Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Highlights and Lowlights of 2012: A Year in Review
Posted by Alex

Is it too cliché of me to say, "It's hard to believe just howfast this year has flown by!"? I know we all say this sort of thing way too often, but this year, just like every other year that I say it, I really believe it. I don't know what it was about 2012, but I feel like it was absolutely packed full of so many things that it couldn't possibly have held another moment. However, as busy as it may have been, it seemed to be over in what seems like a blink of an eye. From house projects to vacations, and first time events to annual fun activities, we hope you've had fun reading along. We know we've enjoyed your company.

Yesterday we shared how we successful we were in keeping our 2012 resolutions, but that was really only part of what our whole year was about. Before last year becomes a distant memory, we'd like to take a few moments to recap the days, weeks, and months that combined to become the wonderful year otherwise known as 2012. Besides, we know that many of you started following Old Town Home at some point during this year, and perhaps you didn't see some of the epic adventures we undertook (we're talking Friday and Saturday trips to the home improvement store type of "epic"), so we're going to do our obligatory retrospective on the year of 2012 in the life of Old Town Home. These various projects and moments represent our highs and lows of the year that was, and we hope you enjoy.

Highlight - Home Projects

Though our home projects were ongoing throughout the year, our 2012 was actually bookended by two significant projects that have changed the way we use our first floor.

The first project was actually one of the very fun opportunities we had as bloggers, and it resulted in a rather unexpected DIY project. Back in January we saw that Brooklyn Limestone was looking for a few guest bloggers for her "Conquered Closet Clutter" series. Though we'd never guest blogged anywhere before, we responded to Stefanie's request and offered up an organization project. Truth be told, we weren't sure just what we were going to guest blog about, but hey, why not? She accepted and we got to work on turning our cluttered and dark basement stairwell...

...into a functional and bright coat closet (which also happens to be the only closet on the first floor).


Continue Reading Full Post
Categories
Comments 3
Monday, December 31, 2012
2012 Resolutions - So How'd Those Turn Out?
Posted by Wendy

This year actually started off with a public proclamation. As is tradition with many people come January 1, we put together a somewhat lengthy list of News Year’s Resolutions. The list included everything from run of the mill cleaning to lofty goals of whole room overhauls. It felt good to put together a list of very attainable items as well as items that would challenge us to complete them. So how did we do with our list, anyway? Well, here's a status report to keep us honest. 

Resolution #1: Officially finish the vestibule project. 

Status: Complete!  We applied the coat of glossy black paint to the interior side of the french doors early this year, and officially called it done.

Resolution #2: Put a stop to our leaking sky light once and for all. 

Status: Complete! We completed 90% of the work in 2011, and earlier this year applied a good coat of roof paint. We waited with baited breath, but months have passed by and all signs point to a successful fix.


Continue Reading Full Post
Categories
Comments 8
Friday, December 28, 2012
Creating a No Fuss New Year's Eve Menu
Posted by Wendy

The key to the success of a any good party is simple -- happy guests. It doesn't matter if we're talking about a backyard BBQ 4th of July event, a children's birthday, or a swanky New Year's Eve gathering -- one of the keys to having happy guests at your party is ensuring the food is good and that there's enough of it to go around. Whenever I plan a party I always like to lay out the menu of what I'll be serving well in advance, and I do it to a tee. I find this level of planning goes a long way to set up the party menu for success, and to manage my stress on the day of the event. In the case of a New Year's Eve menu, my keys to success are simple. 

Following these few rules I can put together a menu for a New Year's Eve event that is filling, festive, fun, and consists of many party favorites. The following are my tried and true inclusions for a great late evening party. If all goes well, your friends will put on their best party dress and end the night looking like this.

Who doesn't love cheese? A simple and easy formula for creating a crowd pleasing cheese plate is to include a soft cheese like brie or goat, a hard cheese like an aged/smoked gouda, and a blue cheese, such as gorgonzola. 


Photo Credit: President Cheese

Surround the cheese with thin slices of bread, one or two varieties of crackers, and fresh or dried fruit like sliced pears, dried apricots, or a large bunch of grapes. For a special touch, add toasted walnuts, a small dish of chutney, and drizzle the blue cheese with honey. 


Continue Reading Full Post
Categories
Holidays
Entertaining
Comments 7

Whew! I don't know about you, but the last several weeks of holiday preparation have left me feeling happy, yet a bit sluggish, overfed, and ready for a little downtime. But not so soon! We can't forget about welcoming in the new year, a notable holiday just a few days away.

Given the time and effort that are put into Thanksgiving and Christmas, I typically come to New Year's Eve feeling a little burned out. But in years past, despite my mild apathy for the holiday, I still can muster enough energy to put together a simple yet festive New Year's Eve celebration for a handful of close friends using a few simple tips (and using what I have on hand).

To me, nothing says New Year's Eve quite like a color palette of silver and white, reminiscent of the large Waterford ball that drops at midnight in Times Square. To begin I gather up items around the house that work well with this theme. The items that pop to mind include white taper candles, glass candlesticks, silver vases and serving vessels, pieces of our silver-banded china, mercury glass ornaments, and two tall white and silver beaded cone shaped "trees." 

To establish the fresh look of winter and a new year I drape the table in a crisp white linen tablecloth, offset by a silver runner (which is actually a pashmina, given to me as a bridesmaid gift by a close friend). Atop the runner I stagger the serving items, so that guests can approach the table as a buffet, grazing on the finger food throughout the course of the party.


Continue Reading Full Post
Categories
Projects
Holidays
Entertaining
Comments 3
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
A Broken Chimney Damper Caused Such a Clatter
Posted by Alex

Have you ever had one of those instances where you’re just sitting there watching television and you hear a loud noise or crash from the other room? It brings a moment of pause when you try to determine if what you just heard was on television or if it came from your own house. Once you determine the origin of the noise was from another room rather than the episode of Walking Dead or Homeland you’re watching, you venture off to determine the actual source. 

As you approach, you’re hopeful there isn’t a level of catastrophic disaster waiting just around the corner, but you typically expect the worst. In our case, we tend to lay default suspicion at the furry feet of one of our four legged family members. After all, they always seem to be getting into trouble.

Last week this very scenario played out in our home. Luckily, the level of disaster leaned more toward the low to moderate range than the earth shattering. And at least for this occurrence, the pets were not to blame. The source of the loud noise near the front of the house actually had to do with our fireplace and flue. 

No, it wasn’t Santa getting stuck while shimmying down the chimney. The noise was actually caused by a failure with the chimney cap, or more specifically the latch that held the handle of the cap in place.


Continue Reading Full Post
Categories
Projects
Comments 4
  • Search

Wendy and AlexFirst time here? Meet Us!
  • Login
  • Follow
  • Advertising

If you're looking for information on advertising and sponsorships, head on over to our sponsorships page. You can purchase site sponsorships in a few easy clicks. 

Calendar View of Posts
Toolbox Tuesday
Open Housing
  • Categories
  • Archive

Archive

  • Popular Topics
  • Comments
  • Blog Roll

Recent Comments

Here are just a few inspiration and home blogs we're enjoying lately.

And a few of our classic but inactive favorites

  • We're Featured!

Old Town Home has been featured in the following places and publications:

The Washington Post
 
Washingtonian Magazine
 
Domino
 
Old House Journal
 
 
Apartment Therapy House Tour
 
Washington Post Express Feature
 
Home & Garden Blogs
 
© 2026 OldTownHome.com. - Privacy Policy

Unexpected Error

Your submission caused an unexpected error. You can try your request again, but if you continue to experience problems, please contact the administrator.

Working...

Working...