First Glimpses House Tour

So roughly a year and a half after we moved in, it seems time to share some first glimpse photos. Neither J nor I had looked at these photos since I took them. They bring up some mixed emotions. I look at them and part of me thinks, wow, it really does look better now. The other part of me sees all the things we still haven't done. And oh, there are so many things left to do.

Our front door. One of our first projects was changing out the doorknob and deadbolt...which you can't see in this picture because of the screen door. There were weird carpet mats we disposed of quickly. Its very trendy to remove screen doors, but I love it. We plan on repainting the doors this fall.

Now you are in our tiny foyer. We've painted it and changed the light fixture, and its made a huge difference. I need to address all the door hardware in this house. A rug would also be great.

Standing in the foyer looking towards the living/dining room. J is standing in the kitchen doorway. The lovely valences behind him are history. The nastiness of the carpet (read all about it )is kind of apparent. This is the room I look at and know we've gotten so much accomplished.

Here's a closeup of the floor, mid-carpet pull up. Emily (our beloved yordle) looks horrified in each and every picture we took at this stage of the house. It just wasn't up to her standards.

The hallway. Emily still disapproves, because I've yet to do anything with it. The previous occupants smoked. You can tell because of the nicotine stains. Amazingly, this is the only room with them.

Our bedroom. Those horrible lamps are gone. We actually left them for awhile (I have no idea why. Laziness? I even thought I might spray paint them and reuse them, but that was crazy thinking. They are hideous and cast terrible light). Yes, we have window units. No, it's not terrible. Other than the floor...not so much done in here. We plan on painting in here soonish.

I love this picture so much. See how the tile shines and glows and generally looks like an advertisement for vintage bathrooms? Hahahahaha. This bathroom is a battleground. I spent weeks cleaning the grout. On its best day it never looks like this. I still need to paint the walls, replace the sink, and do something about the linen closet door (take it down, probably).

So a quick and dirty (oh, it was so very dirty) tour of our house as it looked in January, 2011.

I Love You, and You, and You...

Yes, this post would have worked better yesterday. What can I say? I suck. In the spirit of Valentine's Week (ha! problem solved) I wanted to share the five blogs that inspire me daily.

Retro Renovation.
I've been reading Pam's genius site for YEARS. If you love or live in mid-century homes you'll love her site, it is a must read, chock full of archival images, how-tos, and just generally great ideas. I love that she coined the phrase mid-century modest to celebrate the vast majority of the housing stock available from the era. I mean, I adore Eichler homes and would love to have one, but I doubt it'll ever happen. Love the house you're in, indeed.

Young House Love.
What is there to say, really, about the duo recently dubbed the Brangelina of the home improvement bloggy world? Our styles aren't identical, but their blog is well-written, fun, and lovely. Plus, the fact that their new-to-them home is still a work a progress is a little beacon reminding me I don't have to have this house finished, like, yesterday.

The Wednesday Chef.
Look, I like to eat, okay? I love her writing style, wish she'd update more often, can't wait for her book, and have never made a bad meal from one of her recipes.

Manhattan Nest.
This kid is RIDICULOUSLY young. I felt so ancient when I realized he graduated from high school in 2008. However, he has an amazing eye for thrift store finds and his apartment is to die for.

The Brick House.
Here's another blogger with a definite talent for thrifting. Morgan's super-fantastic finds make me want to relocate to California. Right now.

What blogs inspire you guys? What should I be ogling on a regular basis?

Safety First

If the DIY gods smiled on us regularly we would be able to proceed through our project list in an orderly manner. Sadly, they stopped smiling. As soon as we moved in we knew one of our first projects, along with carpet ripping up and major cleaning, would be replacing the front door locks.


This was partly for aesthetic reasons (I understand some people like brass, but understanding how anyone likes that shade of brass is beyond me), but mostly because the locks were basically nonfunctional. That's right, the situation was worse than this picture makes it look!



This picture actually shows the huge dent in the doorknob. We have no idea how the previous residents inflicted this damage on this poor, already homely knob. What you can't see is that deadbolt doesn't actually have a bolt. That's right, they just attached the front and back of a locking mechanism together without bothering with actual part that makes the door lock. The mind, it boggles.

Now changing a lock set is usually a rather simply little procedure. As long as you pick a lock set that fits into the preexisting holes on your door, read the directions before hand, and know how to work a screwdriver you should be able to do this job quickly and well. So Jeremy set out to complete this little project while I went to make dinner (how stereotypical of us!).

Sailor language soon filled the air. Nothing about the previous locks were done correctly, meaning there was much drilling, chiseling, and undoing to get our new set in correctly. Hours passed. Many tools were used. Some neighbors learned new ways to string together blue language.

The end, though, is fantastic.



The much improved interior view, complete with a deadbolt that actually locks! We debated a bit over what we wanted our hardware to look like, but we went with something simple, befitting the overall style and scale of the house. The oil rubbed bronze finish goes with the house while still looking modern. It'll look even better when we paint the inside of the door a nice, soft khaki color to match the rest of the trim.


The exterior shot. I love seeing all of the colors our door has been. Currently it is hunter green, but apparently it has also been bluish-gray and yellow. We look forward to sanding some of those layers away and painting the door a nice terra cotta color.

Eventually. For now we are simply enjoying being able to lock the door behind us.