Posts Tagged ‘this old house’

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 […]

Previously published in The Wave. Happy Birthday Matt!! On my husband’s birthday, which also happens to be New Years Day, we get a text from our tenants, “So strange, our water isn’t working.” “What?!!? Turn on all the faucets – hot and cold!” I went into red alert mode, grabbed a blow dryer and extension cord and ran upstairs. I tried to find access to the pipes but there were no major lines exposed. My husband spent the next hour or so trying to figure out where their pipes were in […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Last summer we were so busy with renovations, it wasn’t even a summer for us. With most of the construction complete, this year is different. It’s only hitting me now… we have a beach house in Rockaway.  Friends, friends of friends, Great Aunt Mary’s second cousin, my co-workers and everyone in-between is dropping in. Text message: “Hey Paula, I’m down in Rockaway, can I park in your driveway? Oh, lets get drinks at Connolly’s too!” After two weekends of random drop-ins, it clicked. “This is going to happen every weekend, isn’t it? I need to […]

The Serviceberry has arrived. Props to our neighbor Paul for helping us get this 500 lb tree of the truck. Our other florals were also delivered, more to come on that but for now take a look at this…

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 […]