Restore, Renovate, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rejoice! A journal of remodeling, decorating, gardening, and living in a classic Chicago-style brick Bungalow in the near-northern suburbs. Read more about us….
February 3rd, 2010
I rearranged a few things in the living room, and I really like how this corner of the room looks, finally.
The bookcase belonged to my parents. I think they bought it when they were first married. It’s a little beat up — it still has the mark from the iron my mother set on top of it — but it fits in perfectly here.
January 27th, 2010
About a year-and-a-half ago, we signed up for Residential Real Time Pricing (RRTP) with Commonwealth Edison, our electricity provider. Many utility companies across the country offer similar programs, so please check with your local provider for energy-saving opportunities on utility bills.
RRTP uses ComEd’s Basic Electric Service Hourly Energy Pricing. With it, the price of electricity varies from hour to hour based on wholesale market prices verses the standard fixed-price rate that most people have. According to ComEd the more you avoid using electricity when prices are high, the more you potentially could save with real-time pricing. It’s not necessarily recommended for those who work out of the home, as energy prices typically run much higher during the peak daytime hours. Even though I occasionally work out of the house, we’re energy-conscious and decided to try it.
The terms of the program require that you remain on it at least for 12 months. After that, you’re free to switch back to the standard fixed rate plan. When signing up, ComEd will replace your meter, and they will notify you via email “when predicted day-ahead hourly prices are expected to reach or exceed 14 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for any number of hours during the following day.” They will also alert you when the real-time price reaches or exceeds 14 cents per kWh, typically during the summer months when A/C usage is high. Presumably during these peak times you have the opportunity to turn off any energy-depleting devices to cut costs, however we really didn’t make any adjustments in our energy usage.
At the end of 2008, I reviewed our energy costs and was disheartened to discover that we actually lost money. From May through December 2008, we paid $35 more on RRTP than we would have on ComEd’s fixed-rate plan. Not a huge amount of money, but still.
I reviewed it again at the end of 2009 (you can compare your monthly energy usage and download the data when you sign up at The Watt Spot). This time the news was much better: we saved $107!
Considering I worked at home often last year due to all the construction we had going on from May through July and we added a second HVAC unit for the new second floor and increased our overall square footage by almost 50%, I’m very pleased with the outcome.
Another energy-saving opportunity with ComEd is Central Air Conditioning Cycling (formerly called Nature First), which allows ComEd to install a special switch on your central air conditioning unit that lets them cycle your compressor “off and on” during summer days with high electric demand. We receive a $10 credit for 4 months on this program and haven’t noticed any temperature difference, or whether ComEd has even needed to do it (the need is dictated by the weather — hot temperatures with high humidity — and if ComEd’s system is reaching capacity). You do not have to be enrolled in Real Time Pricing to participate in the Central Air Conditioning Cycling program.
The last option is Load Guard, in which we’ll enroll before the summer. With Load Guard, you must also be enrolled with Real Time Pricing.
With Load Guard, you can choose a price level to moderate your central A/C usage. The Green level will put the A/C in conservation mode for two hours when the price hits 10 cents per kWh, which will decrease energy usage and emit fewer greenhouse gasses. The Blue level will kick in at 14 cents per kWh instead of 10 cents if you prefer a cooler house, but of course will mean higher energy costs. Because Load Guard is a web-based service, you can switch between the Green or Blue option for the following day so for instance if you won’t be home on a hot day anyway, you can choose the Green level the night before and can always switch back to the Blue level the following day if the house is too warm for your tastes.
Since our attic space is now fully insulated with foam along with ceiling fans in many of our rooms, I don’t think we’ll have a problem with the more environmentally-friendly Green level. I’m looking forward to more savings in 2010!
January 19th, 2010
Last week the kitchen was relatively spotless so I quickly snapped a few photos. It doesn’t stay that way for more than a few minutes, unfortunately.
This is the view from the back of the kitchen, near the back door. The fridge is to the left with the pantry cabinet to left of the fridge (not shown). Before our attic remodel they were on the opposite wall to the right. The wall behind the stove moved inward 6 inches in order to widen the staircase to the second floor (on the opposite side of that wall).
Obviously, there is still painting to do here. The soffits above the stove and in front of the window hide the master bathroom plumbing upstairs.
