This beautiful house that we’ve designed and built has two glass shower doors. I remember during the design phase it was something that both architects called out. “Are you okay with glass shower doors?” I might have hesitated briefly but said I was fine with it. In the long run I absolutely am, but in…
Hey, remember when I said we’d have an occupancy permit two weeks ago? I was a liar. This is why you shouldn’t have expectations. It was an especially quiet week at the house. I feel like I really need to push to close out this last phase. I don’t need everything 100% complete but I…
Sometimes during this project, I’ve reflected back on the moment where I lost it on the streets of Somerville. It’s comical to me at this point that I lost it so early on in this process. Nothing had even happened yet. We hadn’t discovered a rotting foundation. I hadn’t seen bill after bill after bill.…
Oh the hardware. The decision to save the hardware last Fall was rather last minute. I thought about it a few times and almost didn’t do it. There were A LOT of handles to remove. But it turns out, it is very fast work. All you need to do is just borrow your dad’s power…
One of the best parts of this project has been the revitalization of the stairs. I’ve always been intent on saving them. I love standing on the landing and looking out across the “parlor”. In some ways it feels like the soul of the house. A couple months back, I did a retrospective of the…
This was quite the week for the ole lady. The lawn really started to come in… and the cabinets were installed. Lots of really obvious things that people love to talk about. I have spent so much time watering this lawn that it’s like having an infant. I’m checking on it every three hours. I…
I’m getting confused about all the weeks at this point. I think I probably talk about them like a pregnant woman would. I’ll just start hashtaging things with the week. I was doing really well with individual weeks until this one. Life got busy and I kept having it on my list… and then I…
So the garden is officially in – and slowly taking root. Over the last two weekends I’ve been slowly selling off the remaining tomato baby seedlings. While I was a little disappointed in their size, people have been so thrilled when they buy them. Go figure. I’m not exactly paying my mortgage here but I’ve…
I have relentlessly controlled so many aspects of this house. I have picked out … everything. I did ask for consultive opinions on big things like the tub and the tile. But not to get all braggy, but I really have picked out everything without consultants. That is until it came to paint. A couple…
I spent much of the week just waiting for two things to happen. I wanted to have the gas meter installed and I desperately wanted the landscaping done. I didn’t really achieve either of those items. I honestly feel like building a house is a lesson in patience on how to not go nuclear on…
