Big Project Week 3

So it’s more of the same, really. As we removed the paint, we noticed that the stones needed mortar (re-mortared? is that a word?). Anyway, the appropriate mixture was made (light on the cement, heavy on the lime) so that it won’t dry too hard and damage the stone. The color mixture is a little […]

Big Project week 2

(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 […]

Big Project week 1

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 […]

A big project

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:

Dog days of summer

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 […]

Unabridged to-do list

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.

Unfinished projects – a visual guide of procrastination

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.

Old houses & old house friends

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.

NEDS is closing (for real this time)

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 […]

TBT: The original sink

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?