The plumbing in front of the kitchen window doesn’t extend the width of the window, however I had the contractor frame the entire window with the soffit so that it appears to be more a design element than an eyesore that is obviously hiding something. It would look odd if it stopped halfway. We still need to have the electrician come out to install a strip of lights in that recess to provide some accent lighting above the sink. I’m also planning to hang a pot rack bar over the sink.
The IKEA pot rack in the photo below is a temporary solution on the opposite wall. The cabinets are additional wall cabinets left over from the new layout, and the countertop is a shallow section left over from the countertop above. I’ll explain more about that in another post. By placing these cabinets and counter at bar height, we can tuck our kitchen table underneath and can see the display better on the microwave.
A closer look at the far end of the wall reveals one of the projects on our 2010 To Do List: repair hole in kitchen wall. This was where the original built-in ironing board would have been located. I was hoping to find remnants of it — at least the frame of it — so that we could make a built-in spice rack out of it. No such luck.
This wall is partial sheetrock, but mostly sheetrock over plaster. Since the plaster wall is unsalvageable, I’d like to tear the entire wall out and replace it completely with sheetrock, because the plaster-sheetrock section doesn’t blend very well with the sheetrock-only section. The PO had it hidden behind the refrigerator and pantry, but it’s much more apparent now.
The former master bedroom closet is also behind the lathe. Since it’s no longer a master bedroom and is a large closet by bungalow standards, I’ve been thinking about stealing a couple feet from it and creating a pantry closet for the kitchen. It would still leave a decent-sized closet in that room (which is now our TV room), so it can still be considered a bedroom.
In the meantime, it’s going to remain a hole in the wall.
January 16th, 2010
I love carbonated water. I’ll drink much more water if it’s the carbonated variety and we all know we’re supposed to drink lots of water. But even though we recycle, I hated all the liter bottles of Poland Spring Sparkling Water we went through.
So I was ecstatic when I received the Sodastream Penguin Starter Kit
Best. Present. Ever. (Okay, not counting the Spring Rocking Horse I received when I was 2, but that’s another story.)
The Penguin comes with its own 20-ounce glass carafes, which is probably the biggest disappointment. I would have liked a bit more capacity in the bottles because we go through 20 ounces really fast. They have other models, like the Sodastream Pure Starter Kit
But, I’m still thrilled with the Penguin, and it’s super easy to make carbonated water with it: just unlock the chamber and it slides open. Insert the carafe, filled with cold water (we use tap water that is filtered through our refrigerator) and close and lock the chamber.
The CO2 cartridge is stored in the other half of the Penguin and will make about 60 liters of carbonated water. Using short, quick pumps on the “beak” of the Penguin, pump it until the Penguin whistles (it takes about 8 pumps for me). For extra fizziness, you can pump it until it whistles again. Press the button on the front to release the gas and then unlock the chamber (it won’t unlock until you press the button).
You can also purchase SodaMix flavor syrups to make your own soda (lemon-lime, root beer, diet cola, etc.), or if you prefer the unsweetened flavor essence, like I do, they have berry, lemon-lime and orange in a 3-pack. You only need about 1/4 teaspoon to add a hint of flavor to the water.
Voilà! Tasty sparkling water at a fraction of the cost!
January 7th, 2010
Continuing with our “clean theme” for the new year, we were able to start using the master bathroom back in mid-October even though it wasn’t quite finished.
As you can see here: no fixtures for hanging towels, toilet paper; no mirror or light above the sink; sink temporarily installed on a plywood countertop; no shower door; caulking in progress…
I wanted to try and save money by tiling a countertop ourselves using travertine tile similar to the floor but with less variation. The drop-in sink that I bought at a discount would help with the savings. But once we put the sink in place on the plywood base, I absolutely hated it — it took up way too much space and the little bit of counter surface surrounding the sink was too small, making it totally unusable. And after figuring out the details on all the costs involved in tiling the counter (not to mention the amount of time we’d have to put in), the “savings” dwindled away. So much for trying to saving a buck.
Not wanting to hate the bathroom every time I used it (I already have one of those), we did what we should have done in the first place and ordered a solid surface countertop with integrated sink bowl. A painful lesson, but worth every additional penny.
