Dave is the Man

Tearing down walls, poring over cracked walls for weeks until they're silky smooth, constructing arches in doorways, erecting closets out of thin air....not nearly as impressive as building our mantle.  I can't articulate why this remains the most impressive thing I've seen Dave do in our house so far, but it is.  And it only took him two pieces of dentil trim from the Depot.  Here is the original.

The original fireplace had that lovely brick border that needed to be covered up.  I also wanted those sconces torn out of the wall and I'm sure I'll regret that some day.  To be fair, the wires were covered in shredded twine so I'm not sure how long they would have worked before burning our house to the ground.

This was our first encounter with tile and it made my head spin.  I don't know if you know this, but grout comes in colors.  Picking out the tile was hard enough.  Can't they just make grout-colored grout?  These decisions tend to paralyze me enough to never finish a project.  We took the easy way out and got white tiles with slightly gold, antiqued edges and grout that the lady at the tile store recommended.  We figured we could always throw her under the bus if we didn't like it.  As all things in this house, tiling was a first for me.  Not as easy as it looks on TV.  Even with the mesh backing, they're far from perfectly flush.  We'd just finished the tile and were nearly enjoying our collaborative efforts until I stepped on the wet tile and smooshed them all around.  It's fine.  You can't see it from the pictures and that's all that counts, right?  You're not even looking at the tile because you're distracted by the enormous porcelain deer head.  I know it.

 

The deer head remains nameless, but I'm open to suggestions.  It's a conversation piece.  Not everyone enjoys it as much as we do, but most people are amused and kind about it.  We didn't buy it as a joke.  I repeat, we didn't buy it as a joke.  We totally love it.

 

King of Hearts

One of the first projects to be completed was our first floor bathroom.  In part because it was heinous, but mostly because it's so tiny that we could knock it out pretty quickly.  Not a weekend project.  As we've learned, nothing in an old house is as easy as it looks.  Here's a little taste of what the previous owners had left in their wake;

Please note the overwhelming use of red; in the floor tile, the tp holder, the towels, the light switch, and even the doorknob.  Then behold how they tied the aforementioned color into the border.

 

It's difficult to see in the picture, but these suits carry around to all four walls.  It's quite whimsical, which we're not opposed to.  It's just not our style. 

This bathroom butts up to the kitchen and Uncle Richard went through the wall to put in some updated electrical for us.  Once that was patched, we painted the walls gray, the doorknob black, hung some crown moulding (left over from the kitchen), installed the towel bar, hard wired a chandy and changed the faucet.

 

The after pictures don't really carry that "wow" factor that I'd like because the bathroom is so tiny I can't get a good shot of it.  I also think these pictures make a strong argument that our camera isn't as great as we once thought it was.  But, I think you get the basic idea.  I love the two pictures we have hanging in there.  The boston terrier print is from Mod-Dog.  I know dog paraphernalia isn't for everyone, but these are the least cheesy items I've seen yet.

Heck, they even have cat prints.

And the other is a Valentine's present that I got for Dave fully knowing that it was really for me.  I'll work on that for this year.  They don't have the one I got anymore, but here are some samples from the Keep Calm Gallery.

 

Even in my selfishness, the print I got him says Olive Ewe.  I love you.  Get it?  It's kind of from the heart, right? 

I digress.  So there you have the belated first floor bathroom before and after pics. 

Field of Dreams

Our house is set on the corner of the block with a pretty sizable front and side yard, but not a traditional backyard.  We need to carve out some outdoor living space for the 3 months of the year that it doesn't snow here.  This is a picture I took when we were trying to sell our swingset.  The view is from the property line facing the back of our house.

Dave gave the swingset to a teacher at his school and we're left with a pile of mulch.  Just outside the frame on the right side of this picture is our garage, which gives us one wall in place.  Now we have to come up with a plan to enclose this backyard nook. These pictures have been in my "dream" files for awhile.  I heart them because they feel like a living room that happens to be outside.

When I snap back to reality, I realize that we do not live in South Beach or Saint Tropez or anything resembling a tropic.  We live in a lovely little town with rules and government and building codes.  We're not allowed to build a fence or pour concrete within ten feet of our property line.  Hmmmm.  So that leaves these;

I kind of dig them.  They'd be cheaper and easier to maintain.  Something else I didn't know before being a homeowner is that the "pretty" side of the fence has to face the neighbors.  I'm down with that.  It seems courteous.  These firewood boxes look the same on both sides, which means less work for us;

We'll need to plant some greenery so it's not so hardcore woodsman.  I found out today that these beauties, called Pokewood, are native to Illinois.

 Shocking, yes?  I would also hang these DIY pendant lights because they're rustic and adorable;

I love dreaming up these grandiose plans just as it's too cold to actually do something.  Next year.

The Google 15 is Not a Joke

 

I don't think they gave enough pub to the snack bins on each floor. We're talking peanut M&M's, chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, jelly belly's, doritos, popcorn....I could go on and on. It's super great of them to feed us for free, but 4 o'clock becomes the willpower hour. In case you're wondering, I just had a grilled cheese and tomato with a cup of seafood chowder for lunch. In approximately 2 hours, I'll get some pretzels and mustard and a DC. The Google 15 is not a joke.

ScarletBeautiful2

So I ordered a few prints from this great Etsy store, ScarletBeautiful2. We had problems getting the correct mailing address and she ended up sending me two sets of the five 5x5 photographs I ordered. I just received both packages and they're so vibrant and pretty...and original. She said the extra set was mine, so I'm giving them to anyone that's interested. If you want one or all five, let me know. Three of the images are below and the two additional images (not listed on her site) are in the red/pink color family.




