Thing of beauty

Last weekend, Steve & I went in search of a table base for a kitchen table. We've been eating every meal in the dining room for quite some time and while that is so very civilized of us, we longed for more casual meals in our kitchen. Actually what we really long for is not having to carry everything into the dining room for every meal.

We headed to a magnificent place called Architectural Artifacts. If you haven't been, go. You won't believe it. It's not cheap, but it is the best salvage place in Chicago and that says something. They have everything from $30K garden statues (I'm not kidding) to tables sprawling with antique tile to rooms filled with an amazing multitude of fireplace mantels. I glazed over at the sight of a half dozen or so polished cast iron fireplaces.

The owner, Stuart Grannen is constantly traveling the world in search of treasures. It shows.

They had a pretty good selection of table bases that I found to be pricey and nothing spectacular. Then, we came upon a selection of English pub tables. As you can see, we took one home with us.

The first thing we did after bringing it in was cut a plywood top for it. This served two purposes. One, we could use the table this way and two, we needed to determine the optimum size for our space. We started with just under 38" and that was too large. The scale seemed a little off in the room.

Steve cut a few inches off and the table size now seems perfect. Today, he went to another favorite place of ours, Owl Hardwood & Lumber to select some bird's eye maple for the table top he will be making. As I said, a thing of beauty, a forever table I am calling it.

As I'm writing this, Steve has just come home and is bringing in the wood. Bird's eye maple... He really knows how to get to me.

World's Most Famous Kitchen

I'm kidding of course, but our kitchen was featured again in a publication. This time Better Homes & Gardens Do It Yourself magazine.

After the Chicago Tribune, The Reader, and now we've gone national, our humble little 2-flat kitchen just feels so proud.

Nothing like professional photography to make your house look it's best too.

This interview and photo shoot was about a year ago and I had thought it was dropped, but then voila, 4 issues came in the mail this week.

Want to hear the funniest part about this? We actually are not "done done" with our kitchen. It's just hilarious I know.

The pantry is 97% done, just needs some trim work. We decided to add more cabinetry over the stove because believe it or not, we need more storage. And we have just purchased a table base for the kitchen so that we can finally have an eat-in kitchen! Steve will be fabricating the table top soon. And he still needs to make a plate rack too. Then, we'll be "done done," unless we decide to get new counter tops or something.

This is the house that nature built...

We spent last week in Ludington, Michigan visiting Steve's parents. When we go there, we always get in a day of hiking and a short canoe trip.



As we walked the trail, the thought came to my mind that we were in "Nature's House". I studied poetry in college and sometimes it comes back to me. Not like it used to. I used to think in poems all the time, but when I got into the business world, that kind of went away.


I chalk that up to not being immersed in a creative workshop (as I was in college) and instead being immersed in the business world. I like when that poetic thinking comes back to me. To me that means that this part of me is still there, just kind of dormant for now.

Even a day hike is a lovely respite for my mind. Taking in the quiet and just noticing all the small details. Like this expanse of maple tree seedlings. I was really amazed with nature's abundance when I saw this.


Or this bit of a tree covered in moss that looked like a hand. "Nature's hand," I thought to myself.
Or this area where the dune and forest meet.

Some people need to travel the world to see things, but I am a firm believer that you can see quite a bit right in your own "backyard". Not that I am against travel in the least. But I'm all for being a tourist in your own town. It's amazing to me how many people rush through life and don't notice what's going on right beside them.

That's what a walk in the woods reminds me of.

Hello Civilization Goodbye Moths

I won't miss those dive bombing moths that fly in my face and make me worry about my wardrobe one bit.

One screen door down and one to go. The thing with a 2-flat is you need two of everything. Two chances to get a project right. Two times the fun. haha.

Plus we still have to put the trim back and paint it. I'll get to it soon. I'm just moving slower these days as if you can't tell.

It'll do (a belated patio update)

I'm the first to admit that our patio is not much to look at. But at least we can use it now.

Just to give you an idea of what is involved to patch a few areas of a patio like we did, I'm going to give a little summary:

Twenty-five bags of concrete were needed for these two areas. One area was about 7' L x 2' W and the other was about 7'L x 7'W.


