When we transformed our garage to our dining room in “Our House”, we had to build out a ledge to accommodate and hide some utilities. But once the French doors were installed, I realized it wasn’t going to take much time at all before we found ... Keep Reading...
Really? Another Interior Window?
Yep! And I’m not done, there are still more to come. Today’s interior window fits into two of the categories I’ve already started from our former house, both the Dining Room Series, and Interior Windows Series… This is an exterior window ... Keep Reading...
Monday’s Simple Cleverness…Picture Hangers
Not all picture hangers are created equal, nor are they meant to be. Each serves its own purpose and for good reason. Here are my favorites, all of which are readily available at hardware stores: Of course, who could do without the age old ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Who Knows What Lies Beneath…
Well I know what lies beneath now, because I have been busy with wallpaper removal!!! And I have the bandaids on several of my fingers to prove it. As I was scraping with a wide blade putty knife, I kept scraping my knuckles on the rough plaster ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage, Window Treatment Removal Reveals Sad Surprise
In the process of removing the wallpaper in the living and dining rooms at “The Little Brick Cottage”, I also removed the very ugly, dusty and dated window treatments. Excited to get them down to let in the light and behold the beautiful tall antique ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: A Lot of Time, Work and Money and Not a Lot to Show in a Picture
The past week or so has been a lot of time, work and money for sure, and pictures don’t really do it justice, but it’s still good news. We now have the whole cottage re-wired,(boring to look at in a picture, but I’m going to show you anyway :), so ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Kitchen Plan Revisited and Finalized
If you’ve been following along, this picture is not new to you, we had to completely remove the wall between the kitchen and bathroom. And rebuild it, only a few inches in toward the kitchen, build the new doorway between bathroom and kitchen ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Back Entry Problems
The back entry of the cottage is the most used entry on a daily basis, because the off-street parking is in the back of the cottage. Once you enter in the back door, you can walk straight ahead to a couple of steps up to the the kitchen, or you can ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: More Surprises!
So remember how excited I was to find the old oak plank flooring under the kitchen linoleum? That was a really sweet surprise. Well I found another sweet surprise… This was the dining room before we did anything: It had carpet and this ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Bathroom, There’s Room and Progress!
Let’s re-cap from where it was: Remember? Gross carpet on floor, really icky cabinets and tile counter, folding shutters for the door, and a tub misplaced under the window, no shower, and a terrible floor plan that didn’t allow easy access to ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: This Kitchen is Moving toward Big Changes, with Sweet Surprises at the End
The previous location of the sink in this corner on the wall shared with the bathroom on the right and dining room straight ahead, was an awkward location for it leaving no place for a dishwasher. Really, once we looked closer, ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Now this Kitchen has a Plan
What’s wrong with this existing kitchen floor layout? Let me count the ways: ... Keep Reading...
When depression screams at you, Ice it!
Here is a trick I learned a long time ago, I don’t recall where I originally heard of this trick, but I’ve used it for many years, and it works every time. You know those depressions left behind in the rugs and carpets when you move a piece of ... Keep Reading...
Interior Windows, Part 3
It’s all about the Attitude I told you we have several ‘interior windows’ in our former house and I wasn’t kidding. Here is another example of an interior window. The story of this interior window is I bought just the antique patterned ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage, It’s Gone! All Gone!
Ok, let’s look at some before and afters: We’ve seen this view a few times, but it’s gone now… ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Little Brick Cottage, This Bathroom has a Plan, sort of, maybe.
The actual square footage, of the bathroom is quite generous, but as you see below, just to get to the sink is nearly a hazard, not to mention there is no shower because the window is in the way. ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage: Living Room and Dining Room. Trust me, this is progress.
Yea! The carpet and pad is out of the living room and dining room. Remember, this is what it looked like: ... Keep Reading...