In previous posts we've covered our journey in our initial attempt to build our completely custom home office desk, the headache we endured in constructing the desk top, and the construction of the upper storage areas, bringing our project to the point where the desk was actually a desk. We had lower storage, upper storage, lighting, a workspace, and even an area to the right of the main workspace for shelving. The problem? We didn't have any shelving yet.
Doesn't it look so bare and lonely?
We had gone to such great lengths to make the various desk components work seamlessly with each other, hiding any fasteners and concealing any non-wood components. Everything had gone well but I was starting to turn into my normal neurotic self about how I would build the shelves. We had installed a single downlight above the shelf area, and I was concerned that solid wood shelves would block the downlight after the first shelf, leaving all but the top shelf totally in the dark.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Toolbox Thursday? Yep, this week’s regularly scheduled Toolbox Tuesday was preempted by our nine year house-iversary before & after gallery post, so I figured we should just move the post off to Thursday, you know, for continuity of alliteration purposes. And in honor of our nine year house-iversary I’m going to talk a little bit about a “tool” I’ve had since our very first day in the house.
Just prior to closing on our house in January, we had the great opportunity to ask for many different tools and accessories for our new home purchase from Santa Claus. I was able to put together a list of necessities that various relatives and friends used when selecting our Christmas gifts. It made for a very fun and manly Christmas, that's for sure. But one of the items was something I asked for specifically from Wendy, and she came through. :-)
We’ve all heard of a toolbox, but what about a tool bucket? Yeah, you read that correctly, a tool bucket. I first learned of the concept of a tool bucket when I was working for my general contractor boss/friend in college. I always hated digging around in a tool box and its multiple layers for what I needed. To me it always just felt like a toolbox was never organized and I could never quickly find what I really needed if it wasn't sitting right on the top. One day, a guy on the crew showed up with this five gallon bucket that had this special sleeve over it. As soon as I saw it I was 100% sold.
What an ingenious idea! This great sleeve drapes over the inside and outside of any standard five gallon bucket (I swear that almost ever DIYer has these buckets all over the place) and effectively turns a simply bucket into an efficient and organized storage container for your tools. Various sized pockets, pouches, flaps, and holders can be stocked however your heart desires with all of your various hand tools. And best of all, the larger items or loose items can sit in the middle in the open bucket area.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
From time to time Wendy and I like to keep you all informed of local happenings in Old Town Alexandria. While we are primarily a DIY blog, we're also a couple of local bloggers who simply love where we live. We enjoy writing about our town so readers from afar can see what a great place Old Town is to visit, and also so we can share information with local readers about some of our favorite or new places in town. Last night we were excited to check out the soft launch of Society Fair, a European inspired market and restaurant/wine bar.
Cathal Armstrong was one of the first chefs to shine a spotlight on Old Town Alexandria's restaurant scene when he and his wife, Meshelle, opened Restaurant Eve on Old Town's Pitt Street in 2004. They quickly gained acclaim from most who visited, both critics and everyday diners alike. Following the success of Eve, the Armstrongs began branching out and created The Majestic (reopened actually, and now one of Wendy's and my favorite restaurants), Eamonn's - A Dublin Chipper (for authentic fish & chips...and fried Milky-Way bars), PX (for a swank speakeasy-like experience with some of the best drinks you'll ever taste), and more recently Virtue Feed & Grain. Well, they're expanding once again with their new addition, Society Fair, at 277 S. Washington St.
The Armstrongs have been kicking around the idea of a European inspired butcher, bakery, wine bar, gourmet market, and cafe in earnest since at least late 2007 or early 2008. Now in 2012, that vision is coming to fruition with a location that several food critics and publications, as well as its creators, have been comparing to Mario Batali's Eately in New York (incidentally, DC is supposed to get its own Eately sometime in 2012). Though it is considerably smaller than the 50,000 square foot Italian food extravaganza.
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Today marks the nine year anniversary of the day Alex and I took ownership of our home, and thus embarked on this crazy journey of renovation adventures and misadventures. It's hard to believe that nearly a decade has passed since we were bright eyed and bushy tailed twenty-somethings, ready to take on the world...and take on the renovation of an ugly Victorian in desperate need of some TLC.
In honor of our house-iversary, we wanted to take a moment today to look back at where we started, and appreciate just how far we've come. It's been years of hard work, perseverance, challenges, and successes, but it's a journey we'd start all over again (at least I feel like that today, no telling what I might say on another day). We hope you'll come along with us for our look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Let's start with a side-by-side of the exterior of our home. Our home certainly had potential. But with a new coat of paint, a new set of cast iron stairs for both our and our neighbor's homes, and our big vestibule reconfiguration project of 2011, we think we've made big strides as far as curb appeal goes. We're still sorry that we lost the big old tree out front, but have hopes that in a few years our new guy will do us proud.
Moving on, let's take a look at the vestibule tile. What once greeted visitors was tired, dirty, and cracked green and black marble. We freshened up the look last year by installing a marble basket weave tile that picks up the black of our new french doors and cast iron stairs, as well as the warm neutrals of our interior paint scheme.
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When buying our house back in 2003, Alex and I wisely made the decision to allow our apartment lease to slightly overlap with our closing date. We figured that worst case, if we had problems with our closing we wouldn't have to live in our car for a little while. Best case, we would have about three solid weeks to get the house in shape so that we could move into "our home," not someone else's.
Luckily for us, closing went off without a hitch on the originally scheduled day and we were able the walk the couple blocks from the settlement office to our new home. We had actually parked our car right in front of the house and had the trunk loaded with the half dozen tools we owned at the time so we could get started on our projects immediately. Our plan was to hit the ground running and get as much done in those three short weeks, while also working full time jobs. If you're reading between the lines, that meant lots of late nights, hard work, and crankiness.
Since we knew the kitchen would be one of the most frequently used areas, we set out right away to make several inexpensive yet big impact changes, making the most of what we had to work with. After all, what we were dealing with was dark and dingy, and despite the many, many other areas in the house calling out for help, I knew I couldn't live with what we had in this room, even for a short time. Here's a glimpse at what we were starting with.
And here's another look at the refrigerator/stove wall.
I'm getting depressed just looking at these photos.
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