Steve and I made a few trips to Home Depot and Clark Devon for concrete bags as we didn't want to overburden our car with all that weight (not a good idea).

Since we didn't realize when we planned the project just how many bags it would take, we had decided to not rent a mixer and instead mix it all manually using our brute strength (free advice: Do not do this). We took turns. Steve would mix while I used the hose to add water and then the reverse. It pretty much took all day on a Saturday, but we finished in one day. And it whooped us good- we were fairly useless and cranky the rest of the weekend.

I have so many plans for our backyard and they include a new patio with stone or brick. And I've watched more than my share of "Landscaper's Challenge." But alas, they will have to wait.

Next spring we are 90% sure we will have a new fence on the north side of our yard put in (we will probably do ourselves in a few weekends) and after that I can finally plant more trees and shrubs and implement more of my landscaping plans. But for a new patio, we will probably wait until we get a new back porch.

In these parts (Chicago), a 2-story enclosed deck built to the new Chicago codes would run us about $20K- not exactly small change. (This price includes the tear down and removal of the existing back porch.)
At dinner that same Saturday night, we ate at a local place in their outdoor patio in back. We noticed they didn't have a first floor porch and that gave us the idea to just have an upper deck and only a small landing and staircase from our kitchen to the yard rather than a deck. This would enable us to have a larger patio. And a stone patio would last longer than a wood deck and need less maintenance.

We have time to plan and time to consider our options. Lack of funds gives one time to ponder. And in the meantime, we at least have a usable patio. As I said, it'll do!

Using Evergreens in Landscaping

For Mother's Day, we went on a little field trip to Oak Park for the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio & Home Tour. We loved it and I recommend it to anyone who admires his work or Prairie Style architecture and design.

That's me and my Mom in front of the studio.

Afterwards, we went for a walk around the historic district in Oak Park where the museum resides.



The landscaping on this home stuck out for me for it's use of a variety of evergreens in the border.

Here in Chicago, we have a short growing season and in winter alot of yards look pretty drab. Having evergreens provides year round greenery and also shelter for birds and other wildlife. Yes, we have wildlife in the city too.

I really like the way they used different colors and textures and even sizes of evergreens in this border. Mark my words, we will have more evergreens in our yard in time.

And for kicks, here are a few shots for the house voyeurs out there. These homes were all located in the historic district near the museum.


This house is the first project Wright took on after leaving Adler & Sullivan as an independant. He was fired for doing side jobs.


I think you can see the influence of Sullivan in these details. Beautiful home!

Now where were we?

Dear Readers,

I must apologize for my lack of posting. More and more it seems, life has a way of taking over and my blogging falls by the wayside. I still think of you, my fellow housebloggers and even when I don't read as often I wonder about your progress --in my quieter moments.

The problem is when I don't blog, when I come back to it, I just don't know where to start. Should I post about the yard, the patio, a great field trip we took (house-related) or my garden plans?

I suppose it doesn't matter so much. So, to catch up a bit I'll start by saying Happy Mothers Day, Happy Memorial Weekend. I missed both of those!

And I'll show you these photos of our lawn taken last weekend. Spring repair went pretty well. It is amazing how different the yard is in the growing season compared to early spring. Now back to work and my next post.

Thanks for reading!

Chicago 2-Flat

Making a Dry well

Since my last post, in which I took a sledgehammer to our uneven patio with great satisfaction, we have found out some things about our house. This is the risk you take whenever you take the plunge into demolition in an older home (or even newer homes too sometimes). In this case it was nothing dire or shocking, but one of those things that made us readjust our plans slightly.


When we excavated the area near our gutter (our building only has one gutter), we found that a dry well was constructed underneath our porch, which is where all of the water from the gutter ends up- right-next-to-our-house. Water, of course, is not something you want near your home -at all.


Steve started doing some research on the internet trying to figure out what we should do about this, and found that a dry well should be a minimum of 10 feet from the home- ours is about 3 feet, except it is under our porch, so in a way, it's kind of right underneath a part of our house.


He also did research on rain barrels, which I would love to have, but there are a few obstacles.

