St. James Street Renovation

kitchen :: finally finished!

2009-08-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

The kitchen is complete! We finally have the sink counter in place and we bought a stainless steel work table to use as an island.

landscaping

2009-08-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

in the garden :: cucumbers

2009-08-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

in the garden :: tomatoes

2009-08-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

in the garden

2009-08-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

what we've been working on :: gravel

2009-08-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

the parking area now has gravel which makes the rainy days almost pleasurable

garden love

2009-06-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

2009-03-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

we're cruising!
I forgot to get a before picture of the porch. The condition was pretty bad. We had flower pots covering the hole so guests wouldn't accidently fall through the floor. We're very pleased with the outcome.

2009-03-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

some new shelving to house baking supplies. i'm in love (with the shelf and the guy who made it)

a new mirror!

2009-03-06T07:49:00.001-08:00

we have some catching up to do!
Here's the new bathroom mirror thanks to Pretty N Pync.

shelving

2009-03-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

new kitchen shelving. made with the help of the fabulous wood mechanic

snow!

2009-03-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

for the first time in a really long time we got snow!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

our hands full

2008-11-10T09:20:00.000-08:00

we've been busy the last couple of months and haven't done much work on the house. The Wood Mechanic aka Bankston & Bailey LLC has almost completed the mantel! Will post pictures soon!

up next... a new mantel

2008-06-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Wood Mechanic is making a new mantel for our dinning room. The original was unfortunately missing when we bought the house.

beets, okra, tomatillos

2008-06-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

before and after

2008-06-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

a new cabinet

2008-06-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

The Wood Mechanic helped us build a little cabinet that now holds all of our cookie sheets and cutting boards. Before this they were standing on the floor. This is great kitchen progress!

more garden veggies

2008-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

While we haven't had much progress inside, we have had progress in the garden.

Here's our first carrot harvest

Strawberries are still flowering

Mmmm

2008-05-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

What could be better than fresh strawberries picked from your own backyard?

Seedling City

2008-05-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Our seedlings are patiently waiting to be planted.

veggies!

2008-04-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

Our beets and carrots are well on their way!!

Pink!

2008-03-21T05:47:00.000-07:00

The sink counter is one of the last big projects we have in the house. H. E. Satterwhite approved the marble countertop back when we were getting the kitchen completed, but it cracked, so we tossed this temporary plywood piece up and turned our undermount sink into a drop in. We recently decided to update the paint with a pink! Do you think someone is excited to have a daughter?

more Mabel

2008-03-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

Mabel is such a sweet dog! She is getting more comfortable with us and has become very playful. The Wood Mechanic and his Lady gave Mabel this sheep toy and she loves it! We really enjoy watching her play with it.

Doggy

2008-03-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about getting a dog for the past couple of years so we figured it was now or never. We picked up this little gem from the SPCA last night and she couldn't be any sweeter!

Stairs

2008-03-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

We finally painted the stairs! Well my mom and uncle visited for the weekend and they painted them! Once we paint the walls the hall will be finished!

Here's a before shot:

bullet

2008-02-27T06:26:00.000-08:00

We are currently working on the last room in the house and we found this under the base trim. Looks like it's an unused bullet. Niiiice

new shelving

2008-02-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

a gate!

2008-02-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

We finally have a gate for our back fence! Thank you Wood Mechanic for helping us build and hang the door! The yard feels nice and cozy now!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

2007-12-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

We did some decorating this weekend.

snow

2007-12-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

The first and possibly last snow of the season. A light dusting on our garlic, pepper, and strawberry plants.

loaned long hall rug runner

2007-12-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

painted pocket doors

2007-10-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

sunday morning shadows

2007-10-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

half bath

2007-08-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Motivated by the light we just received for an order we placed in October, we finnnnnally painted the half bath.

Yummy

2007-07-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

we just returned from vacation to find these

2007-07-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

We came home last night to find this wedged between a tree and our back fence. It's actually the same tv my grandma had when I was growing up. She had the 10 inch though, this baby has a big screen.

harvest

2007-06-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

our first garden harvest

fence is 80% done

2007-06-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Chili Peppers

2007-06-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

Corn

2007-06-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Tomato City

2007-06-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

The tomatoes have just taken off!

