The Making of a Craftsman Home

February Living/Dining Room Progress

2012-02-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

We're making progress on the living room remodel project. The tile installer was here and dry packed the floor in front of the fireplace. The tile is another 4 to 6 weeks out from being delivered. That puts the delivery estimate in late February early March.

We are progressing on the replacement of the living room ceiling. At some point in the 60s/70s the ceiling was replaced with a popcorn ceiling. There was a time when we thought we could just get use to the popcorn look, but we ultimately decided that it needed to go. We looked at having contractors do the work, but we either couldn't get them to return calls, or the price was prohibitively expensive. We did all the drywall in the kitchen ourselves, so we decided to do the same in the living room. So far, we've raised all the panels and have started taping and mudding. The plan is to finish mudding and sanding in the next two weeks. The walls, which are still in pretty good shape, will remain the original lath and plaster. We boxed in above the built-in cabinet in the dining room to give it a more finished look. We will finish the sides of the cabinet with frame and panel wood.

We've been pouring over the Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interiors book by Robert W. Lang to figure out the construction of our frame and panel wainscot to be installed on the back wall of the living room and dining room. We finalized our drawings, calculated the lumber list and have started collecting the materials. We ordered six sheets of finish grade fir veneered MDF core plywood that's been loaded into the workshop. The current plan is to begin cutting this down into the appropriate size panels and stain before installation. The vertical frames are being built out of 3/4" reclaimed vertical grain fir lumber that will be milled down to the required 1/2". Seeing the lumber material in the workshop is getting us very excited about this project.

There are no shortage of misc. other small projects in the works. We have pulled most of the baseboard and misc. other bits of trim that need to be stripped of paint, sanded and stained. Stripping paint has to be one of the most torturous home remodeling activities ever!

More updates coming soon.

Antique Chandelier Repairs

2012-01-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

A year or so ago we picked up this chandelier light in a couple of boxes. It was literally in a couple of boxes and in desperate need of repair. A couple of the light fixtures had brass pieces that had broken off, so we were able to rivet them back together using rivets crafted from copper furniture spikes. The individual light sockets were in good shape, but needed new insulators which we installed. We rewired the entire fixture using a new cloth wire. The light shades have slag glass that is in red and green tints, and only a couple are broken. Thankfully, all of the glass pieces are still there, so we can glue them back together.

Once the repairs are complete, we plan to install the fixture in the dining room over our dining table. This light fixture should be good to go for another 50+ years.

Hurry and Wait: An Update on the Tile Work

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Home remodeling can be a a roller coaster ride sometimes. We were pretty anxious to get the tile installed, and so working with our tile installer we figured out quantities and placed the order. That's the good news. The less than good news is that our tile supplier doesn't have the tile in stock and therefore they had to order it from the supplier which is located in Wisconsin. The supplier doesn't have it is stock, and so they have to make it to order. That pushes the delivery of the tile out 5 to 7 weeks. Not ideal, but I'm certain we'll be able to fill the time with other projects.

Okay, so now we shift gears, but to what? Hmmm....

Winter Wonderland

2012-01-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

Icemageddon 2012

2012-01-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Snowmageddon 2012 event has morphed into an Icemageddon event. The Seattle Times is reporting 120,000 customers without power. The Governer has declared a state of emergency for the region. Snow eventually turned into ice, and at this point we have somewhere between a quarter and a half inch. So far the power is on at our house, but not everyone in the area is so lucky. Here are some photos. Enjoy ~

UPDATE (3:00 p.m.) Still got freezing rain coming down. When is it going to stop? You can tell that the birds here aren't use to this. I witnessed one bird sliding out of a tree. Pretty funny. We still have power! AMAZING

Pacific Northwest Snowmageddon 2012

2012-01-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, we thought the end times weren't until December of 2012, but apparently it's arrived early! The News Tribune of Tacoma is reporting Snowmageddon: "If you don't have to go out, don't". You don't have to ask me twice -- I'm more than happy to stay home! We officially have 6.25" and the snow is beginning to taper off.

From Tacoma, Happy Snowday!

Tile Installer Starts Monday

2012-01-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

Drawings are complete and designs are final. We thought we knew exactly what we wanted in the kitchen, but we changed the plans last minute. We're very exited to get this job started.

Monday the contractor is coming in to tear out the floor in front of the fireplace and dry pack it at the appropriate height. The Motawi tile we've selected for the fireplace is .6" thick, so the floor will need to be cut in deeper to accomodate.

