Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse
My dad came down and helped me bang out some painting yesterday and today. We did the bathroom, all 4 closets, and the ceilings in the upstairs hall and back bedroom. Both colors I got in the back bedroom were MUCH darker than I was expecting. I don’t know if that photo shows the colors.…
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I was a little bit of a load the weekend before last, so I’m not as far along as I’d want to be. But that’s ok because now Sherwin Williams is having a March Makeover Madness sale. Someone needs to talk to them about these names. I think I’ve chosen my paint, but have to…
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People told me it would take 3 or 4 hours to roll primer onto every wall in the house with the electric roller. People lied. I was at it about that long last Saturday but got fed up and decided to pack things up and finish the next day. And then… I RAN OUT OF…
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I’ve decided that this round of heavy-handed repairs that took over the whole house should be called Phase 1. Phase 2 will be a bunch of smaller projects that can be done independently of each other… after I take a good long break. Anyways, if I want to make this sound fast and easy, I…
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Yes, it’s already over. If you remember, I ended year 1 with the house torn apart. Most of the functional things were in, but most of the visible things that make the house look good were not. I wrote 3 posts last year to commemorate the paper anniversary. This year the anniversary should be cotton, but…
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Not quite. I tallied up what’s in the archives and found that this is the 14th post about the kitchen and the 7th that’s more about planning it than building it. I figured that since the IKEA cabinet scare forced the issue this week, I may as well finish the job (of planning it). But first,…
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The tapers appear to be pretty much done! They missed a couple spots that they may have to touch up once more, but overall the work looks really good. Let’s see if my photography can capture the beauty of flat walls. What really impressed me is that where the drywall boards didn’t line up perfectly…
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It’s nothing lame like dinner and a movie.* It’s gonna work like this. At the end of the month, Mario comes in. He’ll have another guy or two with him. I hand him a bank envelope. They’ll be in and out in about 2 hours. Wham. Bam. All the walls in my entire house will be…
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Apparently having Christmas decoration themes that change every year (and require you to buy new decorations) is a thing for some people. But nothing so absurd and wasteful will ever be a thing for me. This has nothing to do with decorations, really. My grandmother moved to assisted living on Tuesday. Yes, on Christmas Eve…
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