Why I Oughta...

With the weather turning, and the inside of the house moving along at it's scheduled pace ( like with the installation of this leaded window ), it is time for our builder to turn some of their attention to the outside of the house.  In this case, it means a look at what our patio is going to look like out back.   The world is, indeed, a small place, and on this project it meant that I was able to reconnect with a friend from my college days who it turned out was the subcontractor chosen to help us with our landscaping by our builder.  As part of the project, Chris, our landscape team lead went out and spray painted the outline of our proposed patio.  You can see that in pink above. Nat did what she does best:  picked some great materials, and soon enough, the team will be leveling and grading the site, cleaning up all the various debris and then installing the patio in pavers.  We have a good-sized yard, so we were trying to strike a balance between installing a 'large eno

We're at the point in the building of our new old farmhouse that we're starting to think about some finishes.  That means Nat is trying to wrangle all the choices with counters and tile and colors and trim and such.  But it also means things like railing hangers and garage floor epoxy and doorbells. Yeah...doorbells.   And Nat and I have been looking around online to find a doorbell that we both like and while there are some neat ones that seem right , I just haven't found anything that I'm in love with. I know...it is just a doorbell.  But, I loved our last one.  And I want to love this one. That's lead me to this crazy idea:  what about a mechanical doorbell?   See the photo above?  That's the 'outside' part of the mechanical doorbell.  You have to 'turn' the dial to ring the bell.  Below is a photo of the 'bell' part that would sit inside the house.   Remember, we're trying to build a #NewOldFarmhouse.  We&

A few weeks back, I posted an update about our new place showing the installation of the windows in most* spots (The asterisk is because not all the windows are in...as we're still waiting on a few of the more 'fancy' ones...) and how that felt like real progress.  And there's been even more progress lately including the installation (do you call it that?) of the fireplace and chimney.  This one you see above is in what I think is going to be my favorite spot in the house: our screened porch. You'll note the the cables come out of the center of the masonry work above the fireplace, so one of the first jobs is going to be finding a tv that will work out there and getting it hung.   The room isn't huge, but I'm thinking Nat will do a great job finding the right seating mix where we can hang as a family out there and also where we can entertain folks.  And, frankly, something that I can take a Saturday afternoon nap on while watching some sports... The

Progress, progress, progress at our new place.  Just ten days ago, I posted about the incredible installation of our water main (under a huge tree!) and now we're already moving on to framing of the house.  And by the time you all read this post, there will be even more done! The crew is busy putting up the deck, walls and ceilings and now the place is starting to really FEEL like a house.  It was an abstract idea for a long time, but now that you can walk into each of the rooms and actually BE there?  It's totally real and it is totally crazy.   Almost hard to convince myself that this project involves us and our family.  We're not just watching something happen.  We're watching OUR something happen! And...crazy?  Yeah, crazy like the weight of two years of wandering around as a family is coming off of our shoulders.  Sure, there's a TON more time to go, but suddenly, we have a place.  We have a shared goal.  We have a home.  It is just made out of lumber,

As we begin the *actual* building of our new old farmhouse (gasp!  Could *it* really be happening??  Appears that way, but I don't want to jinx us...), we now begin to move from the 'drawing phase' to more of the real, actual, 'selection phase'.  That's where Nat reigns and is in control of everything from the big decisions to the smallest detail.  We find out more this week in terms of schedule and such and will be updating our farmhouse blog in short order. But, as I know she reads the blog here, I figure I'll use this platform to try to influence her and persuade her to something I'm keen on:  this tile as seen in the queue in the Peter Pan ride at WDW. In our house at Hilltop, we have designed a vestibule of sorts right inside the front door before you enter the hallway.  If you've been in a period house from 100 years ago, you know the type.  Think about something like this .  Usually has an 'inside' door and serves as a sort of a

Found this little blurb in the August issue of This Old House Magazine and now I'm thinking all about how we add a farm bell to our house.  And...if it should go in the front or the back? Oh yeah....I said 'our house'!??!

We were looking at a house a few weeks ago that had this shiplap stuff everywhere.  And...I mean everywhere.  And it wasn't put up in planks.  It was put up in sheets of the stuff, which was kinda weird. Me thinks they watched a bit too many episodes of Fixer Upper?

Nat and I have been through a lot with the ups and downs (mostly downs, frankly) of our house search over the past year.  Actually....about a year and three months, but who is counting.  I'm hopeful, that we're getting close to a resolution in terms of having a 'direction' (but not a definitive answer yet, however), but we likely won't know for sure for almost a month.  We've been through a lot including looking at building a new house, buying a beautiful old house, and building a new/old house. During part of the process, when we were talking about building on a particular lot, we went looking for some salvaged old house parts.  And that lead us to the Reuse Depot in Maywood .  Inside a warehouse building, you'll find so much awesome.  Everything from old doors to windows to mantles and cabinets.  Some of it is plain.  Some of it is extraordinary. Including these stairs.  They were harvested out of a Queen Anne Victorian in Hinsdale that was built in