Week 6 Journal: Finally Making Some Progress
Yikes! Asbestos in the Curbly House! What to Do?
If you’re following our series, you know we’re in the middle of fixing up a 100-year-old house and making it energy efficient. Somehow tearing out all the first-floor ceilings got lumped into the to-do list. Then the second floor ceilings. And a couple of walls. And the bathroom. You know … just … everything.
One day you’re just going about your business, gleefully demolishing everything you lay eyes on — a great stress reliever, by the way — ...
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12 Ways I'm Adding Color and Pattern to Our Home with Art
What's in a wall? If you've been following our Curbly House series, you know what was in our walls; squirrel nests, dead things, and lots of hundred-year-old newspaper. But what makes a wall more than just a bunch of lumber and drywall?
This week, I'm exploring ways to breathe life into our walls by adding hand-picked artwork. With the help of Art.com, we've got an amazing, expansive collection of artwork available. Read on to see how I'm plotting to decorate the walls at chez Curbly House (hint: no squirrels allowed).
Ok, before I start, you should check out this quick video from Art.com; it's a pretty sweet 3-dimensionalization (word? non-word?) of some famous pieces of art, and it's worth a watch:
Now, if you look at our 'before' pictures, it's easy to see that the house had a heaviness about it; many of the walls were painted darker accent colors, and the woodwork was all stained a dark brown. See what I mean?
We've decided to go with a neutral color palette inside the Curbly House to help brighten up the place. Now that everything is sheetrocked and mudded, the house looks a lot brighter and feels a lot happier (even while standing in the inch thick plaster dust that covers most of the floors).
Bringing color and light into this house was a priority to us from the get-go. However, both Bruno and I want to be sure not to overdo the "brightness" and make the place feel clinical. So, we're experimenting with paint colors and planning to add a lot of pattern and color to the walls through art!
I've been gleefully paging through several art collections on Art.com, like an overjoyed visitor at the Louvre. I spent most of my time perusing the Abstract, Vintage, Modern, and Botanical galleries.
Here are some of the ideas I'm tossing around for the stairwell gallery wall, the master bedroom centerpieces, and the sweet prints I want to frame in our kids' playroom.
Stairwell Gallery
1. Taupe III by Denise Duplock
2. Terracotta Spots by Denise Duplock
3. Travel Abroad III by Jarman Fagalde
4. Vintage Map of Paris by Ladyleia
5. Tour by Bicycle II by Chariklia Zarris
6. Diversion I Limited Edition by Chariklia Zarris
Master Bedroom
7. Duo Stem by James Burghardt
8. Pomponette (sky) by Denise Duplock
9. Dancing Flowers III Mary Calkins
Play Room
10. Green Zebra by Avalisa
11. Heart Balloon Girl by Unknown
12. Newspaper Kids by Peter Gebhardt
For a look at more of the pieces I'm smitten with, take a look at my Pinterest board (hey, you can even follow me while you're there!).
This post was sponsored by Art.com, but all opinions are my own.
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Week 5 Journal: Figuring Out Framing
Whew. We took a bit of a breather on the Curbly House this week, stopping to evaluate how to reinforce several framing issues we discovered during demolition. Read on to watch my weekly video journal and read my latest update on our progress.
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My Quest for Curbly House Color Inspiration
We're in the middle of a huge remodeling project to create what promises to be our dream house. Last week, drywall started going up and I stopped having contractions, because for the first time in months, the house began looking like a house again. Read on to see how I'm gathering color inspiration for what promises to be a huge paint job.
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Week 4 Journal: Bye Bye Bathtub (and Chimney Too)
The Curbly House bathroom looked decent, by all accounts, and except for being a bit on the small side, functioned just fine. So I was actually prepared to leave it pretty much as-was, maybe with a few fixture replacements, some new tile, and paint. But what we found when we took out the first floor ceilings underneath the bathroom made that impossible. Read on to find out how we gutted the bathroom, and watch an awesome/scary video (depending on your point of view).
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Our Energy Rehab Results Are In!
We've started out our Curbly House project with a series of energy improvements. Find out how a new HVAC, ductwork, and insulation are paying off.
A house is such a personal thing. It’s private, intimate. It’s family. And yet, in most cases, it belonged to someone else before you. And someone else before them. How does a house that belonged to another family for fifty years become your own? How do you know when that change has happened?
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Week 3 Journal: Demolishing the Bedroom Ceilings (VIDEO)
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A Guide to an Organized Move
The realization that we'll be having a new baby and moving into a new house only a few weeks apart is enough to induce even the calmest lady. Unfortunately for me, I am a Virgo to the core...
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Removing Debris in a Tight Spot with the Bagster Bag
The Bagster is a simple alternative to rigid construction waste containers. It's perfect if you're doing a small remodel, or just don't have space for a large Dumpster.
As you might have seen yesterday, our Curbly House project is starting to generate a lot of construction debris. We're ripping out all the ceilings throughout the house, so we're ending up with generous portions of ceiling tiles, plaster, lathe, and even a few deceased...
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Week 2 Journal: Ripping Out the First Floor Ceilings
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Ayla's New Bedroom: How to Smooth a Toddler's Home Transition
Life is a little crazy around our house(es) these days. Our days are spent preparing for a baby in just a few short week, remodeling our new house, packing up our old house, and wrangling a 3-year-old, leaving little time for anything else. In the brief moments of pause, I'm either napping or thinking about how to make the transitions that are coming in the next several weeks smooth for everyone in our family, especially Ayla. So, I've been...
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Curbly Original
Week 1 Journal: Getting Ready for Demolition
I can't tell you how excited I was to finally start real work on the Curbly House. Even if the first week was just me spending a few hours a day over there getting protection down on the floors, walls, and windows, it felt great to actually be doing something.
Week 1 was about getting ready for week 2. We decided to tear out the first floor ceilings; they were covered in foam tile and the plaster under that was crumbling. Plus, taking the...
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Our Home's Energy Audit: Results and Recommendations
We like to think of homes as impermeable. After all, that’s why we have them; to keep the rain, wind, and cold out. Not to mention insects, small animals, and pollen clouds.
But the truth is, your home’s shell is a membrane. It breathes, just like you do. (That’s a good thing!) Every home does it. The important question is not if your home leaks, but how much.
To figure out if our new house had an appropriate level of breathability, we...
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Introducing The Curbly House: Our Family's Dream Home Makeover [VIDEO]
We walked into the house at 4:30 p.m. on a cold, dark December afternoon.
The real estate agent fiddled with the lock box for a moment, then cracked open the front door. We kicked off our shoes and stepped in. The floors were cold like a skating rink. We left our overcoats on. The place smelled empty.
“One sec,” the agent said. “Let me get the lights.”
Click. Nothing. Click. Footsteps. A different switch. Click. Nothing. A...