Switchplaces from James Mattson Coppercraft

We're so excited about the progress that we've started looking at finishing touches for the living room. We're considering ordering switch places from one of my favorite craftsman studios. We've had a link to James Mattson Coppercraft on our blog for years, but we have yet to incorporate any of his work into the house. This may be the right opportunity to bring some of his work into our home.

I'll be posting photos of the tile progress soon.

Kitchen Countertops

2012-01-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

After months of part-time work on this project balanced around full-time jobs and busy lives, we finally finished up the final countertops in the kitchen. When we started out, we had salvaged hardwood maple butcher-block counters that had previously been industrial grade work tables. We designed, cut, glued and reworked them into long countertops that fit the design of our kitchen. This was a large task, but the final product was well worth the effort. There is still a decent amount of work remaining to finish our kitchen remodel project, but the end is definitely in sight. In the coming months the plan is to rework the cabinet faces into a craftsman frame and panel look. We're also finalizing the tile design so that we can engage a professional tile installer. To think, in the not-so-distant-future we'll spend more time cooking in this room than sawing and hammering. How nice that'll be!

Bookshelf Front Installed

2012-01-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

As part of the living room remodel, we recently removed the fronts from the salvaged built-ins we picked up from a Tacoma salvage job and retrofitted them to install on our mantle bookshelves. We completed the initial installation of one, and couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. One down, and one more cabinet front remaining.

Bringing A Little Louis Sullivan Into the Kitchen

2012-01-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Sullivan original tile.

8+ years ago we moved to the Northwest from Chicago. We recently went back home for a visit and had an opportunity to visit the Chicago Art Institute. On display was a tile piece by Louis Sullivan that was salvaged from a Chicago building. Interestingly, we had been looking at the Motawi Sullivanesque collection for the tile job in our kitchen. The one we had picked named Cicero (pictured below) seemed to have a similar flow to it as the one at the Art Institute. Needless to say, I'd love to have the real deal, but I expect the Art Institute probably isn't interested in selling the one on display out of their permanent collection. If you're in Chicago, be sure to stop by the Art Institute and bury yourself amongst the art for a day (or two).

Sullivan influenced tile by Motawi.

2012: The Garden at Rest

2012-01-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

It's a pretty peaceful time in the garden this time of year. It's a great time of year to plan and anticipate the 2012 growing season. So far this year we've received two seed catalogs. That always help kickoff the season and get you through the remaining winter months. The following are some photos of the landscape taken the last couple days. Enjoy ~

Above: Lots of interest in the bark and remaining green leaves of those plants overwintering. The garden is really showing off its "bones" this winter.

Above: Snowberry is one of my favorite Pacific Northwest native plants to landscape with. All winter long it features large oblong white berries that really stand out. It's easy and simply beautiful. The green to the right is our bay tree, which seems very happy.

Above: My name is Rosetta, and I am the cutest cat to ever walk this part of the land. I'm very stealthy, which is why you can barely tell me apart from the rocks.

Above: Our overwintering Potager kitchen garden. Pictured are beets, onions and chard which are still hanging on this winter.

Above: The few remaining leeks overwintering and keeping the Potager interesting this winter.

Above: Our remaining woodpile. A nice fire helps take the chill off the air during cold wet evenings.

Dining Room Legs

2012-01-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

We've been on the hunt for a dining room table for more than a year. We've looked at auction, antique stores, websites, and even at building our own. Then, the Craigslist gods presented the perfect set of antique table legs (a pair). That gets us at least a bit closer to having a dining room table. All we have to do is add a table top, insert a brace between the two legs, and then we've got ourselves a pretty awesome table.

December Project Progress

2011-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

We're making slow but steady progress on a couple of projects around the house. First up is the kitchen countertop. We recently finished cutting out for the farm sink, and for the faucet. We ran into a snag when we determined that the counter is thicker than what our 100 yr. old salvaged faucet allows for. We routed out a section on the underneath side of the countertop to allow for proper fitting. We hope to get the countertop installed in the next couple of weeks, which will be a major milestone for the kitchen remodel project.

