As we power on through the extremely time consuming and ridiculously intricate project that is The Front Vestibule, we occasionally run into situations where a little bit of time and patience go a long way towards making the project much better. Sometimes the need to work slower and more deliberately is difficult when all you want to do is finish the friggen project. For me, the little angel on my shoulder saying "take your time and restore this the right way!" usually beats out the devil that says, "just hurry up and finish the damn thing already!" Such is the case with the work we've been doing on the new front doors. Wait, was that the little devil on my shoulder saying that or was it Wendy standing behind me?
When we purchased the french doors, which were actually old sidelites, many of the panes of glass were either broken, or had been replaced with newer glass that didn't seem correct.
This week I've been spending quite a bit of time working on the salvaged french door lites (panes of glass). After I finished removing all of the broken and unbroken panes of glass from the two doors, scraped out all of the glazing putty, and give it a quick sanding, the doors were almost ready to receive new glass.
I won't actually install any glass until after we've added the additional wood to the doors, mortised the hinges, and made sure the doors are hung in their correct location. Otherwise I'm sure I would end up breaking a pane in the process. But that didn't stop me from getting the glass ready for the doors this week.
One of the things I absolutely love about old houses and antiques is the minor but striking detail and character that wavy glass brings. It's one of those little things that screams "I came from a simpler time, where things were still hand made, imperfect, and unique!" We are lucky enough to have much of the original glass in many of the windows in our house, including the transom windows inside. Whenever I've added glass elements to the house, or replaced newer glass, I've been sure to use salvaged or reproduction wavy glass in every situation. What can I say, I'm obsessed.
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Over the last hundred years, being able to enjoy music from the comforts of your home has been a pursuit that has driven many homeowners to great lengths. From phonographs to player pianos, record players to 8-tracks, single dial radios to hi-fi dolby surround stereos, and recently from casette tapes and CDs to iPods and mp3s, the media types and music delivery systems have changed rapidly with the changing technology landscape. The constant race to be on the cutting edge of home audio has far reaching effects into some people's ability to enjoy their home to the fullest, be it alone or during entertaining. Quite honestly, I'm one of those people :-)
My obsession with audio started quite simply when my dad bought me my first CD player when I was about 13 years old. That boom box with a dual cassette deck (crucial for making mix tapes) and single disc CD player spawned an obsession with speakers and stereo systems that has yet to fade. Tower speakers, receivers, and components morphed into new head units, amplifiers, and sub-woofers once I got my driver's license. In college my room always had the loudest stereo and (I'm sad to say) I was the jerk you could hear coming down the street in their car.
Moving into our house has presented an even greater opportunity to "pimp" our shelter. Don't worry, I'm not talking about flat screen televisions covering entire walls, or in-house recording studios. I'm talking about tasteful integrated audio that we or our guests have the ability to listen to throughout the house and control with a smartphone.
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As our vestibule renovation project drags on into its ninth month, I feel my mood souring a bit. What we once deemed a "quick project" has, in true Old Town Home fashion, morphed into an overhaul that has cost more, taken longer, and brought with it more frustration than originally intended.
Maybe it's the catalyst for the project that makes me feel a little blue. After all, we began this project because our puppy Oliver was dying of cancer. In April of last year he was diagnosed with Lymphoma at only a year and a half old. By October we knew we would have too few days to spend with our beloved little companion, so we opted to begin this project in the middle of a major master bathroom renovation. We did this because Oliver was a "first floor only" dog, and given that he would gladly spend most of his time resting peacefully on the couch when he knew we were downstairs with him, we wanted to be close to him and not holed up in our bathroom.
Our goal, albeit a lofty one, was to complete this project so that he could sit in the vestibule looking out the new french doors, admiring four-legged lady friends pass by. Sort of like this.
We didn't know how much time we would have with him, but we had hoped it would be more than less. Sadly, Ollie lost his battle to cancer just two weeks after we started working on the vestibule, so he never had a chance to enjoy the space. Not only did we lose our best friend and crew member, but with his death we lost some of our project mojo.
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It's been a while since my last food truck inspired post, and what better way to bring it back than with a newly launched truck that brings one of my most favorite things to the streets of DC...Ice Cream.
Washington, DC is sweltering this time of year. The height of summer brings heat and humidity that often border on oppressive, and 2011 has not been an exception to this rule. Lucky for me, a new food truck in DC recently launched and made a stop near my office today. And as a testament to how hot out it is, the truck had a line more than a dozen people long within five minutes of its arrival.
The new (launched last week) food ice cream truck is called the "Orange Cow" and specializes in high quality and tasty hand dipped ice cream in a variety of flavors. We're talking high end ice cream here, not your local neighborhood ice cream man with rocket pops (though, rocket pops are pretty friggen awesome). For those of you wondering, hand dipped means it is scooped out by hand, not soft serve. The end result, hand made, delicious, and flavorful ice cream that isn't overly sweet, has a lot of good flavors made with natural ingredients, and scoops that stay very firm.
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One of the tasks we've been faced with throughout our renovation involves the discovery and restoration of period authentic hardware. We're replacing hinges, rim locks, door knobs, and any number of iron or steel items that have removed from the house by previous owners and renters. Typically, our search for these items leads us to various salvage yards and junk shops, and when the items are found they are often covered in rust and/or paint and in need of a little TLC.
Initially I was at a bit of a loss as to how we would remove the buildup of paint and rust that covered the majority of our salvage yard finds. I knew we could strip the paint with a paint stripper soak, or even use a croc pot (it does actually work and is very safe), but once the paint is off, you are left with a residue of paint and liquid that tends to coat the surface. You could use steel wool and a lot of elbow grease, but that is tough to get into the crevices and details. I went this route for a little while, but then, one day many years ago, I was talking to a home builder that puts salvaged items into new homes to get that period look. He said, "just hit it with the wire wheel."
Those magic words have been the best possible solution time and time again. Throughout our experience, there is no better way to clean up your hardware and get it ready for the house than through the use of a wire wheel on a bench top grinder.
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