Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
The Brass Knob warehouse was a treasure trove that we were lucky to discover soon after moving to Bloomingdale. You could also get a pretty good deal if you know how to make one (I can’t, my palms start sweating and I get flustered at the thought of having to haggle).
But anyway, a few weeks ago, we got 6 buckets of 100-year old leaded tiles for $60, courtesy of Sergey!… Read the rest
at least in one of the spare bedrooms! we finally got around to finishing up the drywall box-out for our A/C vents. I spent last couple of weekends with joint compound and mudding and taping knives (I have learned so much!).
It was a bit difficult at first, I kept getting air bubbles in the tape and couldn’t get the compound to spread evenly, but I eventually got the hang of it (or so I thought)
With the next layer of compound it became apparent that air bubbles managed to hid in the tape and were making themselves all too apparent.… Read the rest
the dryer is here. delivered by home depot, actually ahead of schedule for once.
its the same brand as the washer, but that’s about where the similarities end on the two models. the washer is prior year’s model, so can’t actually get the same dryer. i can’t say i am overly enthused by the combo look, but at this point i just don’t care enough to spend any more time on this.… Read the rest
We have new neighbors — the house next door was sold on Monday, and the new owners already moved in. Congratulations!
image via here
Backyard parties in the summer!
Buying a house – new or old – is sort of like having a baby, you have the urge to document all the firsts. Like first thanksgiving turkey. on march 11, we will have been here a year – it will be our second spring. wow.
here’s our first christmas tree:
and our first special ornament – 2010 holly snowflake – a housewarming gift from a jane.… Read the rest
The good news is that the peel away did an excellent job:
so much so that layer of paint just came off with the wax paper. awesome, since it takes only 2 minutes. but, since i ran out of peel away i decided to give a try to another product that i got for free from craigslist (someone was done renovating)
Ready Strip! The goo that came out of the bucket looks straight out of goosebumps novels
I decided to do just one plank in case it didn’t work that well.… Read the rest
Last weekend, Drew and Eric had stopped by the house to pick up some wood for a wine rack (how is that going?) and sergey was quick to put them to work.
Notwithstanding the lack of experience, the three of them figured out how to hang the door, sand the hinges, etc.
While the door is finally up, there were a few other steps remaining (is it ever really over?).… Read the rest
These, and many other Russian and American delicacies were enjoyed by friends and family for Thanksgiving at the VIB. It was our first time hosting a big holiday meal at our house, which I bet has seen more than one festive occasion. Cheers to all and happy holidays.
tasty and delicious cabbage pies (Taken with instagram)
first a rant – i am loosing patience with tumblr, its slow, its down half the time, and the queue feature simply cannot handle more than one timed request. it simply publishes al your posts. we were on vacation for a week, but no one would have noticed if tumblr didn’t screw up. ugh. any expert out there on how to switch content to blogspot or wordpress?
now.
for all my huffing and puffing about wanting my estimate now, we decided to put the fireplace off.… Read the rest
…