That was installed in early November and we slowly kept chipping away at it, mounting a towel ring, towel bar, toilet paper holder, clothes hook, and the lighted mirror, all of which we bought on sale at Restoration Hardware.
The lighted mirror wasn’t initially in the plan. I never liked the light bars that are mounted over a mirror and wanted to install the more flattering light source from sconces on either side of a mirror. Because we also installed a countertop cabinet, it didn’t leave much room for sconces, so I was happy to find an all-in-one solution: a mirror that provided soft, flattering light (and cost about the same as a mirror and sconces would have). If you need a strong bathroom light, however, don’t buy this. With an overhead light/fan combo, a light in the shower, and a huge skylight in this room, we have plenty of additional light sources.
For the counter cabinet, instead of installing a spacer to the right of it, which was a necessity so that the drawers would clear the light switches, receptacle and thermostat and the door wouldn’t bang into the wall, I found acrylic shelves at The Container Store. At 6 inches deep and 12 inches wide, by mounting them parallel to the side of the cabinet it created little cubbyholes to tuck away unsightly things like Pete’s shaver and display shelves for lotions and other girly things. Clean towels can also be rolled up and stored here.
I’m pretty pleased with my little spark of genius there.
Between the shelves, the counter cabinet, the under-sink cabinet and lower drawers, we have tons of storage here.
Now for the pièce de resistance.
Shortly before Christmas we finally arranged to have our shower door installed. Because it’s a custom fit, I was holding off as long as possible to save up for it (especially after the sink debacle; I didn’t want to cut corners here). It’s a large enough shower to contain most of the water, so it wasn’t much of a problem to shower without a door. We just had to point the shower head toward the wall and watch out for a stream of water running down our elbows and out onto the bath mat.
I really, really wanted a frameless shower door and I love this thing. It has a nice, clean, streamlined look, and it shows off all our hard tiling work! So far, upkeep is a breeze and we haven’t had any problems with streaking. 
The shower guy suggested using a squeegee if needed, but we really haven’t needed it yet.
The final “fixture” you’ll see here: Günter. With the radiant heat flooring, he literally spends almost 24/7 here. I can’t say I blame him.
January 5th, 2010
I think it’s appropriate to take a “clean, fresh” look at our new laundry room, just like the start of the new year feels to me.
Back in October, Pete and I laid the Marmoleum tile, an all-natural linoleum flooring, and our washer and dryer arrived soon afterward.
We opted for the pedestals, both for additional storage space and to make it easier to access the clothes without a lot of stooping.
According to my research, the Bosch Vision 500 Series Washer fit our needs best.
It appeared to be the most energy-efficient, quietest washer on the market. Because this was going on the second floor, a washer with the least amount of vibration was also a big advantage. The added security of their Aqua-Stop feature, which shuts the water off immediately if it detects a leak, also sold us on Bosch.
The companion gas dryer has a steam option, which is good for people like us who rarely iron.
Now that we’ve used them for a few months, in general I’m very happy with them. I can definitely feel the vibration when the washer is on the maximum spin cycle, but considering the speed, it’s very minimal. It hasn’t walked its way across the room, so that’s a good thing. For smaller loads, we found it best to reduce the spin cycle, which you can change with a touch of the button.
There are a couple minor quirks, like the beeping when the load is done on both the washer and dryer. It seems to continue indefinitely and I haven’t checked to see if that can be turned down or minimized.
The dryer has a sensor to detect when clothes are dry, so the dryer tends to shut down at various times — some clothes are dry while others are still damp. I guess it’s a good thing so that quicker-drying clothes don’t get “over-dried” (if there is such a thing!), but it means more trips to the laundry room. That’s not a big issue since it’s in our living space now, but several trips down to the basement would get old really fast. There’s probably a better way to handle that, but I haven’t checked the manual to see if it can be adjusted.
Since we went with a red, gray and white color scheme here, the old red IKEA computer desk from the basement fit in perfectly here and should be a nice little sewing station (I really must break in that sewing machine!).
And, what laundry room wouldn’t benefit from a little organization? With The Container Store’s Annual 30% off ELFA Sale in full swing now until mid-February, our New Year’s break was the perfect time to purchase and install shelving.
