Wal-KEA?

I’m sympathetic, Ellen Ruppel Shell, I really am.  C’mon, El – you know very well how I feel about shoddy craftsmanship!  But you can make the case more effectively than this.  At the very, very least, can you cite some sources?  3rd-largest user of wood by *what* measures?  Far from city centers, yes, but that’s [...]

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Bring on the chalk dust

Did I mention that the chalkboard we got at the estate sale was free?  Someone with a nametag saw us trying to lug it around the house, so he offered to take it outside behind the cashier’s tent until we were done looking around.  In our rush to leave before we got mugged for our [...]

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Toys

The back of the bookshelf from the estate sale is dry, so we let it come inside.

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Lobster

Pictures like this make me feel so…content.  Yes?

(from Country Living)

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What the whWe

Really, house? Really? I put this off for a year – no, over a year! – and it took less time than Josie’s nap?
Before (from our first walkthrough, but minus the painting and curtain, it still looked like this at lunchtime yesterday):

And after (45 minutes of pulling down huuuge sheets of paper, then [...]

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Farmhouse Tour

I don’t go through the Apartment Therapy house tours very often, because – let’s be honest – I wouldn’t get anything else done.   I’m glad I didn’t miss Pete & Sandy’s minimalist New Hampshire farmhouse, though (slideshow here).   Pete & Sandy didn’t get there overnight, though (the post says they’ve lived in the house for [...]

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RIP stupid bookshelf

You know the bookshelf at the top of our stairs?  C’mon, yes you do – it’s the one that’s only 5″ deep, too shallow even for paperpacks, and made with leftover trim pieces?  It looked like this right after we moved in -

It’s outta here.

Don’t get me wrong – a built-in bookshelf on the landing [...]

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Bookshelf got back

The low bookshelf had a cardboard back, which certainly had to come off ay-ess-ay-pee.  I replaced it with with tongue-and-groove pine, which I’ll stain Dark Something-or-other.  I don’t remember – but it matches the shelf pretty OK-ish. The shelf’s pine too, but it’s hard to duplicate patina.
P.S. I’ve had a lot less traffic since [...]

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Grand Estate

We went to our first estate sale this weekend, and man, what a blast.  Not only did we get to poke around inside a 3-story Victorian in the main historic district (a walk-up attic!  With a shuffleboard court!), but we could buy their stuff too.  And we did, but only about $30 of it.  Still, [...]

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Knight’s Armor

My brother is visiting for ten days in August, and since he’s an 18 year-old farm-kid from Nebraska, we have no compunctions about putting him to work.  In particular, putting him to work with a brush and a can of house-paint.  Here’s the breakdown:

Siding: dark gray (“Knight’s Armor” by Olympic*)
Trim: true white (“Delicate White”, Olympic)
Storm [...]

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