How Does Your Garden Grow?

While we don't have a patio or yard, I like the idea of having plants, but knew they had to be small otherwise they would overwhelm our apartment and take up valuable window space. On one windowsill, we have D.'s bonsai and my bamboo, but I wanted more and thought about how great it would be to have fresh herbs, so I decided to dedicate the kitchen windowsill to that. Today, D. and I went to a nursery where my mother, the gardening expert, met us to help us pick the appropriate seeds, pots, etc. We went back to my parents' to use their soil, fertilizer, and hose, and I learned all about seed planting (never thought I'd say that...)


My mother got the first batch of basil!



We decided to get some extra pot-bottoms, so on our way home stopped by the original nursery again. The owner was obnoxious about using our credit card for such a small purchase (though I had spent all my cash at her nursery a few hours before), so we left. We stopped at another nursery on our way home, where they had these beautiful hidden grounds, old Greek men sitting around the plants smoking, and a ton of really charming garden decorations. I asked if one vintage-y tin watering can - decorated with twine - was for sale or for decoration, and one young man said, "decoration, but you can have it for a dollar - I don't think it works" (though it does, just awkwardly). When he was ringing me up - with no problem using a credit card - he said "you can just take the can for free." He then undercharged us for the pot bottoms, and we walked to our car. A minute later, he ran outside with a small painted vintage terra cotta watering can and said "this one works a lot better - you can just have it for a dollar." I handed him $1.06 (the exact amount of cash I had left - figuring for tax), and he washed it out in the fountain for us. He was maybe the nicest man I had ever met.

I digress...

So I set up my little garden behind my sink, with my two lovely watering cans, and I'll hope that my parsley, rosemary, and (not sage or thyme) spearmint actually grows and my basil keeps going.

Home Girl

My mother, blogger and reviewer extraordinaire, La Bibliofille, received an early review copy of Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block (read her review here). Just published this week, Home Girl mostly focuses on the West Harlem neighborhood to which author and former foreign correspondent Judith Matloff moves, but I particularly enjoyed her take on New York real estate, her eclectic hired hands, and home renovation projects.



I appreciated Matloff's straightforward journalistic writing and character descriptions. It was difficult for me to empathize with her sometimes sharp take on her family, her life choices, and, most startlingly, 9/11. After finishing this book (in one day - I had a difficult time putting it down), I really enjoyed visiting Matloff's website and viewing photos of her family and neighbors, and catching a glimpse into her home. The work came recommended and I pass that recommendation along, especially for anyone looking for a fresh 'abode'-type book.

Curtain Call

We spent two weekends ago in an epic curtain battle with our bedroom bay window. It involved several trips to two different Targets, and literally hours staring at the window trying to figure out a cheap and pretty solution for our bedroom. I absolutely hated the blinds in our bedroom and bathroom (and am not 100% crazy about them in the den/LR/kitchen, but D. likes them so for now they're fine - we mostly keep them open anyway). We easily solved our bland bathroom (below) problem with Simply Shabby Chic (cheap!) rod and balloon curtain.

Before (though freshly painted and stripped of previous owners' textured wallpaper):


And after, with our curtain and some cheap Montmartre posters I bought while traveling with my friend and loyal reader A. years ago :)



The bedroom was a little tougher. After buying too many curtain rods and too few fabric panels, we ended up splitting one long curtain rod for the side windows, then using a small matching one for the middle. We bought about six sheer floor-length panels which let in great light but give in privacy. D. worked hard getting the old blinds out and lining up the split rods (using picture-hanging wire!) for our solution.

Before:



During (we got a nice surprise when taking out the old blinds - a fun reminder of the lavender bedroom we purchased from the old owners! D. did a great job sanding down the wall and touching up the paint):


During (wooh, D. showing some skin - didn't know it was that kind of blog!)


And after! Our retreat!

Office Closet?

We finally got cable installed this weekend, though, because our building is so old, the only place it could go without the hick installer drilling was the linen closet (which doesn't have an outlet and is totally inconvenient). So there are wires stretched across the hall and into the den, but we're pretty happy to finally have TV/non-hijacked Internet/land-line.

We had an electrician come in and give us an estimate on moving the cable to our utility closet, hiding the wires, and reversing an outlet to that closet so that we have a few plugs in there. He's also going to redo all of our outlets and switches so that we don't electrocute ourselves (me) and are able to plug in modern appliances (D.). This will be done in the coming weeks and, hopefully before then, we'll be finally getting our storage space downstairs.

D.'s brother and our sister-in-law were here this weekend and, upon getting a tour of our apartment, made a comment about our huge our closets were -- they joked about putting another bedroom in.