Another transplant from the basement was our under-counter refrigerator, which came from the laundry room in our previous house. Although we used it when we hung out in the basement with guests, we didn’t have an “under-counter” spot for it in this house, so it was wedged next to the bar. Since the additional attic space is turning into a lounge/exercise/yoga/gaming spot, we thought we’d get more use out of it upstairs.
The small coffeemaker, a thoughtful Christmas gift from Pete, allows me to get my coffee fix without having to crawl downstairs to the kitchen. He knows me so well!
This shelving unit is located directly across from the red desk, and that’s about all the room that’s left here. It’s a very small room, around 7-ft by 7-ft, which seemed like plenty of space until the washer and dryer arrived. The original plans called for the furnace in this room, and I’m so glad we moved it to another area or there would be absolutely no room to move.
I’d like to get a little artwork or something on the walls in here, and we have an idea for mounting a wire shelf above the washer/dryer to use as a drying rack. Yeah, yeah, it still needs trim and a door (and I have a great idea for repurposing a basement door, which will have to wait at least until spring because it involves paint stripping) — minor details, right? — but for all intents and purposes, this room is done!
January 5th, 2010
While 2009 was a banner year for renovation, our 2010 goals will be more modest and much less exciting:
Let the projects begin!
January 4th, 2010
Now that we’re well into the new year, I thought I’d start my first post of the year with the ever-popular review of 2009.
What started out as a modest “plan to continue planning” the unfinished attic renovation quickly turned into construction reality. Although Pete and I are both self-employed in different businesses and industries, we were truly blessed with no drastic ill-effects from the economy. There have been many years in the past where we’ve both struggled, so I feel extremely fortunate that we have seemingly weathered the worst of it. Here’s hoping that continues in 2010 as I pursue new opportunities for personal and professional growth.
But I digress.
While the first couple of months were spent planning, by March we had finalized the attic renovation plans and quickly received approval from the Village Building Department. By May we had secured financing and chosen a contractor. We also decided to hold off on the mudroom. (Looking back, I’m very glad we decided to wait on that since a new roof and other changes cut drastically into the budget.) By July the contractor’s work was completed and the rest of the year was spent continuing the project on our own. It’s still a long way from “done” but by October we officially moved our bedroom upstairs and have slowly been completing various projects. I’ll be posting the latest (long-overdue) photos in the near future.
The second goal was Patch plaster walls in main floor bedrooms. Although fully intending to handle it ourselves, we succumbed to “let’s pay someone to do it and get it over with already” which also allowed me to complete another goal: Paint remaining main floor rooms. Done and done. While I was irritated with the plaster guy, I’m very happy it’s completed.
After receiving a sewing machine as a Christmas 2007 gift, I had big plans to Make roman shades for bedrooms (lose the $5 paper window coverings already!).
Well, I’m ashamed to say that the sewing machine STILL has not been used, and I instead opted for super-cheap top-down/bottom-up cellular shades from JC Penney (check often for sales). I’m still glad we went with them.
Next on the list was Finish basement bathroom.. No progress there, and it’s not high on the priority list for 2010. Although it’s still down to the studs when we demo’d it even before we owned the place, Pete added some drywall on the unfinished side of the basement to make the room a little private. At the very least it’s functional.
The final goal for 2009 was to Continue planting prairie garden. We made a little progress there, however most of the yard is still either weeds or dirt. I just received a catalog from Prairie Moon Nursery and hope to make more of a plan for the outdoor space in the coming months.
The 2009 Wish List included a new kitchen, which was partially realized because we had to move a wall in the kitchen to accommodate the new stairs. It allowed us to rearrange the layout into a much-improved workflow using the existing cabinets. New cabinetry will have to wait, but I managed to get a new sink and faucet, so I’m happy about that.
The “ups” of 2009 were not without its “downs”.
The saddest moment in 2009 was the unexpected loss of my dear cat, Axel. I still miss him a great deal, unlike his brother Günter who has become my shadow and best buddy. Even though they were from the same litter, Günter has shown no sign of mourning and seems rather content to be an only “child”.
We also had quite a scare with Pete’s dad over the summer. While he will never regain the strength he had, nor will he be able to live independently, we recently celebrated his 90th birthday and we’ve all adjusted to his new way of life.
On that note, may we all be so lucky to celebrate 90 years! Here’s to a happy, safe, healthy and prosperous new year to all!
