As we are rounding into the third year of homeownership, I wanted to post a quick update on the exterior of our house. Most of the projects we’ve done are inside, but the outside – while low on our priority list – has been chugging along slowly as well. Year one was spent mostly on upkeep […]

Did you think I forgot about the blog? Didya? I haven’t! Generally I prefer to post finished projects, and for the last few months we have been in the final stages of a few big ones that have been months or even years in the making. So although there was a lull, be prepared for […]

One day this past June, I was headed to Lowe’s, as is a typical occurrence in my household. I had just driven up there and was getting ready to park the car when I got a call from Dan. “Get home now.” “Why? I just got here. I didn’t get the stuff we needed yet.” […]

The old adage says that the best way to make God laugh is to tell God your plans. I guess this holds true for houses as well. We have a priority list of projects, however it is constantly shifting as things come up. In this case, something that was at the bottom of our list […]

While we are wrapping up a few things in the kitchen and I can’t do the BIG reveal yet, I’ll post a bit more about what’s going on in the other rooms. Since the entire house is a work in progress, we are constantly improving everything bit by bit. Generally, the project outline for the first […]

This is a rare statement from me, however for this project I am going to warn you not to follow in my footsteps. Do not try this at home! This project was a downright miserable endeavor. I’m very pleased with the outcome and, if I had it to do over again I may have done […]

In general, I’d always like to give fixing something a shot before deciding to throw it out and get a new thing instead. In this case, our fan blades on the light fixture that came with our house were a bland shade of faux-golden-oak, a la 1995. It was suggested to Dan and I that […]

Most major cities have some sort of salvage store. These are great resources for finding things and building materials for an old home. Sometimes you can even find great built-ins that were ripped out of an old house, as was the case with this project. The thing about salvage is that it’s an “as-is” sort […]

If you are looking for the right curtains for your home and are having trouble finding something that you love, or if you would like to save money, or both, I’m happy to say that making your own is quite easy and only takes a few hours of your time. If you have a functional […]

There are pros and cons to buying mostly antique things. Pros – they fit with the style of our home, are made well and of sturdy materials, and are unique. Cons – the can be difficult to retrofit to modern standards for things like wiring, plumbing, etc. In the case of our new upstairs hall […]