Originally, D. had thought the utility closet (off the foyer) would be a great place to have a media stand with the cable hookup, router, phone, fax, and printer, and we would continue to use our laptops around the house and store stuff in the rest of the closet. But once the BIL and SIL noted how large the closets were, I got to thinking that once we had all of our electronics hooked up and stuff stored, I could make the closet into a home office.

If it was cleared, wired, and cleaned, I think it might work. I've been googling ideas and have found a few interesting, if not totally inspiring, links.

I think there was a Domino article on this last year, so I'll try to find it when I'm home later and link to it then. I'm assuming it will give a little more fashionable advice than what I've found so far.

We're pretty settled in, and have dealt with the joys of homeownership: our first bug problem (it was a small one - some tiny black beetles in one windowsill), our first temperature problem (while we don't regret getting rid of the huge, ugly, and moldy windowAC's left there, it's been unusually hot this week, but we keep fans going constantly and are looking into a portable AC), a few carbon monoxide scares (which have been solved by buying our own detector, and not relying on the old one left there), a realization that the smoke detector was sitting there without a battery for a month (so we put one in, then ended up replacing the unit anyway), a mini-electrocution (of me - D. later installed some new, updated outlets), and a crashing down (on D., luckily I wasn't home) of bedroom window blinds (I wanted curtains for the BR anyway - it's another project for this weekend).

Happily, the apartment isn't really the
Money Pit it sounds like above. While we're tweaking the problems, I'm also enjoying tweaking the layout and design. On a day off Monday, I moved around some foyer and living room furniture and, inspired by my friend who I stayed with this weekend, put out a bowl of coffee beans (cooler than potpourri, easier than flowers, and makes the room smell great). The bowl was given to us by D.'s grandpa when he moved out of his house - I had been looking to put it out but keep it in a safe place - and I saw him this weekend, also, so this was inspired by my Wisconsin friends and family:




We're also enjoying the area: our corner pub that opens its window-walls, biking Sundays on the Parkway behind our building, our walks to the train station, our local bodega, two
diners, and the neighborhood park.

Before and After

I never knew that sanded walls and fresh, white ceilings could make or break a place so much! While we didn't go 100% with the Benjamin Moore color scheme, we used their foyer, LR, and BR color suggestions, and highlighted the den and kitchen with their suggestions. I'm really happy with the results and will submit my before-and-afters to them, as they ask for on their site.

The Befores:


Foyer (from when they still lived there)


LR (while they were there)


Den (formerly a nursery - after they moved though)


Kitchen (after they moved out but still mint green!)


Bedroom (after their move - dirty carpet and purple walls!)

A Tour...

While we've put up some more art and rearranged a table since these were taken, here are a few photos to give you an idea of how our place looks and how our projects fit into the big picture - also, these are our 'afters':


Entry/foyer into dining/living area (my painted $25 mirror!)


Dining area (the finished table ended up looking okay!)


Living area


Den (no bubble-filled nursery!)


Kitchen (no '70s mint green!)


Bedroom (hooray - a new carpet and no purple!)

Shoutout to the Parentals

I have to take a moment to remind everyone of the mess that was my parents' garage (and house, frankly) for eight months while D. and I were living there, but I'm happy to say that the last of our belongings (our bikes, which were in the basement) are now out (and in our bike storage room in our building!). But we truly couldn't have bought a place without the rent-free life we had over the summer/fall/winter this year, so THANK YOU to them.

Can't Believe It's Been Two Months!

I can't believe my last post was over two months ago! Needless to
say, we've been swamped moving, doing work, cleaning, cleaning, and
cleaning, in addition to our usual lives, but we are officially
settled, the art is even on the walls, and we absolutely adore our
apartment. I have this blog (and its readers!) to thank for how well
everything turned out, because - though I was so frustrated with how
long it took to get in - it forced us to think and rethink all of our
decisions, and complete projects that I wouldn't have the time or
energy to do post-move. I still have a few projects that I'd like to do
in the coming months/year, butnow's not the time. The drapery, kitchen
floor, and bathroom vanity are on my list, but can wait. For now, I'll
start to try to recap the move... And can anyone believe it's already April??

A Whirlwind

I started to write this post in February, so will leave what I wrote and add to it a bit--it's April 9th, no matter what the post date says--

I haven't been writing much, but these past few weeks have been a whirlwind of all abode activity.

I was afraid I would jinx our luck if I wrote too much when we were actually making progress, but I'm fairly confident now that we'll actually get in, so here's the update.