1. For a 1/2" rain on a 1000 square foot roof, 200 gallons of rain water is generated. Most rain barrels are 55-80 gallons. We would need two or more and that would take up alot of space on our small patio. We could do one barrel and then have an overflow that goes somewhere else. Or add another gutter. All projects we are not up for right now.

2. In our cold Chicago climate, the rain barrels would need to be disconnected in the winter as with all the freezing and thawing, they would surely crack. This means that we would have to have a backup drainage system for that part of the year.


We determined that because we are not up for relocating our dry well right now, we will not be doing rain barrels. But maybe we will at some point. I really would like to.


My feeling is that if it's been okay this way for 100 years, a few more years won't kill us (or the house). We are fortunate in that we pretty much live on sand and so have excellent drainage, which may be why this location was thought a fine spot in the first place.

How has this changed our plans for our patio repair?
Well, we have decided that we don't want to pour concrete over something that will relatively soon need to be excavated and corrected and so we have opted to rebuild the dry well (it needs it!) and place 12" square concrete tiles over that area. This way, we are not cementing in something that will be removed in a few years.

Our patio will be a bit hodge-podge, but at least it will be one level and I can camouflage it with beautiful containers strategically placed. And it will be much more functional. So without further ado, here is what we have accomplished thus far with our patio and refreshed dry well.


We were pleasantly surprised to discover the foundation for our porch has a limestone footing and several courses of brick.

In this photo you can see the gravel bed that we laid to prevent the sandy soil from washing away underneath. We also laid bricks and chunks of excavated concrete in the bed to help secure the drainage pipe not pictured).

What is Steve doing with those dreadlocks you might ask? This are actually something called yoakum rope and it's used to seal the pipes like a kind of caulking. So many things to learn about. I googled "yoakum" and I can't find anything on it. I guess there are some things you can't find on the internet, but I find that hard to believe. Anyway, thanks to this post, now there is some info on this bizarre product.

After rebuilding the dry well, we leveled the soil and put another layer of gravel, which will help support the concrete tiles. We have to add more gravel and playsand and then the tiles will go in.

And then we have that strip to patch with concrete.

I am actually really pleased that we will have this all done in the next few weeks and be able to enjoy our patio this year. It's no showplace, but it will work for us until we undertake the big project of rebuilding the back porch and laying a new patio. And just fyi, building a back porch is a job we would hire others to do. We aren't that crazy. Laying a patio,that we would do. But just this morning after yesterday's backbreaking work, Steve said that if we ever do a whole patio job, we will budget in weekly massages on Sundays. Sounds like a good idea to me!

My First Sledgehammer

I tried it out on Sunday. I must say, I'm better with a sledgehammer than a hammer. Steve is better with tools in general- he has more experience. But I've held my own with a Sawzall. It's always easier to destroy something than create it in the first place.

I finally excavated the old concrete slab that we believe at some point was a landing base for back porch stairs. No longer serving that purpose, all it did for us was make the patio space less useful and give something to trip over every now and then.



Now it's been cleared and is ready for new concrete. We are just doing a patch job on the patio for now.

Check out the gutter drain pipe which goes to a catch basin underneath our porch. That catch basin is kind of a mess and before we close the patio up again, we are going to excavate what is in there. Woo hoo!- looking forward to that one.





As you can see our patio needs help. Last summer, we lived with that missing strip all season. Having a complete patio will pretty much be nirvana for us.

Happy Spring!

The robins are back, the grass is starting to green up, bulbs are popping and it was 60 degrees here in Chicago this weekend! All of this can mean only one thing to those of us with yards: Yard Work!

Time to make a little field trip to my favorite garden center and plant a few pots. This year I decided to go with all pinks. All these annuals are cold tolerant (pansies, carnations, violets, etc...) so hopefully will survive the fickle Chicago weather!

I added the little pine trees to my pots last November and the goal is to keep them living year round and just add some annuals or greenery depending on the season. The made it through the winter (there are two of them) pretty well.

I'm not going down there...

"I think I'll just stay here and observe from a distance. It's pretty stinky and noisy. Usually stinky and noisy things don't bother me so much, but it's a weeknight and I can't figure out what my humans are doing down there...."

