Hand-antiqued (by actual hands)

I mentioned that we’re still waiting on an offset hoosier latch to finish off the hallway wardrobe.  We’re excited to put everything in place but it’s not here yet – what’s up with that, House of Antique Hardware?  I couldn’t log into their website, so I e-mailed their customer service department to find out whether [...]

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Blight

Is the housing market even salvageable at this point?  Isn’t the free market supposed to fix this?  Hey, neocons- I’m asking you a question here!
“Banks Starting to Walk Away on Foreclosures”
“The whole purpose of foreclosure is to take title of the property, sell it and recoup what money you can,” Mr. Cecala said. “It’s just [...]

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Optimus Prime

Priming is the worst – tons of work for a terrible-looking result, backed up with the knowledge that we still have at least two coats of paint to go. But at least it’s over – all of the baseboards, frames, and doors upstairs are primed, and the first coat of paint is already dry.  Soon, [...]

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Deconstructed

It’s always been the plan to tear out this built-in armoire from the upstairs hallway.  It’s hulking, it blocks the light from the hallway’s only window, it’s poorly constructed, the finish is poor, and neither of us has so many clothes that we need to store some in the hallway. Fortunately, it was built in [...]

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Tread on me

Stair progress, but cuidado, mi comprades: these pictures don’t reflect the current state of the stairway.  The current state is: much more awesome.  Pictures of that awesomeness soon.
Stop looking at my bald spot.

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Called out

Ack, Helen’s right -
Also, speaking of cömprömising yöur vålues, I seem to recall some discussions about earth friendly-stripper and snowblowers around here somewhere….
The problem is this:  all of my principles are the opposite of simple, fast, and cheap.  Also, this: Helen and the universe are conspiring against me.  What else could explain a hundred inches [...]

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Cömprömise öur vålues? Kanske, för Hemnes.

I like this bedroom a lot (from Kim & Brandon’s North Shore Cape house tour on Apt Therapy), but the furniture is not from a store I (or anyone else in the world) would associate with timeless, handcrafted worksmanship.  It looks good though, eh?

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Ghost of writing desks past

45 degrees at 6 a.m. + spring break = progress on house stuff that I’ve let slide.
Full credit will also be given for “birthday party” as an answer.

It turns out Stickley Bros made a line of painted furniture, so this was never stained or varnished.  All my efforts to strip it were for naught.    [...]

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Victory Garden redux

It’s such a relief to have positive role models in the White House again.  We’ve never grown our own vegetables, but that’s a minor deterrent.  Stacy doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to be giving me advice.
“On Friday, Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant a vegetable [...]

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Ridiculous

Who needs two sets of $10 measuring cups?  It’s a good thing we got one set for free, because that lets me sleep at night.

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