Finishing Touches in the Guest Room
Finishing touches for the guest room, including a reversible dinosaur duvet.
Category: Projects
Guest Room Makeover
Painting the guest room while it was empty, and sponge-painting a big tree on the wall.
Big Glass
Roxy Glass replaces the fogged-up double panes in the great room’s huge downstairs windows.
Garage Lighting
Replacing the dim garage lights with bright new bay lights.
Courtyard Lighting Revamp
A storm toppled one of our courtyard lights, and the revamp of all five continues.
Plastic is bad, mmmkay?
Replacing the brittle plastic panes in our old Pasadena street lights with real glass.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 7 (Dénouement)
Getting off the diesel: after seven days, the old 50-year-old system is gone and our new Fujitsu units are running.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 6 (The Small Gotchas and the Studio)
Getting off the diesel: a couple of small gotchas, and heat for the studio at last.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 5 (Opening the Walls and Making Piles)
Getting off the diesel: opening the walls for the new mini-split system’s ducts and drains.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 4 (What Was Left)
Getting off the diesel: the relics left under the house once the old ductwork was gone.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 3 (Demolition)
Getting off the diesel: a week of upheaval as the old furnaces and ducts come out.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 2
Getting off the diesel: what was under the house, and the Ventwerx crew arrives to start demolition.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 1
Getting off the diesel: decommissioning our twin 1966 furnaces, starting in May 2018.
Birdhouses of Purgatory
Choosing and installing ten birdhouses around the property.
Lost Wall Videos, Part 2
A drone video shot just after we finished the Great Wall project.
Lost Wall Videos, Part 1
A lost video from the middle of the Great Wall project, now narrated and posted.
And On the 15th Day, There Were Gutters
After 50-odd years without them, the house finally has gutters, made on site by Commercial Gutter.
Yet More New Fencing
Replacing the white wooden fence along the main gate and road with simple wire fencing.
The North Garden Now-ish
The North Garden a year later, with a new bench and our still-unnamed dinosaur.
Filling in the North Garden
Planting the North Garden outside my office, where the deck over the septic tank used to be.
Exterior Repairs Prior to…Gutters!
Our painter fixes the fascia and trim so the house is ready for gutters.
Replacing the Second Water Heater
The second water heater gets replaced, and now we’d like to move it somewhere more useful.
Last Studio Details: Blinds and Curtains
Motorized blinds and heavy drapes go up, and the studio project is finally done.
Studio Painting
Painting the studio a soft yellow and bright orange.
Sealing and Lighting the Studio
The studio saga nears its end: sealing up the space and adding lights and a pretty yellow rug.
Fast Kitchen Makeovers, Part 3
Fast kitchen makeovers: a simple shelf and coat hooks by the kitchen’s swing door.
Fast Kitchen Makeovers, Part 2
Fast kitchen makeovers: brightening up the brown kitchen without spending a small fortune.
Fast Kitchen Makeovers, Part 1
Fast kitchen makeovers: replacing the Hampton Bay fans’ chunky remotes with proper wall switches.
The North Garden Takes Shape
Spreading topsoil with Giggles as the North Garden takes shape.
Finishing Touches in the North Office
Sanding and repainting my office’s wooden blinds to match the new rose walls.
Office Recoloring
Repainting my office in two shades of rose, done while I was on vacation.
Bathtub Gardening
Gathering the old bathtubs the horses once drank from and placing them in the future North Garden.