-Billie

You know you're into something bad when even Billie doesn't want to come and watch. Billie has grown up with construction and can practically sleep beside you while you hammer nails or drill pilot holes.

But what was it that caused Billie to keep her distance Wednesday evening?

It started with a foul smell and a backing up drain. It seems our basement drains (we have two) need to be rodded out every year or two. In the past we've called out a plumber, but Steve was feeling thrifty & energetic this time and instead opted to rent a Rodder for about $57 from "Clark Devon"(Only the best Hardware store in the whole world).

So Steve went at the two drains with the rodder and I have to tell you, it smelled real bad. Like I wouldn't want to be feeling queasy and smell that smell.

What did I do besides take photos you ask? I held the rooter so it was stable. And I held the flashlight. I don't mind dirty jobs, but that rodder has been to places I don't want to even think about.

A hundred feet or so later, the beast starting flailing like a wild snake.

Luckily no one was injured and no teeth were knocked out. I have to say that thought crossed my mind a few times during this dirty job.

The result: The smell is gone and the drains seem back to normal. But it was gross.

Random Question: Do you like the show "Dirty Jobs"? We do.

Stripping Humour

I've posted about this before. I check my keywords on occasion and it never fails to make me laugh when I see keyword searches such as "woman stripping" or today's gem "Hot ladies stripping down all the way" bringing up my site. People I share this strange fact with seem to find it pretty funny too. It's been going on for years and I often show up on the first page of these searches.

I have this idea for the next time I do a post on wood stripping to take pictures of myself stripping (a door) and having layers of clothes on. In each photo I either have changed clothes or taken off a layer. Don't you think that would be funny? Anything to make stripping more interesting is good because it can get monotonous.

Here are a few of my favorite stripping posts. And if that isn't enough for you, go to houseblogs and check out these search results. Maybe it's the fumes that gets to some of us.

Sad Addition

I've decided to do a little series I'm going to call "buildings I notice on my way to work." Some of them I really like, some not so much. This is only my taste. If you don't agree, that's fine. But I can't see this one winning any awards.

This particular one I will call a "sad addition." Here we have a circa 1920 or so building with a gigantic cinder block addition slapped on top of it.
It's set back a bit, but clearly visible from the street or even the sidewalk across the street. For this project they really cheaped out and used only 2 windows for this huge addition.

Sometimes I think these types of projects reflect a certain trend. The trend is that people only care about what their homes are like inside (and that they have huge master suites and closets for more stuff, etc...etc...). This same trend would include not picking up litter in front of the property.

While the original building has some lovely features such as columns and a nice 2nd story porch all made from brick, the addition is made with inferior construction materials and little attempt was made to integrate the addition with the original building. To me, this says to the community at large, "we don't care that you have to look at this ugly monstrosity, we got some primo space for ourselves."

I wrote a similar series a few years back called The Good , The Bad , and The Ugly and The Beautiful. Just something to pass the time in between projects.

Who says a little hard work doesn't pay off?

Today, we were featured in a special issue of the Chicago Reader, the leading arts & culture weekly publication in Chicago. The feature is called "The Nest" (Written by Laura Molzahn/Photography by Leslie Schwartz).

I must say we are in some pretty good company. Our section of the feature was called (not surprisingly) "The Bloggers". All the profiles were great. Of course I was super impressed with the one called "The Restorer".

Working on your house is by nature somewhat solitary work, so it's kind of neat to get recognition from "the world at large". Unless of course, you have a bunch of friends as crazy as you are who don't own their own home and really want practice. I don't know anyone like that.

Or then, you could have one of those renovation "parties..." Somehow I think the quality of the work might suffer while drinking alot of beer.

If you are coming to our site from the Reader article, welcome. Feel free to stay while and come back. We still have plenty of work to do!

If you are new to the phenomenon of houseblogging, I have to tell you, you've just hit the motherload. There are houseblogs of all kinds : Victorian, Craftman, Bungalows and then some. There are purists and there are the the tried and true. From the quirky to the romantic.

