February 22nd, 2010
The problem with having such a long list of things that need to be done (or purchased) is that it’s difficult to know where to start. Well, we KNOW where to start: the basement walls. They’re cracked and bowing, and they need to be addressed first. We’re going to be installing wall anchors to pull the walls straight from the outside, and that’ll probably be done first thing after the ground thaws out and dries out this spring. It’ll be a pretty big, expensive project, although hopefully it’ll be taken care of within a few days’ time.
The problem, then, is figuring out what to tackle first after the walls are completed. Here are a few prospects:
- Tearing up every square millimeter of carpeting in the house and installing hardwood flooring ourselves
- Tearing out and rebuilding the basement bathroom
- Tearing out and replacing the stairs leading down to the basement, and walling-off the stairs and putting a door at the bottom of them so that it’s a separate space that isn’t open to the upstairs
- New couch
- The Kitchen of Doom
I’m going to follow this up with a series of posts filled with ideas that I have for these projects.
Where would you start?
Basement, Kitchen, Living Room, Renovation, Shopping | 
2 Comments »
January 25th, 2010
Over the weekend, Kevin and I finally came to the soul-crushing conclusion that we need to get rid of the Expedit bookcase in our living room. It was soul-crushing for me, anyway. After moving it twice, I think Kevin was sort over the whole thing. Basically, our living room is simply too small and dark to have this black, hulking piece of furniture taking up so much room. Plus, we’re both trying to pare down our belongings, to move out of the realm of packrats who are owned by their belongings, and each and every one of those cubbyholes calls out to me in my sleep to be filled with new and interesting bits of nostalgia and kitsch. I can’t do it anymore! Behold, bad cell phone pictures:
Our lounge really isn’t a bad size, considering the fact that we live in a pillbox rancher from the 1950s. This bookcase, as you can see, makes the room look quite a bit smaller and more crowded. Also, it really limits the layout of the room, because it’s impossible to put it on any other wall. And sure, we’ve got cool stuff, and we like to showcase the REALLY cool stuff, but it doesn’t need to be out on display at all times. We want to streamline.
Over the weekend, I came across the shelter blog The Brick House (via Anna from Door Sixteen) for the first time, and I became smitten with her DIY shelving wall unit project. I’m talking deep smit. I love the very minimalist lines, with lots of wall white-space visible. Kevin’s into the idea, although he thinks it might be a little too “industrial” for his taste. Any ideas on keeping the same general concept, but making it a little foofier?
P.S.: You can probably see from the pictures above what I’m talking about when I say that any design we do, until the gross carpeting is replaced with hardwood floors, is basically turd-polishing. Maybe I should put down an area rug to cover as much of it as I can.
P.P.S.: If I spent half as much time doing stuff to my house as I do perusing shelter blogs, it would be way further along than it currently is. Maybe I should add that to my list of resolutions. Less convolutions, more solutions.
Inspiration, Living Room | 3 Comments »
January 7th, 2010
While our region of Iowa is being covered with a blanket of drifting snow, we’re spending a lot of time indoors. Why not make it a little prettier, a little brighter? Okay!
On one of many (many) recent trips to our favorite little Iowa City junk shop, Artifacts, we came across a Lightolier sputnik-style pendant lamp. I passed by it at first, since it’s hard sometimes to just SEE everything that’s in the store, there’s so much to go through. As I was heading towards the front to leave, I spotted it and new it had to be mine. Kevin even liked it, and sometimes it’s hard to convince him to like anything. We got it for a very fair price and ran right home to trade out the old fashioned (and not in a good way) light fixture in the part of our living room that would normally serve as the dining area.
I only have two issues with this light:
- Four of the globes were missing, so we’ll need to figure out where we can buy more, and then decide if we want the new globes to be smokey and transparent or the translucent white
- The stickers on the light don’t offer much information, and I’m having a hell of a time researching the piece. Does anyone know anything about Lightolier sputnik lamps?
I think I’m in love!
Design, Living Room, Shopping | No Comments »
