Scene: The Navage Patch front yard, two summers ago. A young youngish middle-aged man kneels before a slanted white lamp post, trowel in one hand, packet of dried bulbs in the other. The package reads, "Lily of the Valley," but for all the middle-aged man understands from bulbs, it might as well read, "Valley of the…
Pantry Makeover
On a hot and humid August Saturday last summer, I decided to clean our shed. As Barish and I were spilling its contents onto the lawn, Handan came running up with a camera and started to document the event. She later insisted I write a post about it. I fought her on that idea. Who…
Mailbox Makeover
For three and a half years, Handan and I were the shameful owners of The Saddest Mailbox on the Lane. Each day, I would watch our neighbors waltz out to retrieve fan mail, love letters, large checks, gift packages and sweepstakes award notifications from their resplendent black mailboxes sitting atop flawless white perches, their posts tucked into…
Guest Bathroom Renovation – Part 6: The Reveal
CONTINUED FROM>> Holy crap, we did it! Fifty three days. Dozens of trips to Home Depot. Gallons of coffee. Thousands of swears. A little bit of blood, and a glassful of tears. There were days of dark despair when nothing seemed worth it - not the project, not the house, not the blog, none…
Guest Bathroom Renovation – Part 5: I Hate This Project
CONTINUED FROM>> I hate this project. Let's just get that out of the way. I hate this project more than anything else we've done, including the Pond Project...and I really hated that one. But it's Friday, and I don't want to be cranky, so I'm going to let go of my hate. I'm going…
Guest Bathroom Renovation – Part 4: No, it’s Not Done Yet
CONTINUED FROM>> There's a cool cinematic technique you've likely seen, but may not be aware of, called the dolly zoom. Also known as the Vertigo zoom, it is performed by moving the camera away from (or towards) a subject while simultaneously zooming in (or out) so that the subject remains the same size…
Guest Bathroom Renovation – Part 3: A New Toilet and More
CONTINUED FROM>> I started my hunt for the new wall paint color by asking Google. I figured I'm not the only clueless schmuck out there trying to coordinate wall with tile. "What wall colors go with beige bathroom tile?" I typed. The results flooded in, and most looked like this: I started to panic.…
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next Page »