December 12th, 2009
With the temperature plummeting over the past couple of weeks, Pete decided to move the bird feeder from the side yard and into the backyard so that the birdbath heater could be plugged in. Now that we turned the TV room into an office, it has been a great source of entertainment for me on days I work from home, like yesterday.
Our basic setup includes sunflower seed, suet and Nyger thistle feeders.
As you can see, the The Bungalow Chronicles Diner was quite busy yesterday.
At our last visit to Wild Birds Unlimited, our favorite critter resource, we saw a suet feeder made from a piece of wood with holes drilled in it to hold the suet. Instead of paying $30 or so for it, Pete decided to make one with a piece of oak — I think it may be from our firewood pile.
To make your own, all you have to do is drill some round holes in a few spots, penetrating about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way into the wood. Screw an eye hook into the top and hang on a chain from a tree or your feeder. Spread the suet into the holes and wait for visitors.
It didn’t take long for the Downy Woodpecker to find it.
Hint: if you hang it from a tree where squirrels have access, buy or make suet that contains cayenne pepper. The birds aren’t affected by it, but the squirrels can taste it and will leave it alone.
Speaking of squirrels, a squirrel baffle on the feeder is a necessity, but that doesn’t mean it won’t keep them from trying any way they can to get to the seed. If it’s close enough to jump from the garage or house eave, they’ll do it. So far, ours seems to be at a safe distance to keep that from happening. However we decided to spread a little Christmas cheer, so we bought some seed balls at Wild Birds Unlimited for a fraction of the cost because moths had gotten into them. The guy at the store said they’d be perfect for the squirrels.
Pete rigged up a hanging post using the stake and hook from our solar lanterns. The first seed ball was stolen quickly, so Pete secured the next one with heavy wire and that seems to have worked.
Some may think it’s wrong to feed the squirrels, but they’re not going anywhere, and just from my observations they’re territorial enough to keep others from moving in. Besides, who can resist seeing those cute little critter tummies? Certainly not I!
We don’t feed the squirrels or the birds all the time, and studies show that they don’t become dependent on feeder food and will not starve if you don’t continue.
However during the winter months when temperatures are below freezing a water source is helpful for wildlife survival.
Unfortunately you can’t completely control who visits your feeders (mourning doves are our least favorite), but I do love it when the Cardinals come for a snack.
(and yes, I wish they wouldn’t poop on the copper feeder roof, but they don’t seem to listen to me)
November 27th, 2009
My heavy workload did not let up until late Wednesday afternoon, which didn’t leave me a lot of time to prepare and cook for thirteen on Thanksgiving. I did manage to run out at lunchtime on Tuesday to get the grocery shopping done, but would have liked to have more prep time.
Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who chips in a great deal with household chores and cleaning, so I had one less thing to worry about.
I tried some new recipes this year along with the old standbys (mom’s stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, buttermilk mashed potatoes, creamed spinach).
I wanted to try a cornbread-based stuffing this year and found a yummy recipe on Epicurious. The mixture of cornbread, cranberries, leeks, pecans and Italian sausage looked so good in the bowl, I had to take a photo.
The flower bouquet from Trader Joe’s gave the table a nice shot of autumn color.
And, the first attempt in the convection oven, with the help of another delicious Epicurious recipe, was a moist, delicious success.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
November 17th, 2009
Oh dear, another week and a half gone and I haven’t been a good blogger. Once I get through a tight work deadline over the next week, that should change. Of course on top of work and teaching I also have Thanksgiving to prepare for, and the house needs more tidying up before next Thursday.
We’re into the little projects these days — the ones without a lot of punch, but with a big day-to-day impact. The new home office, which became the dumping ground for all clutter, is coming along. After moving the file cabinet and some other storage containers from the basement (along with a trip to Container Store), I tackled the mess. It still has a ways to go, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to stay on top of paperwork much better with a dedicated home office rather than with various spots scattered throughout the house. Maybe our dining room table will be used more for eating than for yesterday’s junk mail!
We’ve also been working on the kitchen and added a couple of wall cabinets that were left over from our summer mini-remodel. It gave me some much-needed additional storage space, and gave us more counter space as well. Photos to come.