Perhaps you'll find kindred spirits as I have. Or maybe you'll just enjoy the stories. I myself find keeping up with people's lives over the years fascinating. And I know I'm not alone.

The Upside to Not Having Buckets of Money

One thing about Chicago winters, I tend to spend much more time indoors. I look around the house and start to think of things I'd like to change or improve. One of the things that occurred to me in January was that I really should shorten the curtains in the dining room to let in more light. That was a reasonably affordable project so I went ahead with it.

Since I'm not independently wealthy, I usually can't do many of the things I want to do at any given moment. I have to wait.

Waiting for things is not always such a bad thing. It gives one time to realize if you really do want them. Case in point, our kitchen remodel, which we thought about for a few years before we actually undertook it. We planned ahead and when it was time to select materials and colors, we had no angst. We knew exactly what we wanted.

Not having tons of money also cuts down on impulse purchases. I've seen plenty of examples of people who will buy something - just because they can. I am convinced this is something to be avoided at all costs. The outcome of such impulse buying is inevitably an overcrowded garage or basement or a closet where shoes constantly fall on your head (been there done that!)

With all the focus more and more on being green and recycling and reuse etc... I find myself trying to think more long term about what I buy. And of course, living in an older home with smaller closets and less space in general makes one more likely to think, "Do I have room for this item?" This can only be a good thing...

Happy Easter!

A Starting Point

Ah yes, the yard in March is not such a pretty place. All plants are dead except for our lone Picea Orientalis, which is hanging in there. We are pretty sure an application of Wilt Pruf and the drought from a few years back were what injured it. (Free advice: Skip the Wilt Pruf spray)




As the Treekeepers told us, "It is possible to love a tree to death." Steve's job is to take care of the trees and he is what I would call extra-conscientious. He waters the trees religiously and even sought out an anti-desiccant spray called Wilt-Pruf to help keep the tree from drying out in winter. Fortunately, it looks like it may recover.

Last weekend I spent a few hours raking and clearing the front and back yard. So, I'm ready for spring, but it's supposed to snow tomorrow-perhaps up to 6 inches!

We have quite a few yard projects we are planning for this summer including some concrete work, so if that interests you, stay tuned.

Addicted to accomplishments

People have often asked me how I find the time to work on the house and then blog about it. I remember one time I was answering that question and explaining what motivates me to keep on going with the DIY house projects.


I told an acquaintance, "I'm kind of addicted to accomplishing something." After I said it, it made me think. It was really an accurate assessment. After several years of doing renovation projects, I find that I am often most satisfied when I see concrete results. Crazy as it may sound, I actually like weeding. I like the feeling of being physically whipped after a hard days labor. I like that I can relate (in a small way) to contractors. And I love the way oak boards look without paint on them.

I used to go to a health club and work out. I used to get manicures. I used to highlight my hair. The results? A slimmer, fitter me with nice nails and hair. Nowadays I much prefer getting my workouts in the backyard heaving bags of mulch around or digging a new flower bed. Stripping layers of paint off wood suits me more than running on a treadmill to nowhere. And manicures? Well, they would just get in the way.


I know that one of the things that keeps me working on our 2-flat is the satisfaction I get from completing projects, from making our little dreams a reality with my very own sweat and muscle and determination.


Every once in a while, I do question how I spend my time. I could be more of a social butterfly after all. Or I could go to the movies more. I can't do the bar scene because I am not a drinker and it bores me when sober. I could do (more) volunteer work, but then I already do that. Maybe I could just try and make my world bigger. The house and all its needs can, after all, be a vacuum.


But then it's also a respite. And I am a quiet person that likes peaceful moments in my yard with Steve and dogs at my side. This is just the person I am. And something about working on our house makes me feel very grounded and very connected. When you spend a few summers stripping layers of paint off 100 year old oak boards, you really feel like the house is yours. It's almost a part of you.


Restoring an old house to me is many things. It's an act of love for one. It's romantic and awful and exhausting and exhilarating. It's also an act of faith that when you die, someone won't come along and tear it down! But even if that happens, it will still have been worth it.

