VIB Chronicles

per previous post on pocket door railings. as you can see, someone simply ripped up 2/3 of the po

full railing – dining room side

2/3 railing missing – foyer side

with 2 new/old railings on foyer side

per previous post on pocket door railings. as you can see, someone simply ripped up 2/3 of the pocket door railing on the foyer side. apparently the railing that we got from the brass knob backdoor warehouse is extremely rare as cast iron breaks easily and plus no one really ever thinks of taking an old door rail to a salvage shop.… Read the rest

Yesterday, we stumbled on The Br

stacks of ceiling tile!!

Yesterday, we stumbled on The Brass knob Backdoor Warehouse. its just a few blocks from our house and it is amazing. incredible. jaw dropping. i don’t think i have anything to add to the pictures really.

we also were extremely lucky to secure a floor rail for our pocket doors – the pair that lead out to the foyer are missing part of their railing (probably butchered it during the carpet installation or some such).… Read the rest

Bathrooms Part II As I mentioned, when we purchased the house, upstairs bathroom was

half bath original medicine cabinet

half bath new mirror

rusty old medicine cabinet

behind old cabinet

new placement

Bathrooms Part II

As I mentioned, when we purchased the house, upstairs bathroom was pretty gross. In addition to the pealing bathtub, there was a rusted medicine cabinet and a badly water-damaged sink vanity. We also had a half bath downstairs that was by all appearances done for the sale of the house, so it had all new fixings, even if they were on the cheaper-side of options offered at home depot.… Read the rest

Bathrooms This was a two-part, mini make-over that nevertheless paid at least some sp

before

after

Bathrooms

This was a two-part, mini make-over that nevertheless paid at least some space saving dividends, and decreased the yuck-factor at least ten times. Part one actually took place before we moved in and involved an FHA-required bathtub clean up. It was dirty with pealing paint, and the bank/FHA inspector deemed it unsanitary at the time — meaning that we couldn’t get the loan unless we fixed it.… Read the rest

Note to Parents: nothing to see here, move along

Soooo, in reference to earlier rhetorical questions on contractors…this is what happens when you don’t get estimates – you get charged twice the amount that you initially thought you would. On our first meeting with the plumber we pointed out several problems and got an estimate of under $300. well a month later and several other problems (initial list was #1-3 of the list below) fixed we paid twice as much.… Read the rest

Good Neighbor Yesterday we helped to set up a watering system for a Scarlet Oak that

patching up holes

our tree box

Good Neighbor

Yesterday we helped to set up a watering system for a Scarlet Oak that was planted by the Urban Forestry Association several weeks ago (see more here) a few doors down from us. Our neighbor had actually requested the tree last spring. Hopefully we didn’t mess up too badly (we accidentally made more holes than necessary and then had to patch them up with a lighter).… Read the rest

Kitchen fabric wallpaper idea came to me via this

sergey helped too :)

Kitchen fabric wallpaper idea came to me via this AT post, as we needed something to cover up a giant patch over the stove that was left after Sergey removed the range hood. (Btw – the wall actually had a hole left from where the range hood was attached, which Sergey fixed using a piece of the drywall -left over from fake wall demolition– and some putty.… Read the rest

Dream Kitchen

So Peter inquired what a dream kitchen might be…well the concept is still evolving, and will be for some time. but for now, here are some ideas:

– exposing brick on the wall that is opposite of where the appliances are. maybe expose brick in all of kitchen? one issue that we are going to have to look into is the wall where all the appliances currently are, as it is actually just drywall that hides all the appliance cords and god knows what else.… Read the rest