Our place was rented out for a few years before we bought it, and the occupants added some interesting personal touches. This painted curb, for example, which looks like a red-blue-white national flag…for some fictional country. We planned to add a curb number anyhow, so obscuring this little number would be a bonus. The painted …
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Yearly Archives: 2013
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curb appeal
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letter plate
This gold letter plate really stands out. And not in a good way. We wanted a simple, flat, silver replacement. Turns out, that’s not so simple. There are some okay(ish) options around, but the only one we really like is this one. But we’re not spending $225 on a letter plate. So we didn’t. We …
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gray side
Remember my post about choosing paint colors? Well, we finally settled on a gray we liked, and decided to paint the indoor portion of siding, in our living room. It’s designed to be the same color as the exterior, to provide a seamless indoor-outdoor transition. We tested a patch on the right, with our sample …
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room and board
As mentioned, Karen’s parents are visiting, giving us a great excuse to spend some time in San Francisco –they’ve never been, so we showed them the sights. While there, we took time out to visit one of our favorite stores, Room & Board. All the usual suspects are represented, from Eames lounge chairs to Noguchi …
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spiky plants
We don’t have much spare cash, so we’re doing as much we can ourselves. This includes ‘landscaping’ (this isn’t real landscaping, hence the inverted commas). So far, most of what we’ve done involves removing stuff. The time has come to start giving back. We’re fairly comfortable with choosing plants, though our tastes are undoubtedly narrower …
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we got wood
Having eradicated (almost) every trace of orange from our office wall, it’s time for stage two. We did some research and found a product which we hoped would remove the final layer of primer, and help us expose the original wood paneling. Karen isn’t just modeling the Citristrip (and the over-sized gloves I mistakenly bought her) …
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front yard
Feels like we’re spending all our time in the yard, with not much to show for it. We’re tidying before the winter, and removing way more than we’re adding. This means plenty of action for my new toy –a reciprocating saw. There used to be a bush here… …but I got rid. And we stringed-off …
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the bush
This bush (or whatever it is) spans a 40-foot section of our rear exterior wall, and hugs it too tightly for our liking. With termites and other pests posing a big threat to homes like ours, this sucker could potentially conceal any problems. It had to go. So I ripped it out. It took some …
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orange peel
Remember I told you we repainted our large orange living room wall white? Well, that was only half the story. The orange paint-job extended around the corner, into our all-purpose room/office, so we tackled that too. Actually, I had the pleasure of doing this bit. And I quickly discovered some differences with this section of …
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