The mantle bookshelf project is moving right along. We dismantled the salvaged bookshelves and leaded glass doors, and are rebuilding the fronts to fit onto the bookshelf built-ins under the mantle. After removing the fronts, we cut them down to size, and are adding a small quarter-inch furring strip for an exact size match. This project is coming together nicely, and we hope to have the new fronts installed and the leaded glass doors fitted by January 2012.

Bench Upholstery Project

2011-12-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

We have a long list of furniture we've collected over the years that needs to be re-upholsterered or fixed in one way or another.

An antique bench we found on Craigslist a few years back has made it to the top of the list. The upholstery fabric is ordered, and it will soon be outfitted with a new cushion. That's at least on step in the right direction.

Bench:

Fabric:

We ordered just enough extra fabric for 2 or 3 throw pillows for the living room settle once we get around to completing that project. Maybe 2012?

Seasons Greetings

2011-12-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mount Rainier National Forest 2011

Mantle Progress

2011-12-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

We finished stripping the paint and sanding the mantle. Next step is to build the new bookshelf fronts and stain.

Now:

Newly stripped and sanded mantle.

Before:

In the beginning before the paint was stripped.

Stripping paint off the mantle.

Paint stripper used on the mantle.

Living Room Fireplace Mantle

2011-12-04T16:15:00.001-08:00

We've made good progress on the living room remodel project. We completed the paint stripping and have now started sanding the fireplace mantle. We're two days in, and based on our current progress, we expect to have the sanding finishing next weekend. To tackle this project, we stapled a plastic curtain to the ceiling to conceal the sanding dust. Wow, what a mess it makes.

The goal is to finish sanding the mantle and then begin the finish carpentry work to install the glass fronts on the mantle built-in bookshelves. In addition, we just got a quote in from a tile installer, and the installation of tile on our fireplace is within our budget. Hopefully we can start this project in the Spring. In January, we're going to start calling drywall installers to get a quote on covering the popcorn ceiling. My dream/plan is to have a majority of this project wrapped up by late April.

Mantle being stripped of paint and sanded.

2011 Project Retrospective

2011-10-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

2011 was another productive year. Fall always seems like the right time to sum it all up and "close the books" for the year. The garden is largely done producing, and we are slowly transitioning to new or different projects. The following blog entry is a retrospective of another year of progress.

Kitchen

It was another big year in the kitchen. We've been working on this project for a number of years in our spare time, and each year it gets closer and closer to being done. When we started the year, we had just finished the installation of dry-wall. Since then, we've painted, built and installed cabinets, built and installed countertops, installed ventilation, gone through the arduous process of getting a gas line installed for the cooktop and more. Here are some more photos of our progress:

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

Potager

This project has been in the works for years, and this is the first year we've been able to harvest the fruits of our labor, literally. We spent a lot of time putting together plans for the garden this year, and as the year progressed the plans changed as they normally do. Next year will be an even more spectacular year for the garden, that is if the weather cooperates.

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

Landscape

It was another big year for the outdoor landscape. We had some lofty goals, and we managed to accomplish quite a bit. We completed our outdoor kitchen and dining area. We completed the first phase of the landscape on the North side of our house. We planted approximately 130 new plants include 5 new trees.

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

Vacation

Occasionally we treat ourselves to a nice vacation, and that was certainly the case this year. 7 days in Spain and 7 days in Paris. One of the most amazing vacations I've ever had. Here are some photo highlights from the trip.

Spain:

Paris:

Misc. Other Home Projects

Here are some misc. other projects we completed this year.

Above: newly remodeled utility room. New floor, new wall paint, new shelving and new water heater.

Above: Kitchen pantry cabinet we installed in the utility room for extra food storage.

Above: Newly installed EPA certified wood burning stove to help keep the chill off.

Above: We started the process of painting each and every rafter tail to match our house trim color.

Fall Color

2011-10-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Utility Room 2.0

2011-10-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Old laundry room.

Our utility room was always pretty ugly. When we first bought the house, it wasn't completely separated from the kitchen, so the furnace was practically sitting out in the room. During the kitchen remodel, we closed in the utility room and added a door to separate it from the rest of the space. That was helpful, but it made the room feel even smaller.

We started this project because we bought a new water heater to replace the old one. The new water heater is a high efficiency heat pump type that we received a Federal discount on. The plan was to rip everything out of the room, install a new floor, paint and then get everything reinstalled in a weekend. That's just what we did.

Here are some photos of the project:

Above: New vinyl flooring. We picked vinyl because it is easy to clean and a water resistant surface.