It's been four months since we started negotiations on our apartment, and eight months since we started looking for real estate in New York, but on Monday, we will be totally into the place. The sellers moved out last Friday, we spent Friday night on aerobeds in the apartment (I INSISTED on sleeping there at least one night just to actually be in), then Saturday morning at 9, our painters arrived. They finished yesterday, my mom and I spent six hours cleaning today, and we have a truck and our elevator booked for Monday. D. and I got rid of the old, moldy air conditioning units this morning (between that and my four hours of window cleaning today, we now ACTUALLY can see out of our amazing windows). The painters pulled up the BR carpet and got rid of some bad shelving. I have lots of 'before-and-after' photos, but -- after all the work we did today -- it looks even better, so I'll have to take new photos before I post them.

The paint job is great, though. We stuck with some of our original plans that Benjamin Moore suggested, and modified others.


--So that was what I wrote and basically everything did work out well. We had a few snags, though. First, our painters apparently kept getting in trouble with the co-op board for such ghastly infractions such as working on President's Day (I mean, it's not Christmas or Yom Kippur), walking in the front door and not the service entrance, and parking in the building's lot "not once, but multiple times" (-from the Board hate-letter we recieved). Of course, they did not let us know this until we were fined, but that's besides the point...
Our other snag came on move-in day. After our wedding, we used many of our Crate & Barrel gift cards to buy the world's most comfortable couch. What makes it so comfortable? It is huge and overstuffed. Did it fit in the elevator of our 1940's building? No. Did my dad and D. try to bring it up the fire stairs? Yes. Did it fit? No. Did they break a light in the stairwell trying? Yes. So my dad and D. got obsessed with fixing this, and my dad found us all of these 'couch doctor' companies who take apart, move, and put back together couches (apparently this is a very common problem in New York buildings). My idea was to trade couches with my parents - so we ended up using my (free and not so crazy) idea, took a couch from their porch, and left our couch there. Frankly, I think each couch suits its new spot, but D. is still a little sad. But we'll get our couch back whenever we have a place for it. The end.
We also got - not in trouble - but - whined at by our super a lot during the move in weeks. We'd tell him we were bringing in a couch and he said "you have to let me know in advance" (well, we were doing that now...). We didn't schedule our carpet delivery or our CB2 furniture delivery enough in advance, blah, blah, blah. But since then, we haven't heard a peep from him. He was pretty intimidating at first, but I think he was more confused by us than anything (we may be the first people in the history of the building who didn't hire professional movers or a cleaning service). D., my dad, and I worked on taking out the beastly air conditioners ourselves, and we think his disappointment in us was just that we didn't have a great need for him. I think a lot of the other residents contract him to do work, so he's probably making a pretty penny under the table that we're not so much good for.

While we don't have our basement storage yet, wedo have bike storage; we're getting mail, though the previous owners' names are still on the mailbox. I can't wait to go to the May annual meeting and vote against the whole board!

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, RESTORE!

Our first trip to the Salvation Army two Saturdays ago yielded two pieces that we bought for $90 total. The two of us spent probably a total of 8 hours working on them and I learned a ton about materials and restoration. As much as buying "green" is so trendy (and I basically agree with the concept), I think buying vintage pieces that have already been made and have been rescued from a landfill is probably the best way to go. Not to say I didn't just buy a brand new bed, mattress, and daybed for the apartment, but I guess we all do what we can (The thought of me or my guests sleeping on something used just wasn't so appealing to me!).

The mirror was painted white, which was okay, but it was a bit dirty and moldy. Since the rest of the wood in our house is medium-to-dark, I wanted to darken it. So I cleaned it, we worked on stripping it as much as possible, then I painted it a black/brown I mixed using some of D.'s old paints he had lying around. The result? Hopefully distressed-wood-look to this very solid (read heavy but hopefully quality) piece.

We loved the cast iron base of the dining table, its compact size, its square-with-rounded-corners shape, and its sturdy wood top. We weren't crazy about the very lacquered '70's wood color, so D. spent hours stripping through the layers of lacquer. I cleaned off the iron base (I may treat it with the mineral oil we used on the work table base once we move it) and we took turns trying to figure out the stain (which was more complicated than I ever thought). We still have to finish it (we bought a 'satin' finish) but it's almost there (I like the shots where you can see it reflected in the mirror, before and after).

