Search Results for renovation

Exposé – Living Through The Renovation

bathroom

No fancy Instagram pictures here: this is exposed and unfiltered. The only source of running water in the house is in the bathroom. The fridge is upstairs as well. It makes sense to keep the coffee pot ON the first floor. It’s so annoying. After I make coffee, I usually shower. Seeing that it has been one of the coldest winters in human history, you can imagine how freezing it is trying to disrobe and shower in a house without walls or exterior siding. There’s an actual breeze in the house. It terrorizes my body. I can’t enjoy a […]

I’m That Weird Aunt

Teachable moment - 10 yr olds are too old for the park

Last weekend, my sister and two of her children came to visit for a family fun escape to Rockaway. Normally they visit in the summer, but between Covid-19 and the renovation work we’re doing at the house, the timing didn’t work out. In the summer, keeping a 9 and 10 year old occupied is easy breezy – you take them to the beach all day, get burgers and fries at Rippers, and in the evening you walk them up to Low Tide Bar and they dance until exhausted. Done. This […]

Time to Start Anew

Maggie and Or sorting through the mess

My husband and I gut renovated our house five years ago. I documented the construction from start to finish here on the blog.  It was the biggest project I’ve ever been apart of. Mentally and physically it was so intense for the both of us. It feels like a dream now. I can’t believe we went through it all. During the process of the rebuild, we accumulated a tremendous amount of tools, wood, paint, sinks, plaster, you name it. To put things in perspective, we had 4 sledge hammers, 10 […]

DIY Backyard Makeover

2-after

Previously published in The Wave. For the past four years, our backyard has been a renovation dumping ground. Now that the house is essentially done, we wanted to clean things up and start the backyard garden for the summer. In April, I watched this awesome show on Netflix called Love Your Garden. It’s hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, a professional English gardener, poet and gardening journalist turned TV personality. Alan and his quirky, knowledgeable team visits homes around the United Kingdom helping people transform their gardens. The families are deserving, having […]

Got’em!

An-angry-LJ-after-sugery-in-his-holding-room

Living in Rockaway means sharing our space with our feline friends. I didn’t make a conscious decision to get involved with cat rescue and fostering, It happened out of necessity. It all started with a tuxedo cat named Obama. Rumor on the block has it  that people moved out across the street about 4 years ago and left him behind. He made himself at home when our house was under renovation. We were residing, so there were plenty of openings for him to get inside. He’s a good cat and […]

Photo Journal of Our House.

Rockway1980

My photo diary of the house starts in 1938. Matt bought a print of the above photo from the NYC archive. You can’t view the photo before you buy it which makes for a nice surprise when it comes in the mail. Photo of the house in the 1980s found on this site 80s.nyc. It’s a great resource. Sry, a little bury but better than nothing! Note the cottage house in the background. This is the only visual record we have of it. It looks as if the siding is green. When we bought the […]

European Natives Appearing in Rockaway Beach

Sweet-William

Sweet William* (Dianthus Barbatus) is a hearty perennial flower used as an ornamental in gardens. It originated in southern Europe, spread through Asia and somehow made it to Rockaway. If you look around the neighborhood, you may start to notice the red, white, purple and/or pink floral in your neighbor’s garden. The first spring my husband and I had the house (2014), we were in the midst of a hellish renovation. (I’ll have to fill you in on that epic project at some point.) The front garden was far down on […]

Grams of the Week – Feb. 27

kitchen-renovation-wolf-stove

Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here! This weather right? I’ve been feeling spring-like, adding fresh cut flowers around the house. Speaking of the house, I haven’t updated on the renovation in a while. My kitchen is so close to being complete and it looks gorgeous. I’ve seen the plans and the drawing but seeing the almost finished product.. I can’t even! I cooked with Chicks to Go this Friday! I learned so much and had a wonderful time […]

Grams of the Week – Feb 6

last-dragon-pizza

Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here! I was thinking about starting a cutting board business. There’s so much scrap wood lying around in my basement from the house renovation, it’s just a matter of labor. Above is a picture of some boards clamped up – these will be the prototype. Wanna buy one?! There are beautiful things around everywhere if you take a pause to look for them. I spotted these shells on my way to the YMCA this week. […]

the red slab

wolf-red-slab-kitchen

The kitchen will be done in a few weeks. Yes, repeat, my kitchen will be done in a few weeks. Long story short we had to change cabinetmakers – that’s why it’s taking so long. Ben and Patrick are finishing the job. Their work is excellent – they designed and built out the wine shop. Expect pictures of the cabinetry and shelving soon. If you need a refresher since it’s been a while, here is my first post on the kitchen. In the meantime, I finally ordered the red slab! Matt was apprehensive about a tomato red slab […]