Closet Conundrum

Closets without Doors are:
	Great! I love the curtain idea.
	OK. Sometimes it's done right, sometimes it looks messy
	I don't want to fight a curtain to get to my stuff
	I like a nice sturdy door to contain all my junk thank you very much
	Curtain doors look like a HGTV DIY renovation good wrong
	Too trendy, tacky, and kinda lame.
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The beginning of the end . . .

I hope. With the new year approaching it's time to think about what the next plans will be. 2009 will wrap up the renovations with completing the bathrooms, kitchen, downstairs floors, deck and painting (among other small projects). The goal is to finish by summer's end and begin to actual enjoy our space by fall without thinking about making any changes.

Step 1 - clean out the clutter. Stuff is taking over our life and space. Since we have no basement and one small storage closet we are taking the first part of 2009 to clear out and clean up all the junk. This may require storage space elsewhere - but hey, I'm all good with that. Most of the stuff we never use anyway. Getting the "stuff" out will allow us to organize and live more peacefully. At least, that's the idea. Eh, maybe we'll just toast to our junk and call it a day.

Home from the Holidays

After a nice trip visiting friend's and family we are back at DC Rowhouse. The house is filled with luggage and gifts. We'll probably leave it like that for about a week as we fight over the Wii fit (you can snowboard with it!!). After that, we'll start to work on the house again. Maybe.

Just for giggles . . .

Somehow, the memory of shopping for our very first "grown-up" apartment popped into my head and I erupted in laughter from my office. My poor office mates must have found this very creepy/annoying.

Let me set the stage:

It's 2002 and Dan and I have decided to live together and move into a "real" apartment in Boston. We went to see a real estate agent and asked them to show us some properties. Now, we didn't have all that much scratch so we settled on something "under 1500, maybe more like 1200" for a price range and initially refused to look outside of Boston proper. I don't quite remember how many apartments we were show by this particular agent, but, I do know two things: he drove us around in a car and illegally parked at every stop, and he showed us the most fucked up apartment I have ever seen in my like (and I have seen some doosies).

We got to an apartment in the Fenway area and from the outside it seemed just okay. It was in a larger building and this realtor explains it was a two bedroom and going for 1400. He knocks on the door. It seemed like the tenants were home. I heard someone coming to the door. I felt promise building in my heart as I waited. Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to look at anymore places and I could just plunk down in this one. The door began to open. Have you seen the Goonies? Yes? Well, Ma Fratelli answered the door and Sloth is plopped down in a chair behind her in the living room - which is a trapezoid shaped space of about 50 square feet. Ma Fratelli is also wearing her pants above her belly button and some tall white sport socks with red stripes on the top. I have no idea what she was wearing for a shirt, I believe this is because my eyes barely left the floor. I just remember panic setting in that I even had to set foot in this place.

Ah, the floor. The low grade basement-type carpeting had probably never been vacuumed. The two bedrooms that were directly off the living room, were filled with bare mattresses and a messes I can only describe as being the place were all good things go to die. The galley kitchen branched from the living room and was filled with trash. Some of the cabinet knobs littered the ground. I am assuming Sloth pulled them off (because he is super strong in Goonies and I will assume that applies to this person too) and simply dropped them out of his meaty hands onto the "carpet". I have no recollection of the bathroom. I don't think I wanted to even head down that road.

This "apartment" was probably all of 600 square feet and I am so thankful, because I was in and out of there in about 2 minutes. We were all silent when we left. It probably took about a week to process that visual massacre. The fact that I can still remember it so well 6 years later proves that it certainly made an impression.

Holiday Lights

On my way to the gym this morning pre-6am (I know, sick) I noticed how many people had their holiday lights still on. Did these people forget to shut them off the night before, or this their thing - leaving them on all night. This year, I put up some lights on our deck and I had the feeling I would constantly forget to turn them off. Enter the best product ever. I picked mine up from Walmart for 8 bucks, but they are all the same thing. It has a sensor that turns the lights on at dusk for a set amount of time (2 hours, 4 hours, etc). It's genius. Now, instead of tripping up the steps when I come home, there is a lovely light display. Seriously, it's amazing. Also, it's pretty eco-friendly since it only allows the lights to be on for a set amount of time and you never have to worry about shutting them off.

