resurrection

an appropriate title i think. just when you thought the blog was dead and gone, here she comes. on christmas day!  also, coincidentally, the name of a delicious, strong baltimore brew from the Brewer's Art.  

and now it's catch up time: while the blog's laid low for the last 8 months, the house work has not! Here's a sampling of some major projects since the last post.

tile

this one was a biggie. just choosing the damn tile and pattern took way longer than the actual work. adam, the consummate perfectionist poured extra tlc into this one. it shows and came out GORGEOUS.

for the front entry way, we chose a blue slate 4x4 tiles that adam cut/placed into a pattern.
before...

and after...

for the fireplace, we bought randomly patterned squares of marble and glass, bordered by 4x4 black marble. adam actually cut and placed the first row of small tile to have it with align with a straight edge. here she is before...  

 and after...

the ceiling


in order to cover exposed plumbing, absorb sound and to provide a visible border between living room and dining room, we covered the dining area with tongue and groove cedar planks.

 and in its current state...

 you can also check out the new monorail lights. we'll soon have an identical set running through the dining room as well.



















shutters

long gone are the days of a sheet covering the front window (a style we rocked for nearly 8 months, including in this photo from jan 2010).

we now have shutters AND trim!

upstairs

while upstairs typically gets little attention, we've added some color to brighten it up, give it some style, and remove the hideous light blue that infiltrated every room.

here's the hallway. the LAST (i swear) of three recent incarnations.
all involved me on a paint color time wasting frenzy- first a waaaay too bright turquoise (think tropics), backing up to a light grey, and then going color again- a two-toned blue and grey with white trim. very happy and will never paint this area again. 

here's the color creeping down the stairs. love.

the master bedroom got painted a reddish/dark grey two tone.

even the bathroom got a splash of color, along with perfectly suited artwork we brought back from nicaragua

coat hanger

few people know what it took to see this vision into fruition but i am so excited about this one little accent- the coathanger.

made with metal decorative knobs i found and old wood we picked up in a parking lot, this gorgeous piece of art now holds our coats and scarves just in time for winter.  

 

in addition, we put up our artwork! the gansers also brought us- via leises- gramps' desk which has a central place in the main room. ahhh... cozy home

 

i think that about sums it up. looking forward to a new storm door, storm window for the transom and... the FLOORS being redone mid-january. these three are actually scheduled (as to take advantage of 2010's tax break) and one can only hope my floor drama ended in 2010 and 2011 will bring floor peace. 

also on the plate? finishing the trim, baseboards, new stair railing, carpet in the bedrooms upstairs, wood flooring in upstairs hall.

then...
dare i say it...
start on another room?
looks like transforming the back porch is next. until then, happy holidays everyone. Cheers to 2011!

mo ganser

i am thrilled to announce a new addition to the ganser clan. a long time coming, a battle of an adoption, meet little mo.

Mo- originally named "elmo".. (ew) was found by me on petfinder after i was given the go ahead by my partner in crime over the holidays. for three months i waded through adoption madness only to find the most perfect family addition on the other side.

this is he and lola sniffing each other out on their first meeting. not long there after, after a couple of scary alpha determining battles (not sure who won), these two pups are bff's.

Mo is small. yes... a small dog. never thought i'd do it but with the smallness of our rowhouse and all... i felt the second one should be adjusted accordingly. He is all the spunk of a big dog with all the lap sitting and
cuddle of a little dog. not yappy, already trained (save a few "accidents") and best of all he and lola are constant companions.

I got him for her, as much as for us. definitely a good decision. lola has just perked up. lethargy now is playtime. they wrestle, run around the house, chase eachother, play tug of war, and yes- cuddle. cuuuttttttteee...

sweet progress

kaBAM! yesss! this is where we are now! looking at this pic i reflect. though it is so much harder to see when your living in it, sometimes you need a little look BACK- to know how far you've come. while we are far from done.. we've come a long way. today's post i dedicate to one small but significant piece of the transformation in travel through time.

the chimney

the chimney has been through many life phases. it began covered in plaster and completely hidden by a hideous fake monstrosity of a fireplace we tore down minute one after entering the house. 

this photo shows the beast face down, it also shows the real fireplace after we chipped away the plaster that covered it.

next began the brick work. we believe that at some point narrow chimneys became unfashionable. to compensate- homeowners would build up their chimney's on either side with brick to create a wide look. i'm thinking this is similar to pant styles, wide leg v. skinny jean with a whole lot of wasted brick. what resulted however, was an obvious straight grout line that clearly shows the older brick from newer.  not easy to see in this photo- but it was very visible in person.

