Articles with phase II

Construction Days 101-104

Slowly but surely we are making our way to completion. We lost one day of work (Tuesday) this week due to hurricane Sandy, mainly because driving conditions were terrible. Not much to show in terms of pictures – some electrical outlets, some moldings here and there. A bathroom door – hey cool!

Fluorescent lights (3′ and 2′ long) were installed in the recessed opening behind the bench. The plan is to place plexiglass over these in order to diffuse the light.… Read the rest

How to: Add a Touch of Brass

I have been trying to take care of the small things as we go along in the renovation – like touch ups and finishing touches – because I figure once we declare Phase II renovation done, its going to be really difficult to get around to small fixes and touch ups. This quick fix – adding a touch of brass to our faucets – one was super quick. In 20 minutes and with minimum materials and effort in the kitchen and half bath, I made a big difference in the finished look of our space.… Read the rest

How to: Oil, Wax & Buff Butcher Block

Well we have survived the frankenstorm that was Sandy, without flooding or loosing electricity. That was the best part of the hurricane. Another neat bit of freak weather events –all public transport typically shuts down in DC, which means that the offices are closed as well, and we get to telework from home. Which means that I got to oil, wax, and buff our beautiful island top during my lunch break.… Read the rest

Construction days 99-100(!)

Woot – there it is. 100 days. Mind you that’s working days, not counting weekends, a week-long break sometime in July or a break that we have between the end of phase I and start of phase II of this monster. renovation project. This weekend will mark exactly 6 months since we demolished the kitchen and began our camping adventure. I am ready to be done with that.I can’t say that I ever want to do it again, but I think counting the stress, dust, etc, we took it all in stride (hey, we are still married!)… Read the rest

Construction days 96-98: Ta-da!

More brass! Yes!! The bench is looking spiffy these days. We added a foot rail at the bottom for comfort purposes, since the bench is made taller than normal to accommodate the height of the island. And inside the bench the division/support beams are all done, so its ready for sitting (good thing too since we have friends in town this weekend!)

The open shelving unit next to the bench got the wallpaper treatment.… Read the rest

Bits and Pieces of Renovation Randomness

We were out doing stuff all weekend – including checking out the new Union Market (!) *go for the fresh fish.its.so.good (but more in a separate post – but I did get a random assortment of projects checked off my to do list.

First of, the bathroom upstairs. Bathtub. Thank you to everyone who voted. Burgundy was the winner, but only by one vote edging out blue and red (tied for second).… Read the rest

Construction days 93-95: H to the O

We’ve got water in the kitchen, yo. That makes me very, very, VERY happy.

Neat. Actually, the majority of my happiness comes from the fact that the faucet works perfectly well. We picked it up at the same time when we got our ceiling tin tiles from the Brass Knob Warehouse going-out-of-business sale two years ago. (That place was such a gem, none of the other vintage house parts dealers ever quite have the selection of the artifacts that they did.)… Read the rest

Trying on colors and textures

For every renovation project there are really fun and exciting bits (typically involves day dreams of all sorts and potentially shopping – as long as you don’t think about the prices too hard) and the not-so-exciting, one might even say boring or challenging stuff (along the lines of stripping layers of paint). ‘Trying on’ different colors, textures, shapes and sizes definitely falls into the former category ( for the most part) though it has also proven to be a challenging undertaking.… Read the rest

Construction days 89-92

Well I guess since I let the cat out of the bag yesterday, its time to show off our bench.Here it is, in all its half finished glory. The bench box needs reinforcements for the seat – otherwise it has a slight u-shape to it, which I am sure will not be helped with actual sitting on it. It is visible ever so sightly in this picture.

The pillows are there for testing (not styling – though they do look good) purposes.… Read the rest

The Otto Renovation – Check it out edition

Every week, Monday-Friday from 7 am to 6 pm Otto cat spends in our bedroom, because we made the decision early on not to mix cat and construction, particularly since workers go in and out of the house, and while he is allowed outside, we are still trying to figure out the best approach to take on that front and for now prefer that we know when he goes out. All of that is a long winded introduction to the new and constantly changing world that Otto finds once we get home and let him out.… Read the rest