Holiday Decorations: Encased Lights

Another cool thing I saw on the holiday house tour was the mini-light strands wrapped in fabric. This picture doesn't do it justice:

It was best showcased with some greenery wrapping up a spiral staircase:

Again, this was done by Casa Da Mar.

My next house. ..

Will have to have an island in the kitchen. And, I want it to look just like this:

This counter top glows via lights underneath. So amazing!!! It makes the space interesting without having an overwhelming feature present all the time. More on this kitchen can be found here.

House & Blog Anniversary!

Well, we have owned the house for a whole year now. Feels like 3-4 months to me (Dear Father Time, please stop moving at a rapid pace). It is pretty hard to believe a whole year has passed. I have definitely learned a lot, become more tired, and maybe a little crankier. Lazier, for sure. Though the shiny-newness of the house has worn off, I am still excited to finish the rest of my projects.

Holiday Decorating

I think the time has come that people are in full gear for Holiday decorations in their house. While I am lagging behind, what with the pumpkin still on the front steps and all, I certainly have seen many ideas to share. I recently went on a holiday home tour and found some great and inexpensive ideas to share. The first, which I saw last year in Martha Stewart Living, was to hang ornaments in your windows. Here is Martha's rendition:

The interior designer I saw had them hung on ribbons and draped over the window lever - so they hung on the lower half of the window. This was a great idea because you can use a smaller ornament, cause no damage to your window casing, and hang it and remove it with ease. Well done! The information on the designer (whose decorating ideas were to die for) can be found at casadamar.net.

Teepee

Over at thisyounghouse.com they have a great bathroom remodel featured. I love the sink. I also love. . .the toilet paper holder.

I guess I am pretty into bathroom accessories lately. Perhaps it's because I can't begin my bathroom remodel just yet. The planning stage is the best part anyway. My tryst to Waterworks yesterday really got the wheels in my head turning. Now, I just have to find some ice blue crackle ceramic tile that is not 35 bucks a square foot.

Anyway, this TP holder rocks! It would also solve two fight in my house. The first is that someone NEVER refills the TP. This same person (I will not name names here) also likes to leave copies of the New Yorker littered around the floor or shelf. I found a similar piece at Potterybarn (it may be the actual one from the photo - who knows!):

Anyway, I'll add this to the longer-than-life list of things to get.

Waterworks

Have you been to Waterworks? If you haven't, you need to go.

This afternoon I sauntered in myself. I was there to check out their amazing products and get some ideas. Now, can I afford a 2k faucet? No. Can I steal their ideas and buy one that looks like it? Yes. Yes, I can. The showroom in Georgetown is magnificent and the amazing line of tile upstairs was heavenly. I have to say, the staff was pretty nice and helpful. The bad thing was the snob factor was pretty high on the snotty scale. But, once I told them I was actually remodeling and not just leaving greasy fingerprints in their studio - they seems a little more helpful.

The specialty tile they have is insane. When you get down to it, ordering a few pieces of amazing craftsmanship can add a huge impact to your overall look. A border of hand glazed tile it what I have in mind. Until then, I'll just have to ponder over the tile samples she gave me and hope the economy gets better.

Fall. . .

Nope. I didn't take a digger (though, it is quite likely knowing my affinity for accidents). Fall, the season, seems to be ending. Tonight I'll try and take my dead mums and rotting pumpkin off the front steps. Doesn't that sound inviting?

I'm not going nuts with holiday decorations this year. No tree, at least. My folks will have a tree and I will bask in it's soft glow. No need to have one at DC Rowhouse too. This year, I'm a little sensitive about cutting down a 20 year old tree for decoration. So, just one for my family seems OK.

Did this post cheer you up? Yeah...me too.