of course there was also the problem that the fireplace, once exposed, was filled in with concrete! and topped off by some old wallpaper. there were a lot of questions about what would happen if, when, we decided to dig into the mass. would we hit a gas line? would our chimney fall with out the support? would we find the box of money we swear herbert sass buried somewhere in the house?

read on!

first came the reshaping... getting her back to original size.

of course that left exposed brick behind it so drywall had to be matched next the plaster ...















then came the reshaping plus- apparently my husband hates non-symmetrical house structures and had to do something about the slightly right of center chimney

This brick work was a small part of some massive brickwork that i have few photos of. basically all our brick had to be refinished, and like this shows, adam mixed up some matching mortar to fill in the mortar gaps. he also replaced a dozen or so broken bricks and the walls look fantastic. next up is sealing 'em pretty.   

and then came the concrete mass. thankfully or not none of our predictions came true, and we were excited to find a hollowed out fireplace, complete with black soot from its yester-working years, and our ventilation pipe running right up the middle.

gorgeous!

AND THE BEST PART....

the messy work is finally done, and we got FURNITURE

so... while the living room is still far from completely finished,

it is closer than we've been and is now a room we can actually USE!  i have my couch!

now is the finishing details:
sealing the brick, tiling the fireplace, tiling and finishing the entry way, trim, baseboard, crown molding, and finishing the floors. 

summertime will make it that much more difficult to move on... with the weather beckoning us outdoors and an onslaught of weddings and related activities, it may be slower going. but at least she's in use.

wash mud prime

since move in day focus has been on the living room. 99% of the time, we are hustling to finish it while still attending to day jobs, lives, and the need to just relax. it is the main room. the first room. and arguably the most important room.every few months however, i've begged for a cut in the line.

i got closet shelves, that was my first need.
and then,
a few weeks ago,
i got a washer and dryer.

of course plumbing had to be run, heating installed, and other things i don't understand. All i know is i no longer have to go to a laundromat and that is the best thing ever. I have two women to thank for this- my mother in law and mom. my new heroes.

while i had been pushing for said appliances for some time, it wasn't until the matriarchs volunteered to go to the laundromat for us that progress was truly made. much to my benefit, their experience was a hot disaster. broken machines, jerry springer style drama, and utter frustration sent them back insisting adam stop everything and get me a washer dryer.

:)

i mean, who can stand up to their mother and mother in law? 

the next weekend we found a next day delivery of this highly rated gorgeous front loading high efficiency large capacity energy star washer dryer. the weekend then got sidetracked into getting these puppies in and working. 

we set them up on the back porch (laundry room?). took out the old adhesive tile which was just falling off, cleaned up, moved stuff around, and left space for the eventual 1/2 bath that will be behind the units. i am thrilled to have them, working great so far though i'm nervous about the washer mold problems learned about post-purchase. 

they look pretty sharp though, no? 

and back to the living room... 

since then progress has consisted of drywalling, mudding, and priming. almost ready to paint! 

Had to patch up a few areas with drywall. i think adam and dad invented this method to get drywall to stick on brick. 

                                                               

 

  

and ultimately after a whole lot of mudding, sanding and wiping down, I-- yes ME- all by my self- primed the room. 

yahoo!

  

 

next up brick work. filling in holes and finishing it smooth. another dirty project but truly the last of the real dirty work in this room. floor finishing date has been set! actually hiring someone (second hire since the trash removal guy) to get our floors to look the way they should. still need crown molding, trim, and baseboards but we are GETTING THERE! 

i've been obsessively looking for couches online. this is no easy feat let me tell you. i've had off work for 1 week b/c of all this snow and i think looking for couches is the only thing i've done. sadly i'm not much closer to deciding. anyone know where i can get a sleek, modern, semi-analine leather sectional for under $1500? don't laugh. 

why baltimore

now i'm the first to recognize that baltimore is a city that leaves many wondering.... why? why did you move there? and sometimes, ew or oh my! have you been robbed? that confusion is often compounded when they hear my job: baltimore city public school teacher. scenes from season 4 the wire float around, poor mr. P - the knife fight.... (um, yes- best show ever). while the wire does bear an uncanny resemblance to the ills of baltimore and most inner cities for that matter- it does little to highlight the charms that draw people like us back.

so- i decided to dedicate this page to showcasing the things we love about charm city.

the harbor
 











 
the harbor is a picture postcard site- lined with museums, the aquarium, seafood joints, chintzy shops, water taxis, colonial ships. a mix of old and new.  