Pete built a skinny base cabinet for the other side of the stove that now houses cookie sheets and the like. We saved a small piece of butcher block just for that purpose. It makes a huge difference, not only to have a spot to rest utensils while cooking, but also in finishing off the stove. It was a slide-in stove without the slide-in appearance and just didn’t look great. Now it’s starting to look like a cook’s kitchen!
Like I said, photos to come as soon as I can catch my breath.
November 6th, 2009
One of the great things about living in Morton Grove is the amount of green space for a suburb that’s so close to the Chicago city limits. The North Branch of the Chicago River runs through the town not too far from our house, and the river is surrounded by the Cook County Forest Preserve. The north branch bike trail winds through the preserve and leads all the way up to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.
It’s been a hellish work week, so I’ll just leave you with some photos I took on a walk with Pete earlier this week in Linne Woods and the adjacent Linne Prairie.
Entering the trail from the nearby residential neighborhood:
The swollen Chicago River:
Walking along the unpaved path to the prairie:
Prairie grasses with the forest in background:
The lone red leaf greeting us in front of our house:
Happy weekend!
October 31st, 2009
The rain finally stopped late yesterday afternoon and the sun peeked through the clouds to let us know that it was still around.
The view from our front yard:
The neighbor’s trees have already dropped all their leaves, but ours are still trying to hold on:
I imagine we’ll be raking them up over the next couple of days (if the rain holds up, that is), but I hope to enjoy the vivid colors while it lasts.
October 29th, 2009
Every Friday, the Chicago Tribune publishes a feature story in the Homes section about one community in the Chicagoland area, and last Friday was Morton Grove’s turn.
It was a pretty good article, I thought, however I think their home sale ranges are misleading as the recent home sale on the low end was a foreclosure sale. It makes it appear like homes in that price range are commonplace, when they are probably quite rare (at least I hope they are!).
In any case, it’s true what they said about Morton Grove’s public works department: they are excellent with snow plowing and removal — even in our alley — and instead of having to bag our leaves like in other communities, we merely rake the leaves to the curb and they collect them and sweep the streets every Wednesday.
Other good points: close proximity to Chicago’s Loop (downtown) and public transportation, home affordability, large percentage of green space.
On the minus side: lack of restaurants, nightlife and a shopping district.
All true, however we’ve been working on patronizing the local restaurants instead of driving to other towns. Two of my favorites: Violet’s Cafe for breakfast, and Burt’s Pizza, which was considered to be the best deep-dish pan pizza in Chicago, featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. It is definitely delicious, and I must admit, it took me a while to “discover” this place, but I’m hooked now.
If you go, however, don’t expect to just “drop in” for pizza — they only have one pizza oven, and they prefer that you call ahead to order. They’ll let you know when to show up, they’ll have your table ready, and they’ll serve it to you when they said they would. (If you order a salad, go for the the basil vinaigrette: delish!).
Yes, there is some “quirkiness” (read the comments on Yelp), so if you’re not willing to go along with that, don’t go. Burt won’t care. He may seem “gruff” to some people, but Pete and I talked to them for a while one night, and they’re really nice people.
We tried to order a pizza for take-out on Sunday and the line was busy, busy, busy. I finally gave up and we ordered from Pequod’s (Burt was an original founder of Pequod’s, and it seems like there’s some lingering bad blood). It was a big let-down now that I’ve tasted Burt’s pizza and I fear that eating anywhere else will be a big disappointment from now on. Of course, on the bright side, I’ll probably eat a lot less pizza, so I guess it’s all good!
Oh, and besides having just the one phone line, they don’t have a web site, they don’t take credit cards, and they’re not even listed in the yellow pages. If you need their number, it’s 847-965-7997 and you can check out the menu here on Urban Spoon. Bon appetit!
October 29th, 2009
Last weekend was the second one in a row we’ve spent taking apart our furniture. This time: the TV room sofa.
Our move to the master bedroom upstairs left an empty bedroom — since Pete’s girls are grown and we already have a guest bedroom, we don’t need to use it as a bedroom — and since our current TV room was located at the back of the house in a very sunny room, we decided to turn that room into an office space and make our old bedroom the TV room. It’s in a more central location than the other room and is still near the kitchen, so it’s a logical move.