I had a hard time hunting down 5x5 frames, but I just found solid, black matted frames for $5/each at Sears. Check out her shop and let me know if you'd like any of the extra prints!

She also has some new images for sale;


For the avid Beatles fan.


Some cute mini art for the kitchen.

A pink-tipped daisy for some muted girliness.

It's my first reader giveaway! Let's see if there is anyone reading this thing :)

Patti Woodring, LLC

Since this blog wants to be an homage to all things DIY, it's only fitting to feature the one and only Patti Woodring. Erin, her daughter, and I went to high school together and have been good friends since we rented a brownstone in LP a few years ago. Her mom has been crafting for years and has evolved into a bona fide woodworker. In addition to making furniture for her friends and family (pro bono), she has been making furniture for Erin's friends as wedding presents. I was so excited that she generously offered to make me a Patti Woodring original. I asked if she would make the Pottery Barn TV stand, below;

Just eight weeks after our wedding, she created the exact item and it's now the focal point of our living room.

It's identical, right? I must also clarify that I opted for the lighter gray paint so it didn't overwhelm the living room. It's a beautiful piece of furniture and it was so generous of her to spend her time making this for us. Erin is in negotiation to become her agent, so you may be able to procure your own piece soon!

I die.

In the words of Rachel Zoe.

I realize that I once mocked my good friend, Chris, for dressing up her poor dog as a lobster. I once got a Christmas card from my friend, Laura, with her Yorkie sitting atop presents and I thought, love the card, but really? And just 2 short years later, here I am. Dave went to his third, yes count them...third, Bears game of the season today, and I thought to myself, I can show my Chicago pride, too. So I hit up Two Bostons and perused an adorable striped collar, a monkey Halloween costume and a FABULOUS Bears collar. I figured this collar could only be complimented by a very dapper looking football sweater. I came right on home and slipped the Bop into this...


Yes, I've emasculated the poor thing.

But Dave only had one thing to say when he got home, "Bear down". Go Bears. And Go Bruno.

This is what I came home to last night

As we've come to know, Dave loves a project. What you don't know is that we have a very long list of projects that need to be done before we host a party in a few weeks. Ripping the banisters off the stairs was not one of them. Dave wanted to sand off the yellowed paint on the face of the stairs and banisters.

I have to admit, it really does look a lot better in it's natural state. We also feel a smidge better about painting every single piece of wood trim on the first floor now that we've restored one aspect of the house to it's original condition. The banisters posed the problem of being too close together to sand down. So Dave ripped them right out. Even Bruno is like "for real"?


With this new project is the new idea of staining a runner a darker finish then the rest of the stairs. Something along the lines of this;


Hopefully, we'll have an "after" picture sooner than later. And to think I was running out of material for the blog.

Photo courtesy of ApartmentTherapy.com

The Kitchen is Finally Done!

I cannot believe this day has finally arrived. After five and a half months, the kitchen remodel is finally complete. We moved into our house this past April and had a wall torn down within the week. Here are some pics of the kitchen before we got our hands on it;

That is the wall that leads to the dining room before we tore it down. You'll notice that I use the term "we" quite liberally here. It's the Christian "we".


Old butcher block countertops, old cabinets, and old stainless sink.

Those cabinets were a disaster. They look nicer in pictures than in real life. Don't be fooled.

The infamous rolling dishwasher.


Some sweet smoked glass Ikea cabinets.

And so began the work. Dave has worked like a maniac for the past five months and has had lots and lots of help. We are blessed to have engineers, architects, electricians and builders in our life. His Uncle Richard spent every free day for months working at our house from 7 am to 10pm pulling old wires and bringing the electrical situation from 1933 to 2009. His dad designed a hundred blueprints for the layout of the first floor. Their parents friend, Jeff Laskey, spent a weekend doing the duct work in the kitchen. My Dad and Uncle John tore down walls, hung drywall, painted nearly every room in the house and consulted on projects along the way. Mike Cronin helped to demolish the kitchen, painted, hung drywall, installed the sink and dishwasher and lugged our new fridge in through the front door. This is in addition to my friends that cleaned the house with me when I moved in, our families painted and fed us and everyone that put up with our complaining.

So, yes, it's all DIY...but that's because all of these people volunteered their time and talent. We can't thank them enough. We would surely be living in squalor if they didn't. Here are some action pics;

That damn lathe had to be ripped off with a crowbar. Unless you were my dad and Uncle John; then you just bulldozed it with a sledgehammer.
Torn down to the walls. He still looks happy to have taken this on.

The frame goes up for the counter between the kitchen and dining room.

The arch is completed and you can see the faint beginnings of a real kitchen.

Without further ado, here are the "after" pics;

It looks purple, but it's a light robin egg blue.


We may or may not have had a disagreement about the pendant lights above the sink. They've grown on me.
Dave had the idea of using the old butcher block cabinets to make the cookbook shelves. And you can't see, but the framed picture says "Bacon is like a little hug from God". It's our favorite.
The chandelier came with the house and was a nasty brass color. I spray painted it white and gave it a good cleaning and it looks fabulous. Also, I have to give a special mention to my friends for the dining room chairs. Don't they look great.

We were fortunate enough to register for most of the items in the kitchen. Everything is shiny and new.
We used the subway tile from the backsplash on the front of the counter and it looks smashing. I even got to use a tile saw. We'll get a few metal bar stools and be done with it.

And so there you have it.