Chelsea and I love stained glass in old houses and buildings. Unfortunately, ours didn’t come with any. I had been looking at the house with the idea of replacing a window with a stained glass panel at some point. I finally became fixated with the large four-pane window at the top of our stairwell. It …
In a previous post, I mentioned that many of the ceiling fixtures were mounted were off-center. I ended up moving the electrical pan almost 4 inches to the right (as you walk in the door). Once that was done, I was able to install our newest, and possibly last, plaster ceiling medallion.
One of the previous owners installed an aluminum year-built house sign. I have no idea how long it has been hanging on the porch. I just know that it was faded and corroded due to age. I tried cleaning the plaque but to no avail. I then tried taping off the brass-colored parts so I …
I knew there were some light fixtures in bags stored in the basement. I had glanced at them but felt there were more pressing issues to deal with. After several days of painting (and needing a break from it), I decided to see what was down there and determine if any were worth replacing. I …
The original color was Sherwin Williams Natural Tan. Looking at them, I thought the foyer, hallway and stairwell would be the equivalent of painting two rooms. I was wrong. In most cases, it has taken one roll of masking tape per room to prep for painting. Those areas took three rolls and the beginnings of …
When we bought the house it had two of those large rectangular thermostats that were installed several decades ago. I knew I wanted to install newer versions that we can control from our phones and are supposed to be smart enough to be more energy efficient. In our last two houses, we had Nest and …
While prepping to paint, I unscrewed the thermostat found near the upstairs landing. Behind it is not one but two layers of wallpaper. Surprisingly, the floral with the dark background is remarkably similar to the wallpapers we have been looking at for the downstairs half-bath. Update: I found the same wallpaper behind the downstairs thermostat. …
January 28, 2022 8:30 AM — I started touring a house in the Historic District of Concord, NC. 10:28 AM — Returned rental car. 11:23 AM — Got to my gate at the airport for the return trip to Troy, New York. 11:24 AM — Made an offer on the house I had visited earlier. …
It is a little difficult to tell from those two photos, but the old color was a medium dark taupe. The new color is Big Chill (Sherwin Williams SW 7648). That is the same neutral grey we used in Chelsea’s dressing room and will likely use in the hallways and guest room. (Update: I was …
Chandelier fresh out of the box. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take a picture until after I attached three of the arms. A test install to make sure it functioned correctly and to get a sense of whether the size was correct for the room. The first tier of crystals is in place. Ditto the …