the food 

 

i was debating whether to call this section "it's cheap" or the food. really its both. cheap seafood. lots of it. crabs, oysters, shrimp. many of it sadly imported because of pollution in the Chesapeake bay but none-the-less b'more retains its reputation as a solid seafood port. of course crabcakes are done like none other here. old bay all over. nattie boh beer. $1.00 happy hours. utz chips.

cross street market

a mere 10 minute walk from our place is this baltimore icon. filled with goods from egg sandwiches to flowers, sushi to deli, crabs to butcher, cell phones to tacos- this market has it all. we've come for a saturday special at big jim's deli nearly every saturday since arrival. 

our jobs
we have them and we love them. 

my kids! just a handful of the 130 5th graders i teach at kipp. adam's a landscape architect at biohabitats. we work ALOT. we are doing incredibly meaningful work. and we love our jobs. our commutes are a mere 10-15 traffic-less minutes away.

we are very very grateful for all of this.

the house and park

 

obviously you all have seen pics of the house and park (here's one at sunset). being able to buy a house- an affordable, awesome, fixer upper great location of a house, made baltimore so desirable. 

the people

this city is the complete opposite of pretentious. the complete opposite of the west coast. there is not much overtly cool or hip about baltimore. it's not the "prettiest" city. nobody's trying to be holier than thou. no preaching, not much fashion sense. a solid art scene (likely drawn by the same attractions, a smaller philli), but not in your face. 

i swear the nicest, most down to earth people live in this city. called charm city for a reason. our neighbors have been amazing. random passerby's will chat you up. a solid feeling of community from all ends.

after a lifetime of living in the "hippest" of places i am thrilled to be settled in someplace that is just so... easy, so relaxed, so LIVABLE.

family and friends
everyone is around! or if they're not, they come by, drive by, or fly into the area often. i  am thrilled to be able to see loved ones so easily.  perhaps that is an immediate reaction to 3 years in isolation (ithaca) but this is a novelty that will not wear off.

here are recent photos of our first soiree (of many). a surprise engagement brunch for bridge and jeff.

up front

i keep envisioning myself actually sitting in the living room. it is getting so very close. for nearly four months (apres 3 months in the luxury boarding home) we've been confined to the kitchen and upstairs, leaving nearly the entire first floor a construction zone.

i spend a lot of time in bed. grading papers and writing lesson plans, i often eat in bed, write this blog in bed...really- there's no other comfortable place to sit. downstairs is dusty and full of tools.We got rid of our old scrappy couch before the move- starting fresh with new living room furniture to top the renovations off.
 

this will be the most appreciated living room EVER. 

here are some current photos of her transformation. 

 

door change  

its amazing what a little switch of the front door can do. On the left is our old door. on the right- the new door. a total find from second chance, a huge architectural salvage center. they had about 500 doors and we walked away with this gorgeous walnut one.  quite perfect- except the door handles must have been for a child because they are weirdly low. no deterrent- adam moved the lock set up and we'll cover the old one's up with some sort of brass plate? fake lock? 

 

we also splurged on some beautiful wood for the trim. found this great little specialty lumber shop and spent hours looking at samples. ended up with baked poplar. yes baked, like in some giant oven. gives regular poplar a rich dark look all the way through.   not stained! here's adam sanding boards he just cut to size.

getting closer

apparently putting in a new front door is not as easy as one might think. in our new place, nothing is square and there's lots of interesting "fixes" by its former owner mr. sass. each creates a setback after throwing adam into a fit of curses.

getting closer. 

 

check out that trim!

DOOR IN. yes. weeks of solely using the back door and our sweet b'more alley makes me thrilled to exit right onto the street and park again.
  

here's the door. sharp.











remember this? here's the window we exposed when first taking down this front wall. it was hidden, above the door, behind plaster and more. the numbers are painted on a sheet of glass and comes out and fits back in. we took it out during construction, cleaned it and just put it back.

it is one of my favorite house features. i picture a 1920's brooklyn, old fashioned neighborhood. what this area reminds me very much of.

the gansers arrived! have i told you we love volunteers? particularly retired ones. they helped in a million ways from getting us a dish rack to braving a laundromat (after which adam was told to stop everything and buy me a w/d), to mudding and scraping a wall.

thanks so much for everything and come back soon!

mom and dad were up for regular weekend duty too- adding to a very productive saturday. we're  inching towards painting this room! a big big day. but first came filling up plaster holes, evening out plaster walls, and mudding drywall. next up new baseboards, new crown molding, reappointing brick, finish oiling ceilings, painting walls, hanging up trim, and refinishing the floors. in that order. i think.

the living room isn't done *yet* but i'll continue to document it's finishing touches.