I remembered when we first moved into the house, the movers had some difficulty getting the sofa through the door, but somehow they managed (they also managed to tear the fabric, but since it was near the back of the sofa, I didn’t make a fuss about it).
We made several attempts to maneuver it through the standard-width doorway, but it was too tall and too wide. Since the woodwork is nicely finished now, as opposed to the day we moved in, I wasn’t willing to do any shoving. Besides, we had to move it through three, count-em three, standard-size doorways, and I had neither the strength nor the stamina to hold it up and tilt it for very long.
Time to remove the myriad staples on the dust cover and figure out how to take apart this puppy.
We discovered that the front two legs and the wood trim spanning the front of the sofa was easily removed, but it was the back legs that were more of a problem compounded by the height of the sofa backrest. We had to pull back the fabric a little to access the bolts that held the back legs.
Honestly, why don’t these furniture manufacturers design furniture with legs that are easily removed? It can’t be that hard, and I would imagine that most buyers in my price range need to move furniture through standard size doorways. We don’t have French doors or wide doorways, and it was not some huge, overstuffed sofa — we bought one of the smallest sofas I could find.
We still had to maneuver it a bit, but we managed. Pete is starting to put the sofa back together here (which went much, much faster than taking it apart!):
I was happy to see that this was much better constructed than our piece o’ crap box spring was:
The soon-to-be office, almost empty:
It’s going to be a while before we can properly furnish this room. For now, perhaps we’ll assemble some tables that have mysteriously accumulated in our basement. I have some ideas on how I’d like to design this space, but I’d also like to do it on a DIY level rather than having to buy expensive office furniture.
I haven’t taken photos of the finished space yet, so more to come.
October 23rd, 2009
We’ve been working on the attic remodel for almost six months now, which, for a project this size, isn’t bad. However the planning for the project has gone on much longer than that. While there have been a lot of details to consider, it has really been a “big picture” project: to add more living space to a previously unfinished, unused part of the house.
We saw the forest, and now I’m ready to start focusing on the trees. There is furniture and accessories all over the house that may need to be transplanted to a new space where they will be better appreciated and have room to grow, and there are many small projects — saplings if you will — that are waiting to be nurtured to help the house reach its fullest potential.
If the weather continues to be as dreary and rainy as it has been the past couple days, it will be the perfect weekend to help our little saplings grow into majestic trees — the little details that make a house our home.
October 20th, 2009
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the Historic Chicago Bungalow and Green Home Expo over the weekend. Of course, our washer and dryer were delivered in the middle of the day, preventing me from straying far from home. I had plenty of other things to do around the house, so I guess it’s just as well. If you went, I hope it was beneficial.
Once the washer and dryer were installed (forgot to take a picture!), Pete still had to hook up the dryer vent from the knee wall to the dryer itself. That took a little while, because of course there were some obstacles to work around. I’ll review our washer/dryer choices later on.
Next, it was time to move the bed. The mattress went up, no problem. The box spring, as I suspected, was another story.
This is the stairway opening:
The wall cut-out prevented us from angling the box spring enough to make it into the stairwell.
So, with help from this tutorial on instructables.com, we set to work.
We improvised a bit, as our box spring isn’t a true box spring, but rather a platform for our Tempurpedic mattress (we only had a metal bed frame when we bought the mattress years ago; the mattress is really designed to sit directly on a platform bed frame). The “box spring” is basically a cheap box made out of 1×2″ pine with a few blocks of 2×4s for support. It’s topped with a piece of cardboard (CARDBOARD!) and covered with fabric. Sheesh, I think we paid a couple hundred bucks for this piece o’ crap.
Following the tutorial, we cut the dust cover in half. In our case, we should have just removed the staples holding the dust cover and fabric covering on one long half, but it didn’t really matter either way. Since we didn’t have actual springs and cushioning on ours, we ended up just sawing the entire damn thing in half, including the cardboard topper, and reassembled it upstairs with scrap wood, sistering it to the pieces we had to cut.
It’s stronger than it has ever been, and the annoying creaks and squeaks that it developed over the years seem to have disappeared.
That little project did it for the rest of the day.
It was a bit of an adjustment to sleep in the new space. I awoke several times during the night, and I think part of it was hearing new sounds and fearing that the bat could still be around (I don’t think so, but I’m not completely convinced, either).
