Wendy and I are sitting on the couch watching an episode of HGTV's "My First Place." In this episode, Stephanie and TJ, a DC newlywed assistant production editor for a scientific journal and an aerospace engineer, are trying to buy a house in Arlington, VA, a neighboring city to our...
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With just a few short days until the holiday marking our birthday as a nation, I want to make sure I'm planning ahead to incorporate a few, fun, festive touches into this weekend's activities. So what are we doing to celebrate and commemorate what is, in my opinion, the best...
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Last week we covered our very fortunate salvage yard find of our new front doors. We understood just how lucky we were to find exactly what we were looking for, but also knew that good luck on the front end was a simplified beginning to a project that was sure to...
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When we started on our home renovation, I knew I would run into projects that would require every type of tool imaginable. We lived by our golden rule of purchasing one major tool per project, building this into each project's budget, and committed ourselves to fully researching any tool purchase...
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In working on our front vestibule project, we've taken inspiration from many different locations. This includes salvage yards, neighborhood houses, internet photos, and even trips to other cities.
Several months ago, Wendy had to travel to New Orleans for business. Being the supportive husband that I am, I decided to take a...
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I don't know about you, but it's been one heck of a week. Long hours, hectic days, and all things that point to the reward of a good cocktail come Friday night. So this got me thinking -- what refreshment would I like in my hand as I toast to...
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As working parents, Alex and I face the concern that I'm sure most pet parents face on a daily basis. We hope that our furry and four legged babies are at home being calm, well behaved, and relaxed. At the same time, we fear they are getting into trouble, eating...
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Like many older homes, one of the key period pieces in our home is the transom windows that still exist over most of the house's doorways. Strictly a utilitarian feature of historic architecture, transom windows were used to both allow additional light into or out of a room, and to...
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Our seemingly endless efforts to strip the paint in our home have led to years of trial and error experiences until we found the tools that really work well for our purposes. Today's Toolbox Tuesday will cover the tools we use that are must haves when stripping layers of old...
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One of the things that we have the privilege of enjoying by owning an old home is the adventure of searching through salvage yards for items that "work" with the age and style of our home. When many people visit salvage yards, they are looking for something cool and old...
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One of the major initiatives of both the previous and current presidential administrations is to promote a healthier and more active lifestyle among federal employees, with an ultimate goal of the effort expanding its reach into the private sector through government contractors and other workers, eventually lowering health care costs...
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As you may recall, we had a bit of an ugly leak from our master bedroom ceiling a couple weeks back that damaged our newly repaired, replastered, and repainted bedroom ceiling. It turned out that this leak was caused by a clogged trap in our attic air handler's condensate line....
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In our first post about our vestibule renovation, we covered the ins and outs of the project that transformed the walls, ceiling, and molding from a dingy and lumpy mess into a small space we could work with. Though this was a major step in the right direction, it was...
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For this week's Toolbox Tuesday we're going to take a slightly different approach. Rather than cover a specific tool in my collection, I'm going to cover a specific product that I would quite honestly be lost without. The product that I'm speaking of and attribute many of my home improvement successes...
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What is one important factor to consider when selecting a future home? Safety. This was definitely something that was a concern to me when we were thinking about living in the city. Back in December 2002 after first touring what would become our home, Alex, Mel (our cat) and I would perform...
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