The Salvation Army Cult

D. and I have spent the past two Saturdays scoping out our local Salvation Army -- I'm learning that there is a cult of people who do go there every Saturday morning to buy furniture with restoration potential, keep an eye on price cuts (I mean, all the money goes to charity), and buddy-up with the workers to try to get insider prices and items before they hit the floor. I don't know if we're going to become such active members of this cult, but we did get some great finds. This past week, we bought two items that only needed cleaning; no restoration. One was my pick, one was D.'s. Mine is a black roll-top desk that I plan to use in the foyer in lieu of a traditional console. I love its character, the storage potential, and general size and shape. I'm going to keep the distressed look and not try to mess with it:




D.'s pick was a "captain's chair" (his description). I'm convinced some WWII veteran died in that chair and his ghost is hella pissed that his no-good grandchildren gave it away instead of keeping it in his honor. Hopefully we can make him happy by enjoying it. D. hopes that whoever's chair it was isn't mad that he didn't serve in the military. We may have been sniffing too many cleaning supplies while working on it, but something about the chair makes you think there is a major story behind it.
(And in this photo, you can see the lovely state of my poor parents' garage with all of our possessions in it.)

Closed! But Not In.

Well we are officially homeowners -- and letters -- the family is renting from us per diem until next month when they move into their new house.

The closing went well -- a little chaotic (do they all have 12 people there, including an 18-month-old shooting toy cars across the conference table?) -- as did the walk-through (my dad coined it the St. Patrick's Day Parade instead of the walk-through; we had 7 people plus one of the sellers and her aforementioned 18 month old son there). Since the family is still in the apartment, we get another walk-through when they're out, but the appliances worked, the heat was on, and the bedroom is still lavender. We brought the contractor to the walk-through so he could give us an estimate on getting rid of said lavender walls, and he was really positive about our color ideas and had good suggestions on sprucing up the apartment.

The sellers, while annoying at the walk-through (the woman was literally in a see-through pj top and complained about her realtor using the key to get in the building -- she was giving her son "tubby time"), were fine at the closing, giving us the scoop on the neighbors, building staff, and their favorite neighborhood haunts. And, though a half-hour late, they had at least gotten dressed since the walk-through, so that was good.

Our lawyer was an all-star -- she made us feel so confident -- and the sellers' lawyer (brother's law partner) was an idiot in a matching tie and fake pocket hankie. "I practice ALL kinds of law" he said... yeah, but none well.

So, we're now well into our 7th month at my parents'. I certainly did not think it would be this long, but it actually seems like we're in our final weeks and I certainly can't complain about my their hospitality. The NY Times had an article a few months ago - Alexander, Mom and the Very Messy Stay - an interview with the author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, who's son and his family lived with her during their home renovation. Almost everyone I knew pointed it out to me and it does address the frustrations that inevitably arise. But at least we legally own the place now and are on our way.

Bulletin Post

After the success of yesterday's desk, I wanted to create more for the apartment, but didn't have too many supplies or ideas that could come together at 10pm on a national holiday. I had, however, previously bought this four-pack of bulletin board squares from Staples, and had read (I can't remember where) an idea to cover cork panels with fabric, staple the fabric down in the back, and make a custom tac-board. I searched my closet for items destined for the Salvation Army and got cutting:




Blank squares; covered squares:



Our new boards are below - and are ready to move with us! (We confirmed today we're closing on Friday, but the sellers will rent from us for a week while they close on their new house)




I'm really not a crafty person - or a patient one - and I work full-time, so trust me when I say that this was super easy. I would recommend cutting out as many seams, zippers, and hems as possible from your fabric (to keep it as light and flat as possible for wall-hanging). I'm a bit worried about hanging these on the wall (especially with the flimsy double-sided tape that came with the pack), but think I can always nail them in securely. Also, I'll need to buy shallow tacs because the board isn't very thick. But I'm excited - I think they're cool!

MLK Day Project

After we received news last week that, again, the sellers messed up (not being a real estate lawyer, he didn't know that he had to order certain paperwork, so the closing got pushed back another week - tentatively scheduled for this Friday now), I swore I wouldn't talk or write about the apartment until we were moved in.

D. and I completed a fantastic DIY project today, so this is not *technically* writing about the new place, just about new piece of furniture that will *hopefully* move into the new place if we ever do.

My mother inherited the base of my great-grandmother's Singer sewing machine. We don't know when/where/how my great-grandmother bought it, but Singer started producing electronic sewing machines in the late 19th Century, so I'm assuming this manual piece is at least 100 years old. My parents told us we were welcome to make something out of it, and were thrilled with the idea of us bringing it back to life.

I was at the Container Store earlier today and found some inexpensive large wood shelves that I thought might work to build a console or work table. Luckily, D. was at home and available to measure the sewing machine and so I chose a piece of "driftwood" to fit the top (it may or may not actually be driftwood, as it is the Container Store - it more likely is a polyblend of some sort).

