opposite. Tiny details that linger because now we actually live here. And living in the layout has a way of changing which final details matter… and which ones aren’t that important.

Mid-Century in Motion

Mid-Century, Mood, and Movement

Opening the walls between the kitchen, dining, and living spaces changed everything. Not just functionally, but how the room makes you feel, inviting connection, erasing separation. The moment you walk through the front door, your eyes travel straight through the house to the magnolia trees in the back garden. The outside becomes the focal point before the furniture, before the finishes, before anything else. Exactly the way a mid-century home is supposed to feel — architecture framing nature instead of competing with it.

Then the details start revealing themselves. The deep green backsplash that took us twenty-something tile stores and an unreasonable number of magnolia leaf comparisons to find the right hue and color variation. It doesn’t just coordinate with the garden; it feels pulled from it. The entertainment spaces are no longer a checklist of rooms to own and instead feel connected to the landscape.

From there, the furnishing decisions became less about decorating and more about stewardship. We leaned heavily on our well-worn copy of Mid-Century Modern Design: A Complete Sourcebook (our bible for this project) as inspiration, selecting reproductions of iconic mid-century pieces that respected the architecture instead of ignoring it. Even the paint choices ended up tying back to the book’s cover. Sherwin-Williams Aesthetic White throughout the house and Behr Ecological Green in the office weren’t trendy last-minute picks; they were colors literally featured on the cover of the book. Sometimes good design is less about inventing something new and more about finally understanding what should have been there all along.

Before and Now – Living Room

The living room is nearly complete, and unlike most of the house, it gave us an unexpected opportunity to start fresh. The buyers of our Crown house purchased most of our living and dining room furniture along with the property, which made sense at the time. That furniture belonged in the industrial brownstone world we had created there — exposed brick, darker tones, sharper edges. Here, surrounded by restored mahogany ceilings, warm oak, and walls of glass facing gardens, it would have completely fought the architecture instead of supporting it.

And as it turns out, buying new furniture is so much easier than moving furniture. Well, at least for two rooms. The rest of the house still involved movers hauling boxes and furniture, carefully navigating narrow doors and tight corners.

The living room’s “two things” are visible reminders that a renovation is never truly done all at once. First, the front door still needs to be replaced. We simply ran out of time and budget before move-in. The current door works perfectly fine, but it doesn’t yet match the architecture we spent months carefully restoring. Second, two oversized framed art pieces are still leaning patiently against the office wall waiting to be hung near the upper atmosphere of the 17-foot ceiling. Given the combination of heavy glass, ladder heights, and my complete lack of coordination, we decided this was better left to CJ and his crew, who spent weeks sprinting up ladders carrying 200-pound fiber cement boards like Olympic gymnasts. Also, my tallest ladder is approximately my own height, which feels less “big job tackler” and more “some assembly required.”

A playful natural wool rug from Safavieh New York grounds the room and softens the sharper architectural lines. That balance between structure and warmth has quietly become the theme of the entire project — modernism that feels comfortable enough to relax in.

Before and Now – Dining Room

Chairs, Chips, and Chandileres

The dining room is officially the most complete room in the house. For the first time in this project, there’s absolutely nothing left on CJ’s construction list. No touchups. No trim adjustments. No missing hardware. After four months of construction moving at full speed, that almost feels suspicious. Nothing for Ramiro or I either!

Here, the furniture store has the last two things on the list.

First, end chairs for the dining room table are still M.I.A. One of the fastest ways to make a room feel flat is having everything match 100%, especially in mid-century interiors where variation and contrast are part of the character. So instead of ordering a fully matching dining set, we chose more sculptural chairs for the ends of the table. The downside of highly customized furniture, however, is that actual humans apparently have to craft it. So those are still weeks away.

Second, the marble tabletop arrived with a small chip. Barely noticeable to anyone except the two people who now instinctively scan every surface in the house like forensic investigators. But at current Italian marble prices, “barely noticeable” still translates to “I will take a replacement over a discount.” One thing this project reinforced is knowing where to compromise and where not to. Tiny drywall imperfection? Fine. Damaged stone on the centerpiece of the room? That one stays on the list.

Other than that, the room turned out better than we anticipated. The black and champagne brass mic-century globe chandelier became the bridge between spaces we hoped it would be, perfectly complementing the Regina Andrews sconces nearby and the kitchen task lighting without feeling overly coordinated. That balance became one of the quiet themes of the house: cohesion without matching. Mid-century homes work best when they feel curated over time rather than purchased all at once.

Before and Now – Kitchen

Kitchens and Code

The kitchen — the room that drove more design decisions than any other space in the house — is somehow down to just two remaining items. First, we still cannot cook, which is admittedly becoming a problem. Avoiding processed foods and eating freshly prepared meals at home has always been one of the biggest contributors to how healthy we stay. The occasional triathlon probably helps too.

