Posts categorized as This Old House

Last November I wrote about the tree the city finally planted in my sidewalk tree pit. It wasn’t doing well despite my daily watering and compost. I hadn’t given up on it, I was planning on trimming the tree next spring and giving it another year but the city came and pulled it out this week! I don’t get the tree planting system – the money it must cost the city in contracts! The tree didn’t look good when we got it, is there any oversight? Now I’m left with this! Anyway, the contractor […]

If you remember, in the spring we implemented Cousin Lesley’s garden design –  the flower beds thrived and looked beautiful all summer. In fact, it still looks great now. But one thing was missing – the magical Foxtail Lily. This floral is a bulb, so I couldn’t plant it until now! As the common name dictates, this plant looks like a fox’s tail. It’s stunning with an impressive hight up to 8 feet! It is native to semi-desert areas in Asia – so perfect for the sandy soil conditions in Rockaway. I’ve never […]

We are taking a few weeks to finish off our apartment. Here’s where we’re at… Matt pulled off another awesome craigslist score – a large lot of reclaimed mahogany. I (yes me) spent a whole day prepping the material. I’ve seen Matt use the planer a dozen times by now but I never used it myself. To get the wood looking “clean” you have to put each piece through the planer and remove a quarter inch of wood at a time.  This process also makes the wood flat so it can be cut down on […]

After finishing both apartments this spring we took a breather… it’s been and awesome summer and a much needed break from the reno. Matt had some time to work on small fun woodworking projects – sliding barn doors for Clare, a step stool for baby Mia, my  entry closet doors, end-tables for Keith – ok, not so small right?! Clare’s barn doors Mia’s step stool. My entry closet door. Below is the living room to give you an idea of our semi-finished state. The bedroom is looking good, I bought a bedspread! Things […]

The front garden is happening! I’ve been waiting  2 1/2 years for this –  I love gardening (as you know). First things first – the retaining wall needed fixin. At one point a section of the front garden was cemented over to accommodate better parking. Also the wall was essentially falling apart everywhere (as show below). I thought of using brick to rebuild the retaining wall (it would match the steps)  but then I remembered the picture from 1938. I decided to stay with the cement because it would keep the house closer to its original form. My […]

It turned out adorable. We’re calling it the beach cabin! I already wrote the details on the bathroom, you can read it here. Now for the rest… I’ll start with the wall we uncovered during the demo phase in the kitchen. It’s sheathing, which is used to build exteriors. So, what does that mean? It tells us that this part of the house (small apartment kitchen) was an addition. We assume there was a second floor porch and it was closed up to make additional living space. We have a photo of the house from 1938 sans a second story porch. The […]

I recently posted about the first apartment, it’s done! Now I want to get into the details. I’ll write about each room, starting with the bathroom. The biggest challenge was the shower. When Jared our architect made the plans, we thought a standing shower would be best – a space saver, right? The base before it was installed. A year later when we searched for glass to fit the base (already in place), we discovered it costs around $2,000 for materials/installation, that’s a lot. We then considered taking the base out […]

The smaller of the two apartments, (the one bedroom) is done. I can’t believe I’m writing this post. Two years and three days since we bought the house,  it’s on the market! I’m going to post in detail on the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom but for now here are some eye candy shots. If you know anyone who wants to live on the raddest surfer block in Rockaway Beach, here’s the official listing.     Cookie not included.  

Three different plugs for five sets of lights and I changed the fuse in one string (on my own). It’s been working for two nights now so it’s safe to say I got these damn lights working! If you missed my post on the Christmas Light Debacle, read about it here. Merry Merry!

Last night was attempt three at getting my Christmas lights to work. I’ve been trying to get this done without help from Matt. He said “I’m too busy keeping us out of the poor house to participate in decorating our house for Christmas”. So… it’s all on me. I was excited, this would be the first time our house was lit up for Christmas… and everyone knows how much I love Christmas. The weekend after Thanksgiving I had the Christmas music going and the wine was poured. I was happily decorating. […]