Above: New energy efficient GE heat pump water heater. It's an attractive looking machine. We painted the room to match the kitchen colors.

Above: The controls on the new water heater allow you to set the temperature, as well as the efficiency settings. You can temporarily set it to fast recovery for high-demand hot water needs. The energy sticker on our old water heater claimed 5,000 kWh per year. The new GE claims 1,856. According to my calculation, the new water heater will save us approximately $25 per month.

Above: The newly organized and finished utility room. It looked a lot better before we put everything back into it, but it feels much more organized now. We installed a large shelf in the back for laundry and recycling. This room also houses the cat box and now there is room for cat liter storage. Not bad for a weekend project.

Preserving Food

2011-10-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes and peppers in the smoker.

A friend came over and brought with her a case of tomatoes, a case of peaches and a case of red peppers all sourced from local farms. With that started the fun that ensued in the kitchen for the next 2 days. We canned smoked red pepper spread, smoked tomatoes, peach butter, hot & spicy peach BBQ sauce, and a Guinness mustard. Not bad for a couple days worth of effort. Altogether, we each walked away with around 30 pints of canned goods. The new gas cooktop got a serious workout!

In the next couple of weeks I'll put up some cranberry relish sauce in time for T-day.

Living/Dining Room Remodel

2011-10-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

Salvaged built-in cabinets

We're picking up the pace of the living/dining room remodel project. A few details have changed since we last talked about this project. First, we've decided to go with a more open floor plan. That means finding a new use for the room divider cabinets we picked up from a Tacoma salvage store. We have since removed the glass front doors from the cabinets and deconstructed the cabinets. We have carefully stowed the wood away for use in future projects, such as the library cabinets we are going to build in the future.

Fireplace mantle and bookshelves

The new plan is to install the cabinet doors on the fireplace mantle bookshelf surrounds. At one time we have grand plans for rebuilding the mantle, but have since decided to keep it simple and refinish it as it exists today with some minor modifications to make the glass doors fit. To make this a reality, we need to finish stripping the paint from the mantle, which is nearly 80% complete. Next up is to cut the new bookshelf surround frame and install. Then, we'll begin the work of sanding and staining the mantle. I expect to be able to finish up the majority of the project before the end of the year.

But wait, there's more -- a lot more. We're looking at different tile products to redo our fireplace, which is currently a 60's style brick. We love much of the tile offered by Motawi Tileworks, and have set sites on the gorgeous field tile in the picture to the right. We're making a trip to Seattle in the coming weeks to look over their tile products and get some ideas. Our current thoughts are to use the same field tile in the kitchen and living room, but use different embedded art tiles to make the room unique.

We're also looking at drastically changing the color scheme in the living room. When we first moved in the living room was a mustard color that had been sponged with a gray silver color. YUCK! One of the first things we did to the house was to paint the living room and dining room. We picked a very dark and rich merlot color and painted the walls and ceiling. It wasn't the best choice. The colors are very dark, and the room swallows any hint of light. We have a 300 watt bulb in our floor lamp, and yet it is still to dark to read. The color makes the room feel much smaller than it is because it is so dark. The plan is to paint three walls Leapfrog green (Sherwin Williams SW6431). It is the color highlighted in the picture to the left between the two black lines on the color swatch. It was picked by matching it to the color in the background of the wallpaper we're going to use on the back wall of the living/dining room. The plan there is to build wood frame and panel wainscoting 5 feet up the wall with a plate rail. Above that we are planning to use hand screen printed wallpaper we've selected from Bradbury & Bradbury. The ceiling will be painted Roycroft Vellum (SW2833), which matches the ceiling color in our kitchen. That should help to brighten the place up a bit, but still make it feel cozy.

The list goes on. New light fixtures, box beams in the living room, new ceiling to cover the popcorn installed in the 60s, stained wood work, etc. It's a long process, but I look forward to making progress on the project.

Living/dining room. Left: Wall to be wainscoted.

The Big Harvest

2011-10-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

Canning is one of those things I vaguely remember my grandmother doing, but had never tried myself. Well, I can now say that I've done it. So far this year, I've put away 21 pints of pickled beets and 7 pints of pickled dill carrots. All contents are fresh from our garden this year, which makes it even more exciting. Next year, I'll have a better idea come garden planning time, now that I know what I can more easily preserve.