Unfortunately, the gas cooktop is still awaiting its final inspection, which in turn prevents the built-in oven from being fully installed. After months of structural engineering, cabinetry, flooring, plumbing, lighting coordination, appliance deliveries, and enough electrical planning to resurrect Radio Shack, it’s annoying to have the entire culinary operation temporarily defeated by paperwork and scheduling. But better safe than sorry.

Second, the exhaust vent developed a rattle. Not a catastrophic one. More of an “expensive appliance reminding you it exists” kind of rattle. To KraftMaid’s credit, they immediately agreed to send a replacement component with zero debate. Exactly how customer service should work when you’re dealing with products at this price point.

Otherwise, the kitchen is fully operational and fully lived in. In fact, we even stress tested the new circuits and pantry layout before move-in day — which also conveniently accelerated the great kitchen unpacking effort of 2026. We loaded the Explorer with every small appliance we own, hauled them into the walk-in pantry, plugged everything in, and started firing things up one by one like we were commissioning a small commercial kitchen. Coffee makers. Air fryers. Toasters. Ice cream maker. KitchenAid mixer. Ninjas. Easily enough wattage to dim neighboring homes.

Everything passed.

Before and Now – Family Room

Fireplaces and Final Touches

The family room’s transformation is complete — or at least complete enough to finally feel effortless. Unlike some of the other rooms where we started over entirely, this space benefited from furniture that had already proven itself through multiple homes. The seating from the fourth-floor loft in Crown fits here surprisingly well, and the accent chairs we bought over two houses ago somehow feel like they were always meant for this room. Good furniture has a way of surviving trend cycles.

A new natural wool rug from Safavieh finished the room beautifully, softening grounding the seating area, stretching the garden into the room. That balance became increasingly important throughout the renovation. Mid-century interiors can become cold if every surface is hard, angular, or overly minimal. Texture does a lot of work here.

But then, of course, there are the two things.

First, the fireplace remains conspicuously absent. The wall is prepped, plumbed, wired, and ready, but after four months of renovation spending at full velocity, we decided this was the perfect opportunity to weaponize seasonal retail timing. Few things feel more financially responsible (?) than shopping for fireplaces during July heat waves while standing in an air-conditioned showroom pretending you urgently need supplemental heat.

Second, the back sliding glass door handle is genuinely awful. Functional, yes. Attractive, absolutely not. It is the absolute last remaining piece of old hardware in the house and shows. A matte black replacement to match the rest of the home should take approximately several seconds of research with Google AI. Unfortunately, those several seconds continue to lost to unpacking boxes, work deadlines, and the general chaos of re-entering normal life after a project that big.

Before and Now – Office

Cedar and Color Drenching

It’s genuinely difficult to pick a favorite room in the house. The living room is a contender. We intentionally designed it to feel intimate despite the open layout, and it’s already working exactly the way I hoped it would. We’ve hosted my sister and nieces twice already, conversations naturally gathering around the seating area like a modern interpretation of the classic mid-century conversation pit — minus the Roomba unfriendly hole in the floor. A growing vinyl collection spinning softly through Marshall speakers gives the room the kind of low-key energy that makes for a more relaxing visit.

That could easily be my favorite space.

But then there’s the office.

The color-drenched Ecological Green walls paired with freshly cut cedar panels create exactly the moody atmosphere I was hoping for. The room absorbs light instead of reflecting it, which turns out to be surprisingly perfect when you spend eight to ten hours a day staring at screens. It feels calm without being sleepy. And, I’ve wanted the famous leather and rosewood Eames chair to complement our Herman Miller office chairs, so finally finding one at a reasonable price felt like a small victory after months of relentlessly practical renovation decisions. A new mid-century-inspired credenza and another natural wool rug from Safavieh finish the room in a way that feels intentional without trying too hard.

And naturally, there are still two things left. First, there’s the electrical panel tucked into the corner of the office — added to support the garage’s EV charging circuit. It’s positioned discreetly enough that I barely noticed it in person and didn’t give it a second thought.

Then I joined a video call.

There it was, looming over my shoulder like the world’s least inspiring Zoom backdrop.

So naturally, this became a mini side project. I took a photo from our visit to Fallingwater, recolored it in black and white, then used AI tools to transform it into a Warhol-inspired print. The plan is to mount it on a canvas block that cleanly conceals the panel while still allowing easy access if we ever need to reset a breaker. One of the unexpected lessons of modern renovations is that increasingly, the final layer of design isn’t construction — it’s camouflage.

Warhol? No, An Original Moniot

And second, the office may eventually need a solar shade. For now, though, I’m actually enjoying the direct morning sunlight pouring into the room. After spending so much of this renovation carefully studying sightlines, lighting, and how the house interacts with nature, it feels premature to block the sun before experiencing a full summer cycle first. Sometimes living in the layout means resisting the urge to immediately finish every last detail.