The next day, we moved the dressers, did laundry while organizing and rearranging, and after moving them upstairs, ended up moving some dressers back down and swapping them with ones from the guest room downstairs. They’re all heirlooms/hand-me-downs from our families, all made from hardwood and all VERY HEAVY, even without drawers. We got our upper-body workout for the day.
Our new bedroom is a little challenging to arrange because of the shape, but I think it will work (hence the reason why we swapped with the guest room dressers; they seemed like they would work better).
While we busted our butts all weekend, Günter discovered the radiant heat on the new bathroom floor and spent most of his time here — better here than leaving fur all over the furniture. (Btw, the cove base tiles you see in the photo haven’t been installed yet; our tiling skills were better than that appears!)
He is soooo happy with the new space, and I have to say that I am too. It’s still going to be a bit of an adjustment, but definitely a welcome one.
October 16th, 2009
I just saw an article today that insurers are dropping homeowner policies if their house was built using Chinese drywall.
How horrible for these poor people who unwittingly bought a house with this imported drywall and then had to move out because it was causing health problems, not to mention corroding pipes and emitting volatile sulphur compounds! Now it appears their insurers are denying claims if their house contains Chinese drywall or refusing to renew the policy unless the drywall is replaced.
Chinese drywall was first imported in 2003 and most was sent to the southeast, especially Florida.
As much of a pain it was to have 200 sheets of drywall lying around the attic for about 10 years — thanks to the previous owner — at least I know for sure it’s not from China and I can breathe easy, literally.
October 16th, 2009
Attention all Chicago-area homeowners: The Historic Chicago Bungalow and Green Home Expo takes place TOMORROW, Saturday, October 17 at the Merchandise Mart from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Speakers include Lou Manfredini, “Mr. Fix-It” from WGN Radio, Bob Yapp, former host of the PBS show The House Doctor, and Kelly Edwards, co-host of HGTV’s Design on a Dime.
Workshops include Greening Your Vintage Home, Metal Work: Arts and Crafts for Every Home, and Grants and Loans for Preserving, Restoring and Greening Your Home, just to name a few. Download a schedule here.
Exhibitors include architects, contractors, and other companies offering services and goods for the homeowner, many of them designated as a “green” exhibitor. The complete list is here.
We’ve been to the expo in the past, even before we bought our Chicago-style bungalow, and there’s something for all homeowners, whether you’re looking for ideas for landscaping, home improvement tips or resources for hand-crafted Amish furniture and green goods for the home (both great stores located in our work neighborhood in Evanston).
Best of all, it’s free! Click here to register, and you can enter to win an Energy-Star washer and dryer or a free home energy audit!
I’m hoping to get down there, however our washer/dryer delivery was pushed back to Saturday and I don’t know yet what time they’ll be arriving. (If only I waited a little longer, maybe I could have won them!)
October 15th, 2009
Okay, okay, remodeling a home for climate change could be somewhat of an oxymoron: there can be a lot of waste heading for the landfill, for one, however some disposal companies will recycle construction and demolition (C&D) debris. Since 2007 the City of Chicago has required contractors to recycle at least 50% of their C&D debris (let’s hope they comply).
But to continue with part 2 of Blog Action Day on Climate Change, I’d like to offer some ways to remodel an old house in a somewhat-affordable and eco-friendly way. It may not be the cheapest way to go, but we feel that it will pay us back in savings over the years as well as in a “feel-good” sense.
We’ve lived in our 80-year-old Chicago-style bungalow a little more than two years now, and we’ve already done a lot of remodeling. Whenever we take on a project, we do our best to remodel in ways that will be respectful to the environment, whether it’s to increase energy savings or to conserve natural resources.
In addition to the little things we do on an ongoing basis: replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescents, recycling, etc. here are some of the “green remodeling” projects we’ve completed to date:
or The Silent Paint Remover
While there’s always room for improvement, I’m happy with what we’ve done so far. We’re planning to live in this house for a long time, so we’ll continually seek ways to remodel in a earth-friendly manner.
Note: While I very much appreciate and welcome reader comments, I will not allow comments that are specifically made to promote your cash advance or vacation rental site, nor is my blog a vehicle for your opinion or political leanings regarding climate change. Sorry.
