Can I ask a favor? I am a finalist in a food photography contest on Feastie. If you have a second (no registration necessary) can you vote for ‘Beach Food in the Bahamas’? I would really appreciate it! Wanting a distraction from client work and house work, I sat down last night to spend...
Read more →With a ting and a crash, a pebble kicked up by a weed whacker shattered one of the panes of our back door. Alex swept up the glass and piped in some silicone sealant around the shards left around the edges of the intact other pane. That was three years ago. Last Monday, I...
Read more →BD6CTNZJQEB8 I surprised a friend the other day by revealing that I am a multi-project person. My head is constantly filled with plans. It drives Alex bonkers sometimes and I have been accused of not being spontaneous, but that’s just who I am. I can’t help it – I like having things to look...
Read more →Friends were recently discussion kitchen cupboards. A well organized kitchen thrills me, so I offered to photo-document what’s going on in my cabinets. When I designed this kitchen in the fall of 2008, I centered my thoughts around working zones and storage. I’m a ‘everything in it’s place and a place for everything’ sorta...
Read more →When we renovated the kitchen last winter, we installed a super deep single bowl stainless steel sink, the Numerar. It is a sit-on-cabinet sink which means no countertop cutout, saving counter cost and effort. This sink is so deep I can bathe the little dog in it and she can’t climb out. Alex can...
Read more →This is a continuation of the Tutorial. Part One covers materials. Construction First, dimensions of the surface to be covered are measured, and the plywood subcounter is cut to shape. Screw this into cabinet sides immediately so the kitchen can be used. We lived with construction plywood counters for just about a year, so...
Read more →At the request of several readers, I (Alex, Rachel’s husband) wrote this tutorial about the installation of our wood countertops on the cheap. Advantages/Disadvantages to Wood To begin with, you need to decide if a wooden surface is right for you. If you already have wood cabinets, more wood on the countertops can lead...
Read more →Today, Alex installed two pieces of wooden countertops. He made them with cherry plywood and aged solid cherry edges. Finished with six layers of polyurethane, they are smooth and cleanable!! Alex even let Lil help apply the glue. Yay Alex!! We have lived without proper countertops for 11 months!! I am just a little...
Read more →This weekend was a blur of summer fading to fall. I put three garden beds to rest, including harvesting peppers and green tomatoes, pulling out honeysuckle and ivy creeping around the fence, and adding to our massive compost heap. In discussion last night we decided to take advantage of low mortgage interest rates at...
Read more →Last Sunday my parents unexpectedly watched Lillian for the day. What a treat! Instead of slothing around like we usually do, I wanted to get some kitchen remodeling projects wrapped up. Our Japanese guest Kayoko arrived to stay with us Thursday and that motivated me to get a lot of things done last week!...
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