Before and Now – Main Floor Powder Room

Tile, Tests, and Towel Hooks

What a transformation some tile makes. The first-floor powder room is officially complete, tested, and unexpectedly aggressive. Once the shower glass was installed, Ramiro volunteered for the inaugural run and quickly discovered the oversized rainhead shower has approximately the same pressure settings as commercial-grade exfoliation equipment. Thankfully, the upgrade to a tankless water heater means the hot water supply now lasts significantly longer than human skin probably should.

And the two remaining things? A new toilet seat and a towel hook outside the shower. Which feels magically minor considering this room once also housed our HVAC equipment.

Before and Now – Primary Bedroom

Curtains and Champagne

For some reason, empty rooms always feel dramatically smaller than they actually are. Despite measuring the primary bedroom at least fifty times during construction, I remained unconvinced our king bed would actually fit once walls, nightstands, and real-life entered the equation. Thankfully, the tape measure was correct.

A few new pieces from Rove Concepts rounded out the existing furniture nicely, creating a small seating area near the private champagne bar that makes the space feel more like a suite than a bedroom.

And the two remaining things? The crushed velvet wall-to-wall blackout curtains still need to be installed, and CJ has a final round of paint touchups left to complete. Both just finishing details, but hitting the 100% mark will add texture and invoke quite and calmness we were aiming for.

Before and Now – Primary Bathroom

Spa, Steam, and Stone

I have to admit, we’re already taking the primary bathroom for “granite” — pun fully intended. It took approximately no time at all for the dual shower setup to become part of daily life, something we haven’t had since our last Bethesda house. The integrated heated has proven itself during this unusually cold May, quietly turning what could have been a chilly modern bathroom into something much closer to a spa.

More than almost any other room, this space validates all the pre-drywall planning. The circulation works, the lighting works, the storage works, and the mix of warm oak, sage tones, and champagne bronze somehow feels calming instead of overly designed.

And the two remaining things? Two champagne bronze towel hooks still need to be installed — one for shower towels and one for face towels. Which means the room is officially down to problems measured in inches instead of square feet.

Before and Now – Primary Bedroom Closet

Shelves and Shopping Plans

The primary closets are now officially full… of our actual clothes. Which revealed something I’ve genuinely never experienced before: I still have extra space. Empty shelves. Spare hanging room. Options. Thoughtful closet planning creates a very different storage experience than builder grade wire shelving.

And the two remaining things in this space? Two empty shelves that very clearly require additional wardrobe to resolve.

Naturally, this feels less like a storage achievement more suited to a trip to Bloomingdale’s. Maybe a mid-year “ThankShopping” trip with my nieces. Time — and the Capital One Venture X card statement — will tell.

Before and Now – Upstairs Guest Bathroom

Soaks and Soundtracks

The upstairs guest bathroom ended up being one of the bolder transformations in the house. Reclaiming five feet of hallway to expand the room and add a double vanity felt slightly aggressive on paper, but completely right now. The room finally feels proportional to the house, and more importantly, functional for guests.

Everything is working exactly as intended, and honestly, we couldn’t be happier with the result. The space feels calm, bright, and far larger than its footprint suggests — proof that sometimes borrowing square footage from choices like floating vanities makes a huge difference.

And the two remaining things? First, the bathroom needs a speaker so I can properly soundtrack future deep soaks in the tub. Second, it still needs guests. Though based on the growing unofficial sign-up sheet among friends and family, that problem may solve itself soon enough.

Before and After – Guest Bedroom #1

Guest Ready

Guest Bedroom 1 came together surprisingly easily. Our previous guest bedroom furniture fits the space almost perfectly, which felt like a small miracle after months of carefully measuring rooms, layouts, and circulation paths. Sometimes the best design decision is simply recognizing when something already works.

And the two things left? A closet system and crushed velvet blackout curtains still needs to be installed. Both are the kind of final touches that move a room from furnished to finished.

Before and After – Guest Bedroom #2

Velvet, Track Lights, and TBD

The second guest bedroom hasn’t changed dramatically since April, unless you count staging for the soon-to-be-installed crushed velvet curtains. Renovations always seem to need one room to sacrifice as chaos while the rest of the house comes together.

That said, the new retro-inspired track lighting was absolutely the right addition. It gives the room an effortless mid-century feel, like it had always been part of the original house rather than something recently purchased.

And the two remaining things? Well, obviously the room still needs a design direction. Right now we’re leaning toward an arched fabric, art deco headboard from Article to give the room a more playful personality. And this room also needs a closet system installed. So for the moment, the room exists less as guest suite and more as a curtain container.

And Finally – Chapter 18 – Records, Retro, and Revelry

The last chapter of this renovation story won’t end with a punch list item or a construction photo. It’ll end the right way: with people in the house, music playing, drinks flowing, and questionable 1970s fashion decisions. In June, we’re hosting a 1970s costume party to christen the house after four months of construction chaos, design debates, delayed deliveries, and endless checklists.

The ticket for admission? A vintage record and a costume, of course.