So here is our MLK Day Project, from start to finish:

The before photo:


We washed, brushed, and sanded; then oiled with mineral oil:



Drilled in the "driftwood"



And, for a $20 shelf and $20 in supplies, have an amazing (I think) work station!
The "after" pictures:

Hurry Up and Wait!

This closing thing certainly toys with one's emotions! D. and I - after the events, or non-events, of the past week - were convinced we were never going to move. We even started looking at rental listings. And we have been alternating nights of stressful non-sleep (I slept Saturday, Sunday, and last night; he slept Friday and Monday). But I got a call this morning that sketchy sellers' attorney/brother/mafioso wants to close on Monday! Yes, three business days from now. So this is great in theory, but the lawyer/bank folks realistically need a bit more time, as they were given NO warning, so we're actually looking at Thursday the 17th. So, in the past hour, I've locked into our mortgage rate (at a lower rate than we were even offered in December, let alone November!), bought a year's worth of insurance, cancelled some work meetings for next Thursday, and left my broker a message to schedule a walk-through.

As my insurance agent just said, "Wow, talk about 'hurry up and wait!"
As my lawyer said, "Wow, this guy is obviously not a real estate attorney."
I just say, "Wow, what is going to go wrong next!"

A Bronx Tale

So, to add to the post below (D. has been asleep for hours but I am still fuming over our real estate dealings and taking my anger out on the keyboard), I did some googling of the sellers' attorneys (the seller's brother's firm). I am dying to publicly post who they are, but I want to wait until we close to share this... but they are basically the most corrupt Bronx mobsters you could ask for. Caught up in state politics, Catholic church scandals, public affairs... I can't believe I didn't google them sooner! No wonder my lawyer has been scared to go after them. Wow, we really know how to pick them. Well this adds another interesting dimension of how we're going to deal with closing.

And then I googled the sellers themselves and they are just the cheesiest sketchiest people ever... I mean, they do have a lavender bedroom...

Real (Estate) Drama

I got a call from my realtor this morning, who was supposed to hear from our sellers' broker this past Thursday to confirm closing for next week. Our realtor just heard from their broker this morning, and only to hear that 'the attorneys are handling the closing.' This would be all well and good if the sellers' attorney (a.k.a. one of the sellers and his criminal law firm) would actually return our lawyer's calls. I don't think they're moved into their new house yet and I think they're stalling. And, because they don't seem to have, or be, a legitimate real estate lawyer, it's incredibly difficult to deal with them. But our contract calls for next week and our broker told them (a lie) that our mortgage would expire and we wouldn't be able to buy the place unless they scheduled the closing for next week.

Our attorney was out sick today, but tomorrow D. and I are ready to play good cop/bad cop - I've been very nice to everyone but, if our attorney hasn't heard from them tomorrow morning, D. is going to call her and be as firm as need be to tell her to get a date, one way or another, and find out what our next steps need to be. I am going to then tell our broker to tell the sellers' (a lie) that she is going to be showing us backup apartments. I don't know what else to do, but know that the sellers need to be intimidated a bit. Legally, in the NYC area, closing is an 'on-or-about' date, but the family also has an option to rent from us for 30 days, so I don't feel like I'd be kicking them out on the street - they obviously want to stay comfortably for free in the apartment until they're ready to leave. Criminal lawyers from the Bronx or not, I'm ready to take them on... wish me luck and good advice.

Laying It Out

D. and I were at a bar over Christmas week and started trying to draw the layout of our apartment on cocktail napkins, using lottery pencils. We definitely don't agree with how the current owners have the apartment laid out, but weren't sure of how the main room should work. The foyer leads right into the main living/dining area, but we are not formal people, don't watch too much TV, and are always working on projects, so we want the space to be workable - and not just the TV/Dining table-focus that the current owners have (they have their big dining set by the bay window and the TV in the middle of the room).

When we got home that night, D. laid out a rough blueprint (above) on CAD and we labeled how we think we will lay out the general areas. We added a 'work area' to a nook in the main room, because we know the way we live, and work won't be completely relegated to the office - more likely, we will want to be social and be able to work at the same time.

We were inspired by D.'s brother and sister-in-law who have a great art table in a nook near their kitchen that they seem to use often. Hopefully we can install something similar that we'll use a ton.

I printed out a few copies of the plans and sketched out furniture and art ideas (and it was much easier than doing it on the cocktail napkins). I'm having fun playing around with the plans and looking forward to our hopefully imminent move (things are moving along, but the Christmas/New Years holidays seemed to slow down the work).