Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
Wheeee. Sergey and I locked in our refinance rate. The clock is set and we’re ready to get this show over with. We have about six weeks until it’s all done, and in the meantime we have to get all of our documents together, paint away, and get whatever else done in the house that we can to best show it off. We will probably finish right around the same time three years ago when we signed up for this adventure.… Read the rest
I got back on Saturday evening from my trip, and we are fully back in the swing of things. We had our refinance consultation yesterday, and our contractors are coming back on Wednesday to tackle our to do list. My most pressing concern is what to do about front door (new? but expensive! old? but drafty! *yes it can be retrofitted, glazed and in general made as good as new, but neither one of us has the time, the skills, or more importantly the desire).… Read the rest
The floors are done! We got back into town Wednesday night after spending New Years with Sergey’s parents in Connecticut. Pleasant surprise – the smell was not bad, actually non-existent pretty much. And of course the floors look shiny and new.
We had sourced three bids to re-do the floors. We went with the least expensive option, which still amounted to just over $2K for the living room, dining room, hallways, stairs and a small bedroom upstairs.… Read the rest
We have had a couple of big years for us here at VIB. In 2010 we bought the house, in 2011 we got married, and in 2012 we renovated. I don’t even know what to expect from 2013. But before looking forward, I thought it would be fun to look back. We have managed quite a bit in the 12 months of renovating.
Family: We hosted my mom and sisters three times (twice without a proper shower!).… Read the rest
Wow. What a year for the VIB. The renovation, stage II, took on a life of its own and completely engulfed 2012 for us. It’s been exhilarating, exhausting, annoying, awesome, and all encompassing experience. We have both learned so much, from how to read architect’s blueprints, to the difference between Sheetrock and Blue Board, to how to listen and communicate better with each other (well we are still working on that one).… Read the rest
Phew. We didn’t get it all done. but i am happy nonetheless with the progress that we have made in our 12 days of painting, which included hosting an end of the world party, and for which our halfway done staircase / hallway wall was the perfect backdrop )
Painting those walls really, really kind of sucked. Three coats! That’s because I did the second coat only in parts, which meant that it dried splatchey.… Read the rest
We have missed out on the weekend of work since we were in NYC for fun. It was fabulous, as always. New York has a lot to offer, including the fact that if you are visiting, you don’t have a to do list to get to. Just relax, sleep-in, see friends. But I digress. In the three days of painting, we have made a small dent in the must get done list.… Read the rest
We.are.done. And by we, I mean our contractors. Sergey and I still have quite a few items to cross off the list (mainly painting and stripping – will it ever end?!). But back to the topic at hand — there was no dramatic build up, no sense that this was all going to end. Just an email on Wednesday night notifying that the following day was going to be final day.… 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
Merry Christmas! We got a fir tree this weekend, and its all decorated and such. We decided to go the smaller 4.5″ route this year, so its up on a console in the living room, and right by the window too. Its funny, DC has this thing, where everyone puts their tree by the window. I guess to pass along the holiday spirit, and show off their tree decorating skills. Otto has been quite enthused about not loosing his window perch and getting the tree.… Read the rest