The canning was all made easier with our new American 921 pressure canner that's capable of doing 14 pints or 7 quarts. This weekend I'm going to give an Apple chutney a try. I'll post the results.

The New Cooker

2011-10-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

New gas range and double ovens

It's been a long time in the making, but we now have maple butcher block countertops, a new gas range and a set of double ovens installed! It's been one heck of a productive week for the kitchen remodel project. We've had a couple of days to test the ovens and the cooktop, and we're pretty pleased. It's nice to see a project come together and to be able to reap all the benefits. Next up is the hard part -- deciding on an accent art tile for the backsplash to mix with our white subway tile. Oh, and all the trim and finishing the cabinets and painting them. All small things :-)

2011 Garden Photos

2011-09-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos of the garden during the 2011 season. Enjoy ~

Vegetable Garden 2011

2011-09-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Picture of the new Potager garden taken in August, 2011.

It was certainly not the best gardening year that I've ever had, but I blame it on the lack-luster weather in the Pacific Northwest and not my skill. Okay, so maybe it was a mix of both.

We put the Potager to good use this year, and it supplied us with plenty of onions, leeks, chard, lettuce, spinach, and even a handful of tomatoes!

Before picture taken on March, 2011.

The space has come a long ways over the last couple of years. This spot was the former driveway, which we removed a couple of years ago. It took quite a bit of time to get the space turned into what it is today. Just earlier this year, we were building raised beds out of cedar timbers and hauling in dirt by the wheel barrow load.

Cardoons and Calendulas

I'm about ready to retire the garden for the year. Soon, I'll be mulching beds and getting them ready for next spring. Then, we'll start the process over again. Hopefully next year mother nature will bring us a decent spring.

Side Yard Progress

2011-09-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

We're making more progress on the side yard on the North side of the house. Side yards are difficult because of the long narrow shotgun shape. There were a couple of goals in mind for this project. First, we wanted to landscape it in a way that would allow us to build up dirt along the foundation of the house. This should help prevent the foundation from taking in so much water. Second, we wanted to tie it in with the back yard and give it some elevation change. We did this by building up the path in areas using fill and landscape rock. We're going to hold off and landscape this area with woodland plants next year. This year, we are laying mulch to hold back the weeds until it is planted.

View from the front-yard. Through this gate is the side yard.

View of the side yard through the gate.

Picture earlier this year when we started this project. Here you can see how we've started to build up dirt along the foundation.

Kitchen Pot Rack

2011-09-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

We recently completed and installed a new kitchen pot rack. We spent a good deal of time searching the web looking at other homemade and custom built pot racks. We ultimately settled on a simple design using materials we already had available. The 4x4 vertical posts are recycled from a banister railing we picked up. The remaining lumber is mostly scraps we had laying around. The brass bars are a Second Use find, and complement the brass we've used throughout the kitchen design. We built the rack perfectly centered around the light fixture which we just recently installed.

Summertime

2011-07-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it is finally summertime in the Pacific Northwest. Like clockwork, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and mother nature switched on the sun.

We haven't posted many blog entries lately, but rest assured we haven't been bored. Here are some projects that have been keeping us entertained:

Kitchen Cabinets

Above: Building and gluing the kitchen counter tops together. This counter will surround the farm sink we've installed. The counters are being built from recycled hard maple butcher-block.

Above: Both the top and the bottom on the counter will be sealed with Waterlox. Applying Waterlox is a long process that takes 5+ coats over the course of several months.

Above: Set bolts that are helping to reinforce the glue joins on the newly assembled counter tops. These will be on the underneath side of the counters.

Kitchen Pot-Rack

We recently added to our collection of copper pots, and not only do we want to display them, but we want to make them easily accessible in the kitchen. Having them hang from a rack on the wall just isn't working, since it scars the paint and beats up the drywall. Therefore, we are designing and building a pot-rack to hang over the island in the kitchen.

Above: Kitchen pot-rack is built from recycled 4x4 timbers from an old banister railing. Brass bars are something we discovered at Second-Use and just had to have. Thankfully, we have a purpose for them now. A set of additional bars will be mounted on the inside for a total of four rows of pot hanging capacity.
Garden Gates

Above: We constructed a fence and garden gate on the North side of the house that matches the one on the South. I was able to order matching gate hardware from Van Dyke's Restorers. Next step is to stain the gate and the fence to help preserve the structures.

Above: It's a fence.

