(yes this is a bit late, since it’s almost week 3, but better late than never, yes?)
It’s been a hot summer in New York. It’s humid and gross and the simple act of blinking triggers a massive amount of sweat. While I’ve spent the week toiling away in air conditioned office, the hubs has been hanging off front of the house doing all sorts of amazing work.
Week 1 of the façade project is coming to an end. It still feels slightly unreal that we are tackling this. We’ve known for several years that we would need to do something about our façade, not just because of the ugly pink, but because the ugly pink was actually the wrong kind paint (regular paint, not masonry paint) and it was causing damage to the brownstone. Continue reading
Today was the start of A Big Project. We’ve been talking about this one for a while, and it really needs to happen. So in order to actually make it happen, this thing showed up today: Continue reading
Things have been very quiet here on the blog. This usually means that life is getting in the way of house projects – and while this has been the case for the past several months, we are coming back full tilt. Prepping for a massive project this weekend, one that we have been meaning to do for years now, and finally (finally!) getting to it.
Here is the calm before the storm… Continue reading
Making lists is comforting. They provide the illusion of control; a sense of order and the hopefulness that things will get done. I love making lists. I find it is calming. Lists turn chaos into manageable orderly pieces. Lists calm me down. Lists give me hope. Yes, I make lists. Many lists.
Starting a project is always fun. The excitement of change, the endless possibilities… which end up simply turning into endless projects. Yep, we have a few of those.
Not that long ago, I had the chance to contribute my 2 cents to an article about the historic row houses of Bed Stuy (and the wholesale modernization that is landing irreplaceable woodwork into dumpsters). You can read it here. Continue reading
You know that feeling when one of the items of your bucket list is soon to be no-more?
By now you probably figured out that architectural salvage is my kryptonite. I suppose I came by honestly, a child of parents who built a house with lots of old parts and who still have unused stained glass doors stashed in the garage. While my parents are reasonable people and have a few items stashed away, I’m know to be a bit more, uh… impulsive or even hoard-y.
In what I rank as the biggest salvage find thus far, we managed to get our hands on the original sink to our house. Finding good stuff can be summarized into two steps: being at the right place at the right time, and not being afraid to ask: can I have that?
It’s been a strange winter, and with this week warm-up, it’s time to take stock of the back yard. Every year, it gets a bandaid and a promise that a full redo is in sight. This year, we’re making it happen.
(or so we tell ourselves).
A Pink Brownstone in Brooklyn 