Eggplant

2007-06-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

this baby grows a new huge leaf daily!

fence posts

2007-06-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

Our friends from This Decrepit Victorian House let us borrow their post hole digger and they helped us get our supplies home from the store. That was about a month ago. I think we may begin phase 2 of the back fence this weekend.

Kitchen Shelving

2007-06-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

We finally got the correct shelving above the kitchen sink

low concrete garden wall

2007-06-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

we are building raised beds for the other side of the yard with concrete walls. we made the forms from the same wood as the planter beds.

everything and the kitchen sink

2007-06-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

Our sinks and some faucets came from Ira Wood & Sons. They also have good products, discounted prices, great customer service, and free shipping. They sell a ton of different things from massage chairs, to vaccums, to sinks, to clocks.

Lights

2007-06-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

We got our track lighting in the kitchen and some of our other lights from Y Lighting. It's a great site with a ton of options at a discounted price....plus free shipping! Here's the bathroom light from Y Lighting.

calm before the storm

2007-06-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

Our garden is really starting to take off. We hope it produces lots of veggies this summer

Neighborhood Blog

2007-05-31T06:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a new blog on our neighborhood. Check it out
http://www.cjwn.net/news/

patio

2007-05-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here's stage one of the patio. We still have to get some leveling sand to finish it up and we're hoping to plant some flowers around the patio. We think it will look great when its all done.

bees

2007-04-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

We witnessed bees swarming this weekend and it was crazy! The top pictures are the bees in the tree. You may have to click on the bottom pictures to see all the bees in the sky. You can read about it here.

huge dust sack

2007-04-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

slate for patio

2007-04-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we purchased slate and the biggest bag of stone dust you have ever seen.

Little Room before and after

2007-04-19T06:09:00.000-07:00

raised planters underway...

2007-04-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Painted Hall

2007-01-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

We've been busy painting the upstairs hall.

By request...

2007-01-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

Refrigerator in action

Before and After - Bathroom

2006-12-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning

2006-12-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Ahhh ... click here to see this room 10 months ago

Wiremold

2006-12-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

We mounted wiremold to the back of our ikea cabinets. Check it out

Entrance Light at Night

2006-11-29T05:37:00.000-08:00

Curtains

2006-11-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

We stopped at Ikea this weekend and purchased some curtains. We think its an improvement from the black garbage bag/drop cloth treatments we've been sporting up until this point.

More Kitchen

2006-11-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some more shots of the kitchen and our Udden ikea cabinets. This room is one of the main reasons why we purchased this place and now that we're cooking all the headache seems worth it.

Compost

2006-11-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

Painted Door

2006-11-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

We have a temporary sink counter!

2006-10-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

We had some problems with our marble countertop. Here is our temporary fix until we get everything sorted out. We even have water!! wahooo

It's almost time for dinner

2006-10-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 11 months since we've cooked a real enjoyable meal. We are looking forward to putting our range to good use....Here's our Lasagna Bolognese with homemade macaroni

2006-10-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

If you were thinking that the house was coming along and we seem to be settled maybe you need to take a look at this

By request...

2006-10-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

We've started to unpack

2006-10-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

We unloaded some books on some temporary shelving. It's starting to look like a home.

We have grass!

2006-10-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

the living room is painted!

2006-10-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of the work we did this weekend

The bathroom is almost done

2006-10-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

Track Lighting in Kitchen

2006-10-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Sink Table

2006-10-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

We're having a few counter top issues so the sink isn't in yet. Click here to see what this area looked like 10 months ago.

True Dat

2006-09-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

Last day of an empty kitchen

2006-09-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

We got alot of work done this weekend. We finished painting the kitchen and primed all the hallways. Here are some shots of the empty kitchen. All of our appliances are being delivered in the next couple of days so this is the last view of the empty space. Im sure it wont be too long before we forget how this all looked.

kitchen sink table base

2006-09-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Here is our sink base cabinet. Atlantis Restaurant Supply had the table fabricated to our specifications. Mike over at Atlantis is wonderful to work with!

HALLELUIAH

2006-09-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting since MARCH for the city of Richmond to set our gas meter. It's a really, really, long, boring story, so I won't bore you with details. The important thing is that by some miracle, an angel set the meter yesterday which means we have hot water and can move in!

