Well, That’s Different

After a number of years with just exposed OSB subfloor (and a couple of rugs) as the flooring in my kitchen… It now has (part of) a floor. Do not be fooled by that picture. It is still mostly this… I have

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House Colors: Bringing it all together. Or not.

This is the post I was supposed to write yesterday before I had a little meltdown. Speaking of which, thanks for all of your advice on de-stressing. Also thanks to Sara from RussetStreetReno who made me fall off my chair in laughter

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A Culmination of Sorts

There are two things that have been happening simultaneously in my life, that appear to have just reached a culmination of sorts. Those two thing are 1.) I’m building a house. And 2.) I’m losing my mind. Usually that’s a joke, like

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Tile 101: The Basics of DIY Tiling (Any Kind, Anywhere)

Once you learn the basic principles behind installing tile you can apply them to any number of projects– floors, walls, countertops, tabletops, and about anything else you can think of. I recently spent a day installing 1677 itty-bitty tiles on the wall

Read More

Sharpening our no.2’s

We’re entering another one of those “sit back an wait for materials and/or while professionals do the work on our house” phases of construction. With the roof on (and the thrill of that project being done cannot be overstated) and the interior

Read More

Rubble

I had things to do this weekend that involved grout, trim, and the miter saw. But the boys looked like they were having so much fun tearing things down in the house I just had to join it. With the roof on,

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The Gas Station (that we live in)

We’ve been living in the gas station garage apartment for a month now, and this is the first time we’ve been able to walk through the place without leapfrogging over boxes and piles of miscellaneous clothing. Needless to say, going from 1200

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Kitchen Question: Black or White?

At some point I’m going to want to be able to cook somewhere other than the back yard. Possibly. And that’s going to require doing some serious work to this room… So, I’m thinking of keeping the linoleum. Right? Okay, no. I’m

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Sparkler Tricks 2010

My good friend E and I started a Fourth of July tradition last year: Opening the shutter on the Nikon and playing with sparklers. As you can see, Harry Potter’s got nothing on us for wand-dueling. Last year E took the cake

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Permanent Fixture

I started out my holiday weekend exactly the way you would expect– hitting up Hobby Lobby, Target, and the nearest Big Box store to stock up on everything I need for the projects I’m planning to tackle in the next three days.

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Never underestimate the beauty of having a roof

The exterior rough framing of the house has been done for about a month and–shockingly–progress has been a lot slower without a four-man crew of professionals working over here all day. I don’t mind that fact at all because every day that

Read More

Gravity, I hate you.

Tuesday night I was installing a light fixture in our reallyclosetobeingdone bathroom. Because I’m just few short inches over the 5-foot mark, anything that has to do with reaching the ceiling is always fun. It requires standing on top of the step

Read More

Tile 101: How to Build & Tile Counters

Granite sounds all well and good until you hear $30 per linear foot and your eyeballs pop out of your head. I’ve tiled almost every counter I’ve come across for the last 5 years– kitchen, bathroom, laundry room– you name it. A

Read More

Fun In The Pasture

It may start to seem like all we do around here is loll about in the sun. It’s not far from the truth… we do our lolling after managing full time jobs and then working on the house, but we find time

Read More

House Colors: Bringing it all together. Or not.

This is the post I was supposed to write yesterday before I had a little meltdown. Speaking of which, thanks for all of your advice on de-stressing. Also thanks to Sara from RussetStreetReno who made me fall off my chair in laughter

Read More

A Culmination of Sorts

There are two things that have been happening simultaneously in my life, that appear to have just reached a culmination of sorts. Those two thing are 1.) I’m building a house. And 2.) I’m losing my mind. Usually that’s a joke, like

Read More

Tile 101: The Basics of DIY Tiling (Any Kind, Anywhere)

Once you learn the basic principles behind installing tile you can apply them to any number of projects– floors, walls, countertops, tabletops, and about anything else you can think of. I recently spent a day installing 1677 itty-bitty tiles on the wall

Read More

Sharpening our no.2’s

We’re entering another one of those “sit back an wait for materials and/or while professionals do the work on our house” phases of construction. With the roof on (and the thrill of that project being done cannot be overstated) and the interior

Read More

Rubble

I had things to do this weekend that involved grout, trim, and the miter saw. But the boys looked like they were having so much fun tearing things down in the house I just had to join it. With the roof on,

Read More

The Gas Station (that we live in)

We’ve been living in the gas station garage apartment for a month now, and this is the first time we’ve been able to walk through the place without leapfrogging over boxes and piles of miscellaneous clothing. Needless to say, going from 1200

Read More

Kitchen Question: Black or White?

At some point I’m going to want to be able to cook somewhere other than the back yard. Possibly. And that’s going to require doing some serious work to this room… So, I’m thinking of keeping the linoleum. Right? Okay, no. I’m

Read More

Sparkler Tricks 2010

My good friend E and I started a Fourth of July tradition last year: Opening the shutter on the Nikon and playing with sparklers. As you can see, Harry Potter’s got nothing on us for wand-dueling. Last year E took the cake

Read More

Permanent Fixture

I started out my holiday weekend exactly the way you would expect– hitting up Hobby Lobby, Target, and the nearest Big Box store to stock up on everything I need for the projects I’m planning to tackle in the next three days.

Read More

Never underestimate the beauty of having a roof

The exterior rough framing of the house has been done for about a month and–shockingly–progress has been a lot slower without a four-man crew of professionals working over here all day. I don’t mind that fact at all because every day that

Read More

Gravity, I hate you.

Tuesday night I was installing a light fixture in our reallyclosetobeingdone bathroom. Because I’m just few short inches over the 5-foot mark, anything that has to do with reaching the ceiling is always fun. It requires standing on top of the step

Read More

Tile 101: How to Build & Tile Counters

Granite sounds all well and good until you hear $30 per linear foot and your eyeballs pop out of your head. I’ve tiled almost every counter I’ve come across for the last 5 years– kitchen, bathroom, laundry room– you name it. A

Read More

Fun In The Pasture

It may start to seem like all we do around here is loll about in the sun. It’s not far from the truth… we do our lolling after managing full time jobs and then working on the house, but we find time

Read More

I'm not interested in a mediocre life. I'm here to kick ass or die.

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