Above: ... and now it is a gate. We built this gate to look like a fence panel on the South side of our workshop building. There is a long strip (30+ feet) that runs alongside our workshop that is perfect to store "stuff". Now, we can store stuff and we don't have to look at it. Perfect!

Outdoor Kitchen Dining

This project has been a long time in the making. This year we hauled in 4 tons and basalt rock, 3 1/2 yards of gravel so that we could finish this project and others. Now we can step out of our kitchen into our outdoor dining area. In fact, I'm typing this blog entry sitting at the very table in these photos :-)

Above: The outdoor kitchen dining area being constructed. We put in some rock for decoration and a foot bridge over to the orchard area. We laid underlayment and then put in 5/8 minus gravel. Unfortunately, we can't use the crushed brick because we can no longer find the product. Sad.

Above: Here is the view from our kitchen dining table through the French doors we installed last year.

Above: The cats seem to approve of the new dining area.

North-Side of House Landscape

We're building up the dirt against the foundation to help with the drainage problem. We're installing a path, and building a low area so that the gutter water will have somewhere to go other than into our foundation. This area will be landscaped with woodland plants sometime next year.

Above: Lining the path with rock and laying cardboard as weed barrier.

Above: The path raises up almost a foot to create a low spot where water from the gutter can collect during the rain seasons. I used old broken brick to raise the path height up. Next step is to pour gravel for the path and mulch the whole area.

Misc. Other Photos and Projects

Above: The kitchen potager after one of the coldest Springs on record in the Pacific Northwest. Not bad. We won't be getting any tomatoes, but we have more arugula than we know what to do with!

Above: We found this old metal kitchen cabinet that's perfect for our outdoor kitchen. In the coming weeks we'll be installing the brick patio, install the cabinets and pull the grill down off of the deck.

Above: An arial view of the backyard.

What kind of spring is it in the Pacific Northwest?

2011-05-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

You be the judge. Picture taken of our Dogwood on May 11th 2011:

From 2011 Landscape

Picture taken of our Dogwood on May 2nd 2010:

The Making of a Craftsman Home

February Living/Dining Room Progress

Antique Chandelier Repairs

Hurry and Wait: An Update on the Tile Work

Winter Wonderland

Icemageddon 2012

Pacific Northwest Snowmageddon 2012

Tile Installer Starts Monday

Kitchen Countertops

Bookshelf Front Installed

Bringing A Little Louis Sullivan Into the Kitchen

2012: The Garden at Rest

Dining Room Legs

December Project Progress

Bench Upholstery Project

Seasons Greetings

Mantle Progress

Living Room Fireplace Mantle

2011 Project Retrospective

Fall Color

Utility Room 2.0

Preserving Food

Living/Dining Room Remodel

The Big Harvest

The New Cooker

2011 Garden Photos

Vegetable Garden 2011

Side Yard Progress

Kitchen Pot Rack

Summertime

What kind of spring is it in the Pacific Northwest?

Progress on kitchen cabinetry

Happy Native Plant Appreciation Week

Spring Planting

Vacation Photos from Spain and Paris

Everything old is Old

Progress on Outside Projects: gates, beds, and new fence

Spring Projects: garden gates and raised vegetable beds

Kitchen Oven Cabinet

Rosemary Giardiniera french toasty omelette

Part II: Installing the cooktop vent hood

Part I: Installing the roof vent for the kitchen cooktop hood

Upper kitchen cabinetry

Kitchen progress and fireplace...

2011 Gardening Plan

Kitchen Progress

2010 Projects in Retrospect

Matching Door Lintels

Pond progress

Remembering the Luzon

More pond progress

Pond 2.0 continued...

Rose Hip harvest

Out with the season

Fence installed

Potager paths and patio are in!

Summer project progress photos

Our urban wasteland kitchen garden

Pond 2.0

Now! with New Improved Franken Heater!!

Built-in In-wall iPad Cabinet

Mastering the Art of French Doors

Mulching

Follow up: Kitchen coat and shoe cabinet

The door of perception is now wide open

The orchard is now open

Our Dogwood in full bloom

Vacation to Mexico

Raised Orchard

Kitchen coat and shoe built-in

One gate down

Spring potager

Counter tops

Finished laundry room door

Laundry room door

Sunny days

2010 garden planning

Hello, my name is Rosetta

Kitchen ceiling drywall

Salvaged workshop doors