We think William Johnson would be proud

2006-09-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

The library on Franklin Street near the YMCA has what are kind of like yellow pages of the past. There are shelves of these books and the older ones are on microfilm. Each book has a couple of years worth of information in it. You look up your address and then you are able to see who lived at the property and what they did as a profession. The first date I was able to find our property was 1874. William Johnson, a blacksmith who later became an ironworker lived at the property until 1902. Interesting to us becuase the iron work on our porch is quite unique. We haven't been able to find another porch that looks similar. So with everything we're doing to our house, we often think of William Johnson and hope he'd like what we're doing.

Here's Another

2006-09-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Just for Fun

2006-09-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

The job is slowly coming to an end. We still have a bunch more to do, like get a kitchen and a gas meter for some hot water, but overall we're just tying up some loose ends now. This whole ordeal began in January and I often forget what the place looked like when we started to rip stuff up. Here is a before and after of the kitchen door. Seeing this progress confirms that living out of a suitcase for 9 months has been worth it.

More Kitchen

2006-09-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

We have lots of light in the kitchen due to the new glass in the front side door.

Little by Little...

2006-08-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

Right now we are basically tying up some loose ends while we wait for the kitchen appliances to arrive. They started on the bookshelves in the kitchen. The shelves are going to wrap around the duct work and leave it all exposed. The fridge will hopefully fit in the space beside the shelves. We have a good number of cookbooks so I'm pretty excited about their home in the kitchen.

Dipped door #2

2006-08-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the front side door a few months back. We just got this dipped. It looks much better, but it's in need of some love.

Half Bath

2006-08-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

We don't have any light in the bathroom so the pictures are a little dark...

We finished painting the kitchen...

2006-08-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Kitchen brick is primed

2006-08-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Kitchen

2006-08-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here's the kitchen floor. It doesn't quite match the rest of the house, but I guess that was to be expected. Here's the first coat

The Hallway is FINISHED!

2006-08-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

It's a miracle! The floors upstairs and the stairs are complete! These are pictures of the first coat.
Here's that patch...looks good.

Nothing is ever quick

2006-07-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

We were all geared up to get the bedroom painted when we discovered the ceiling needed some plaster attention. It's been about a month of prep on the bedroom with scraping and sanding and plastering. why o why?

2006-07-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

This house is 2 doors down from us and has been covered with various plants and weeds since the day we first saw it 9 months ago. In the past week a couple of landscapers have cleared the yard, mowed the lawn, trimmed the ivy off the fence, and have now started to clear off the house. I did some research on the property a couple months ago and found out that it was sold at auction last year to a woman who owns a publishing company in New Jersey. If I remember correctly, it was built for a well know African American physcian and later became the only school in the state of Virginia for deaf African American children. The school closed in the 70's and I think has been vacant for at least 20 years. The house is massive and seems to go on and on and on. It sure is exciting to finally get a peek at the structure.

see how far back it goes? This picture was taken back in February.

A Kitchen Floor

2006-07-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is what our kitchen looks like at the moment. It's basically empty. We still have some work to do in here before we're cooking up a storm. Roy should be putting the floor down as I type, so hopefully I'll have updated pictures soon.

Sit TOTO Sit

2006-07-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a closer look at our new toilet. It's the Aquia Dual-Flush Toilet from TOTO.

Dual-flush toilets offer two flush options: a standard flush for solid wastes and a lower-volume flush for liquid wastes and paper. The Aquia toilet, uses 1.6 gallons at the full flush and 0.9 gallons at the low flush. The company estimates that a typical family of four will save approximately 7,000 gallons of water per year with this toilet, compared with a standard 1.6 gallon-per-flush toilet.

Come on in!

2006-07-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

A new blog

2006-07-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

Our good friends recently bought a townhouse in Southwest DC by modernist architect Charles Goodman. The home is in need of some love and renovation so they've started a blog so everyone could see their progress. Check out their blog http://www.shaffthaus.blogspot.com/

It's almost a bathroom

2006-07-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

We're still waiting for our tub to get fixed and a seat for our toilet.

Our bathroom is really coming along!

2006-07-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

We're very excited about the progress in the bathroom

Another Successful trip to Caravati's

2006-07-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

We found these marble slabs at Caravati's to go in the front vestibule. We're very excited about our find. These slabs were cheaper than other tile we were looking at and we're recycling. What could be better?