The saga of our kitchen continues

Almost 4 years ago, Easter weekend to be exact, we demoed our kitchen. You'll be pleased to know that the kitchen was in fact (mostly) finished back in in 2005. But what we were unable to finish at that time, was our pantry.

We had opted not to demo that room to the studs as we had in the rest of the kitchen, and instead the walls had been covered with 1/4" drywall and a new light fixture put in. It was cleaned up, but not very functional(see photo). After that oh so long road to finishing our kitchen, we were weary and took a little break. Then came the 2nd floor and the summer of the wood pile. The pantry took the back burner.

Our kitchen was clean and functional, but we still had loads of stuff stored in the basement. We longed to be reunited with all our cooking instruments, pots and pans. I feel the same way about my books, most of which are as I write, stored in the basement awaiting the creation of built-in bookshelves.

I can't remember exactly when we started on the pantry project. I kind of dropped off on blogging around that time. I have a memory of staining the shelves in the basement in the fall maybe. Steve had to cut open the wall and add more blocking and then do some taping etc... And we had to find jusssst the riiiggghhht braaaccckkettts. These things take time you know.

Then came the holidays and our wedding. But in January, we got back to it. Steve worked outside in the cold like a trooper.


And now...it's mostly done! Just the bottom shelf and some trim remain to be finished.

Look at that- even a place for my beloved Dyson vacuum. At last!

Originally, we had planned to fit a pot rack in the pantry that would hang from the ceiling. This turned out to be a classic eyes bigger than actual space moment. It won't fit! So, we considered hanging it in the kitchen over the stove. Too cluttery for us.

So now, we have decided to add a few more cabinets. One over the fridge and a double door over the stove. Then, we'll be done with our kitchen. Until we decide to redo the counter tops. I really want soapstone...

Are we there yet?

That's how the past few months have gone. Waiting for winter to end. I want to see some bulbs, buds, see a robin, maybe some juncos...please....

This winter was what we native Chicagoans call "a real Chicago winter" for a change. Lots of snow, with a dash of frigid cold thrown in, more snow, and then some more snow. Then a slight warm up and then...psyche! More snoooowwww...and cold...and snow...zzz....zzz...

My company also moved at the end of January. Winter is not the greatest time to move you know. Especially in the middle of a real Chicago winter. The new office is great, but I think we should start a betting pool on who next will fall ill with "the terrible flu" this year.

I should be grateful because I have not been among the illin'. I'm just one of the people left at work freaking out about all the work we have to do and how on earth will we get it done with everyone out sick all the time?

So, what am doing this weekend? Sitting on the sofa dammit. Oh, and we started making a "to-do list" for this spring/summer/fall. We've got work to do and I'm itchin' to get started.

For kicks, here is last year's list with what we were able to accomplish. Perhaps this will be of comfort to some of you, when you see how much on the list was and wasn't accomplished. Last summer was pretty light for us, really. Some of these items will be pushed out farther and some different things have been added. I'll do another post on this year's goals soon.

Miscellaneous:
Fix single popped screw in mud room inset all nails in trimwork
Adjust hinges on swinging door so we can prop open with $50 hardware we purchased over a year ago...
Put in thresholds for bedroom & dining room
Restore/fix 2 stained glass windows
Add storm windows on all 4 stained glass windows
Refinish floors throughout
Refinish bathtub
Add electrical outlets and light to closet in Bedroom
Purchase & refinish salvage replacement doors for missing doors to den and front mud room
Strip Basement stair door and refinish
Strip trim in bedroom
Install ceiling fan in living room
re-paint radiator covers
Asbestos abatement in basement

Yard & Outdoors:
Install new awnings
Reframe and replace Garage entry door (Some adjustments needed...)
Paint front door
Replace basement windows
Install back yard side door Gate
Install dog run gate
Garage door wood framing paint
Paint front door

Front yard:
Jackhammer sidewalk in front to expand garden beds
Eliminate bed right along side of house and lay patio area
Plant evergreen trees and shrubs for interest in front yard

Backyard:
Fence on north side- new posts and stockade fence
New back porch deck? hahahaha!!!! now that's funny.
Plant evergreen trees and shrubs in backyard for privacy
Add some source of shade