Articles with renovation plans

Basement Inspiration Files – Let There Be Light

We are putting meetings on the calendar (with each other and architects), pens to paper, and I am pinning away like a mad woman in search of perfect design plan for our currently unfinished basement. This actually is my favorite part of the renovation, before the reality of a price tag and structural restrictions sets in. We do have a rough framework to guide us – defined by existing dimensions, a few considerations, and an overarching goal of creating more light.… Read the rest

The State of the VIB

Long time – no see! We are back from our round the world trip – actually have been for a few months now. I have missed this space, but…you know how it goes. We’ve been busy setting up house, writing about our adventures over on House to Laos – our travel blog, and I have been looking for a new job (found).

Last month we took some photos of the State of the VIB, which I am super excited to share with you.… Read the rest

The Real Deal

After two years of thinking and planning for the new kitchen, it finally feels for reals. you know how? well it happens when you go from this:

to this:

and many many of these:

Pretty cool eh’

We have been working with our architect friends who were kind enough to help us way back when we were just preparing to prepare (i.e. putting together our kitchen registry for the wedding).

We have spent probably a total of 40 hours in the last month just on our own (and over several sessions) with IKEA kitchen book getting the cabinet layout just right.… Read the rest

Sourcing for the Kitchen

Ok, so our walls and floors aren’t that great, but do we really need to redo the kitchen? Especially if to do it right we need to do a gut. After all, right when we moved in, we made our kitchen work with some paint, fabric and craigslist purchases. It may not be the most comfortable or pretty, but really it works. for now.

And yet, the odds actually aren’t looking all too good.… Read the rest

To Gut or Not to Gut

That’s a trick question, because the answer is yes. We are planning to do a complete gut of the kitchen – because its necessary (and maybe because we want to, a little bit too).

walls: Currently, the drywall on the right hand side of the kitchen (where all of the appliances are) is actually about 7 inches from the actual brick wall – half a foot! in an urban house! so obviously that’s coming down to make room for valuable floorspace.… Read the rest

Register this!

Its getting down to six or seven weeks before Sergey and I are done with wedding time suck have a lovely ceremony and celebration with our families and friends. (The house hasn’t been totally neglected this summer – we are tackling a big ‘to do’ project, though its only thanks to Nikita, Sergey’s brother who is staying with us, and hired help – more on that later.)

VIB is getting a pretty sweet deal out of all this anyway.… Read the rest