Is It a House Yet?
Blog of the Month - August 2011
Over at Is it a House Yet?, A and G are busy renovating their 100-year old
bungalow in Northwest Chicago. They’re tackling all of the “hard” projects - removing load bearing walls, adding a new staircase, remodeling their kitchen and bathrooms, and completely changing the layout of their second floor. Their blog includes great how-to posts on foam insulation, built in book cases, and wainscoting, all told in A’s witty style. We love A and G’s ability to find humor in any situation and they’ve given us a whole new appreciation for “flectastic” quarter-sawn oak.
Be sure to check out A and G's most recent adventures through the posts linked below!
Appliances, countertops, fantasy football and the art of decision-making
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 07 September 2011
Authors: A
We had three major tasks this past weekend. Each task involved way too many choices. At the end of the weekend, we were 2 for 3. Two decisions made, one decision not made. Come! Let’s look back… way back to 4 days ago…
~~~ squiggly line dream sequence ~~~
Task # 1: Choose and order appliances
Decision: MADE.
We are officially adults...
What to do when you run out of DIY space
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- Published on Thursday, 25 August 2011
Authors: A
Working on a DIY project? Have you got all your materials? Your paint? Wood? Brushes? Miter saw? Felt? Pipe cleaners? Sequins? Hot glue gun? Feathers? Cut-out photos of Daniel Craig?
Have your spread them all out across your table? And do you have just so much that you’ve run out of space? And did you get sawhorses and sheets of plywood a...
G’s Paula Deen-esqe perfect dye and wood staining recipe, y’all
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- Published on Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Authors: A
The 4 blocks of wood you see here are 4 sample combinations of wood dye and stain for the kitchen cabinets. G tested recipes for wood stain until he got just the right one to match the other woodwork in the house (based on our house’s original oak floor color) with the white quarter-sawn oak of the new cabinets. Although I’ve never...
Godzilla vs. the DIY kitchen remodelers
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- Published on Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Authors: A
There’s so much to talk about I don’t even know where to begin. The cabinets are here. It’s crazytimes. They arrived in 2 massive crates in a truck that couldn’t even fit down our street*. The driver had to come down another street then wheel them on a cart down our alley into our backyard. It was just like Christmas morning, if Santa’s s...
The thoughts I’m thinking on Kitchen Cabinet Delivery Day
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- Published on Thursday, 11 August 2011
Authors: A
1. The cabinets are arriving today on 2 pallets via truck. How are G and I going to manage bringing them into the house? Brute strength? Tae Bo? Telekinesis?
2. Please don’t rain today, sky.
3. We need to finish setting up a Dexter-esque kill room in the basement to spray/stain the cabinets. I have never said the phrase “kill room” ou...
How to refinish resurrect 100 year old floors – part 1 (the good part)
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- Published on Tuesday, 09 August 2011
Authors: A
G and I knew for years that under ugly cracked tile, and layers of linoleum, and layers of tarpaper, and layers of crud, there were original maple floors in our kitchen. The question was – after we excavated down to them, would we regret it? Would they look like Swiss cheese? Would they be stained? Would there be a chalk outline of a d...
Choose your own adventure, I mean, kitchen cabinet door
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- Published on Thursday, 28 July 2011
Authors: A
Countdown is T minus 2 weeks (I think? or 3?) until the kitchen cabinets arrive. I keep checking my online order status and it says “You think you’re getting cabinets? Silly girl. We’ve taken your credit card info and are buying Playstations and Monster Truck tickets and Hummel figurines of sad children and bars of gold.”
Actually, my...
How to buy kitchen cabinets online in 3, no, 5, no, 9 easy steps.
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- Published on Friday, 22 July 2011
Authors: A
1. Measure your space – don’t forget: standard countertop height is 36’’ – that includes your countertop surface. We measured the height for the base and upper cabinets and G marked it off with blue tape.
2. Go to an online store that sells cabinets
3. Choose the cabinets you want
4. Double-check your measurements before you place your order
...
Chaos was what killed the dinosaurs, darling.
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- Published on Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Authors: A
Can you find the following in the picture above?
- 2 bottles of Gorilla Glue
- Our sanity
- A stepstool
- The weekend
- A cordless drill
- My patience
- The new window trim G milled, cut and installed
- Despair
- An air compressor
- Sawdust that’s just sitting there, evil-y plotting to be slivers
- A toolbox
- The moment of quiet before delirium fully sets in ...
Dear Kitchen Cabinet Maker Dude,
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- Published on Friday, 08 July 2011
Authors: A
It was a joke! You didn’t really think I was serious about the whole “We’re gonna hypnotize you into giving us a low estimate” thing, did you? I mean really, who hypnotizes people besides David Blaine and guys who perform in airport lounges? OK sure, I like a card trick here and there, sometimes I sing along to...
