Old Town Home
Old Town Home is a blog dedicated to chronicling the successes and failures of an Historic Old Town Alexandria couple as they live in the charming historic district while attempting to completely renovate and appropriately restore an 1880s Victorian row house...almost entirely on their own.
Celebrating Valentine's Day with Llama Love, Pancakes, and More
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- Published on Thursday, 14 February 2013
Authors: Alex
Valentine's Day is a strange holiday. Rather than a simple "I do celebrate" or "I don't celebrate," it becomes a minor symbol of who many people are, and a person's enjoyment or loathing of the holiday is often defined by their past experiences and appreciation (or lack of appreciation) of the symbolism or commercialism surrounding...
Somebody Call 9-1-1: WaterCop is Working in the Basement
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- Published on Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Authors: Alex
Either it's happened to you, or you probably know someone who's had it happen to them. I'm talking about the unfortunate circumstance of a major flood in a home caused by a burst pipe or broken plumbing component. Knock on wood, it's never happened to us in our home, but it's occurred in my parents' second floor laundry room, the...
Day Dreaming: Our Plans for a Custom Bed with Ample Storage
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- Published on Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Authors: Alex
We have a bit of a guest bedroom situation we need to deal with. Nearly two years ago, we completed a budget makeover of our guest bedroom. This involved plaster repair, hole patching, a fresh coat of paint, and a few nice accessories to turn a room previously reserved for junk storage into a proper area where guests are able...
The Family Jewels: Building a Concealed Jewelry Cabinet
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- Published on Monday, 11 February 2013
Authors: Wendy
Over the last several weeks we've been sharing all of the various aspects of our master bedroom renovation work. Though the project took quite a bit of time from start to finish, it's one of the projects in our house that has truly transformed the cold and uninviting space into one that's warm and welcoming. From the added space of...
Homies Awards: The Little Blog That Could Becomes a Finalist
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- Published on Saturday, 09 February 2013
Authors: Wendy
Last night at midnight, when the first round of the Apartment Therapy's Homies Awards concluded, a magical thing happened. Old Town Home, amongst 286 other Home Projects & DIY blogs (yes, we counted), was in the top six, which allowed us to advance to the finals. And yes, that means there's another round of voting.
Included in the...
Reader Reward: Under Sink Water Filtration Kit from Filtrete
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- Published on Friday, 08 February 2013
Authors: Wendy
We're in a mad fight to hang onto the top 6 in the Best Home Project & DIY Blog in the Homies, and voting closes tonight at midnight. I know we've begged and asked for your support, but if you haven't voted and wouldn't mind supporting us, we'd love a final vote before voting closes. Thank you all so much and I promise we...
A Tall Drink of Water: Installing a Filtered Water System
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- Published on Friday, 08 February 2013
Authors: Alex
Two quick notes today.
1. We're barely hanging on in the top 6 of the Apartment Therapy Homies. If you haven't voted yet, we'd really appreciate your support. And if you can think of anyone who might like our blog and would like to vote, please share it around. The top 6 advance into the next round and voting closes tonight! I...
Creating a Love-ly Valentine's Day Tablescape
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- Published on Thursday, 07 February 2013
Authors: Wendy
Valentine's Day is a special holiday in our house. I look at it as a nice reminder to take a few extra moments to show someone how much you love them, as well as an excuse to celebrate the first "major" holiday since New Year's. But most of all, I see it as a date to look forward to long after the magical feel of Christmas has been...
Waves of Sleep: Selecting a Calm Color Palette for Our Master Bedroom
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- Published on Wednesday, 06 February 2013
Authors: Wendy
Over the last few weeks we've taken you through the various steps we took to bring our bedroom from drab to inviting. From the extensive efforts involving demolition and paint stripping, to the inclusion of a functional pull down attic ladder, our bedroom slowly transformed from a cold and unassuming space into a place we could...
Toolbox Tuesday: Heating Things Up with a Versatile Blow Torch
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- Published on Tuesday, 05 February 2013
Authors: Alex
A few weeks ago we created a basic how-to guide on sweating a copper plumbing fitting. Though this aspect of home improvement is often intimidating (it was for me the first time I did it), it's a completely doable task if you have the right tools for the job and the know how. However, I have to say that I only really started to feel...
