Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper: The Appliances Before I could design the cabinetry for my new kitchen, I needed to buy the rest of the appliances. But finding a microwave and dishwasher was surprisingly difficult. Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | May 6, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper: Squeezing Space Out of a Small Kitchen The first kitchen renovation task was slightly unusual. Like any good meal, it required prep work. Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Apr 29, 2008
Home & Style Diary of A Fixer-Upper: Getting Started on the Kitchen As stressful as renovating can be, there are times when it really is like an exciting HGTV episode. The house is my blank slate. After I dusted myself off from the refinancing postponement, I barreled into the kitchen renovation with, I won’t lie, a bit o Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Apr 22, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper: Refinancing Take One I almost started out this post with something like, “And then there was another bump in the road.” But I quickly realized that I could start every week’s post like that. If there weren’t hiccups, it wouldn’t be a renovation. Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Apr 15, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper: Getting Settled My first two months of home ownership were completely chaotic. Right away, there was the whirlwind of the huge renovation projects—the heating system and the floors. Then there were the two minor disasters with the flood and the broken water heater. Now Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Apr 8, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer Upper: Handling the Unexpected The flooding from last week’s entry was a real bummer, but it could have been prevented with a little vigilance on my part. My real fear is the unexpected: The tree that falls on my roof, the fire sparked from a loose electrical connection, the den of cit Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Apr 1, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper: The First Disaster Finally, it was time to move into the house. The first two major projects—installing a heating system and floors—were completed in the month-and-a-half window during which I could afford to pay both my mortgage and rent. The house still required a lot of Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Mar 25, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper: The Floors Putting the new floors down was the first really exciting project of my renovation. Unlike the new heating system, which was mostly invisible, the floors would be a noticeable change. Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Mar 18, 2008
Home & Style Diary of a Fixer-Upper—Project Number One: Heat The first major project was the heating system. A previous owner had torn out all the radiators in the house, so I had to install a system from scratch. Open House, Diary of a Fixer-Upper | Mar 11, 2008