Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
As exciting as our upcoming grand travel adventure is, there is a whirlwind of planning and research associated that is at least as extensive and time consuming as the deepest throes of renovation. But I kind of love it, so that’s cool! One of the big to do’s on our list: Renting the VIB – so we can take care of paying the mortgage and hopefully put away some money to take care of emergencies should those arise (knock on wood).… Read the rest
I have attempted to photograph the finished foyer multiple times, but the pattern has proved to be a tricky bastard. this is a combination of photos that Sergey and I took, with a caveat, that I wish a professional would come and help us out here. Also, this post took an inordinately long time to be published, in part due to time crunch with the fact that I have been selected for 6 week jury duty, in part due to picture taking troubles, and in part because I am still learning to operate on my new Mac…I hope to be back here more frequently soon.… Read the rest
As I have mentioned before, we are replacing nearly all of the overhead fixtures in the house. My most favorite addition, by far, is a sputnik chandelier in our dining room (the red room). Pictures really don’t do it justice, it looks incredible in person.
I had bookmarked the tutorial on transforming the IKEA Maskros this beautiful chandelier more than a year ago, and have in fact had all of the supplies to make this just sitting and waiting for the right moment.… Read the rest
I saw these kissing balls online this year and was smitten. Must have me some mistletoe kissing balls. The shape works well with the rest of the holiday decorations, and is just somehow more fun and festive than a spring hanging in the doorway. However, it seemed like it would take a little too much time to make, between ordering all the supplies online (where in DC can I get a foam ball?!)… Read the rest
I love original decorative trim work and molding pieces – intricate moldings for windows and doors, tall baseboards with added bonus of toe kicks – the grand old stuff that just isn’t put into houses anymore, at least your typical contractor-grade flips. The VIB came with a good deal of its original decorative woodwork intact. One of my favorite elements in our home are the staircase panels. And then there are the door and window casing moldings from 1897.… Read the rest
It’s really starting to feel like we are pretty much done with the Big Project, aka phase II renovation. Because there are no more construction materials all over first floor. And no more fridge and electric plates in the dining room. AND! The built-in-shelf is done!
* Done is a relative term of course – the walls around it obviously need some work, and we still need to make a toe-kick, which must allow air flow as the A/C return valve is under the cabinets.… Read the rest
I have been wanting to try out this idea – a pretty kitchen dish washing liquid bottle – for awhile now. In fact since before the whole kitchen project started. But these small type of projects always seem to get away for some reason. Finally! after removing the cap from our current dish washing bottle one too many times I remembers to order the bar pourers.
The bottle is from Anthropologie, I probably picked it up with this exact purpose in mind – it’s been so long I don’t remember.… Read the rest
The whitewash brick really looks amazing in the kitchen. I am so glad that we went with this option, rather than plaster or tile — as pretty as those would have been, the brick looks at least just as great and cost us almost nothing, which is a big plus. One thing about white-wash is that unlike paint it tends to flake a little bit. It’s also not that great for clean up with water and soap, something that we need to be able to do in the kitchen.… Read the rest
I have been doing a lot of painting. A lot. Doors, moldings, sashes, walls, ceilings, touch ups, here and there and everywhere. So I thought I would share some of my researched knowledge, trial by error, and never would have thought of that tips.
1) Painting almost never stands on its own. Particularly for any woodworking projects or touchups. In the first case, wood filler is your friend. Our contractors introduced me to Elmer’s carpenters exterior/interior wood filler, and it is great for filling in nail holes.… Read the rest
Ah so the saga of “move kitchen cabinets 4″ down” continues. Besides the dented and scratched counter (which will need an ink & seal touch up) there was also the problem with our shelf beneath the cabinets. That too, had to move down, otherwise I couldn’t use it for any soap or oil bottles.
We could have asked our contractors to do that, but decided that they *might* run away if we ask them to change or re-do one more thing.… Read the rest