Maggie - Step by Step Photo Shoot

Maggie - Step by Step

My grandaughter Ditto, was inspired to contribute to the blog, and has gone into a joint venture with her dad to send in this photoshoot! :-)))

Message to Ditto:

Ditto Dear, The photoshoot is very very good! You can also make this all by yourself, if you boil water in the microwave ...but you must be VERY VERY CAREFUL with the hot water, and do it only when appa or amma are around!

stairs

The stairwell was extra oak'y and extra ugly. This first pre-kitchen, pre-brick picture is startling.





I believe Dustin preferred the stairs go unaltered...


...but, it had to be done.

Eventually it'd be nice to install new stairs altogether - for now, some aesthetic clean-up was in order. We primed first then used a dark brown floor paint from Valspar for the treads and balusters. Some bright white trim paint for the risers finished it up.

Since I'm sure most are curious about wear and tear with painting the floor, I'll admit that we actually did this job prior to filming the show (last summer). The paint has performed quite well. For about $50 I'd say this was a worthwhile, buck-banging effort.







Yep. Lady Gaga on the TV.

master bedroom; the big show

Sorry about the hiatus.

First. A few things about the show. We'd do it all over again. Seeing the house looking fantastic on TV was quite rewarding after all the work we've done. Also, watching ourselves was surprisingly not as painful as expected. We are good looking dudes.

I can't say I agree with the results (dead last). Although, trailing behind Leigh and Corey is fine with me - they're place is beautiful. While much of the show pointed out valid points, I would have liked more credit for actually building a kitchen in a space that did not have one. Conversely, we spent less than half the budget to which we were compared... that aspect wasn't discussed on the show and ultimately feels pretty damn good.

I can say we had a wonderful viewing party. The house was jam-packed with amazing people and much fun was had.

If you missed it, the folks at HGTV can't seem to get enough of us and it's been in rotation. Additional airings:
December 30, 2009 - 11:30 AM e/p
January 15, 2010 - 9:00 AM e/p
February 16, 2010 - 5:30 PM e/p

Now, about this master bedroom.

Before:






How about those beams? We tried to work with them. Ultimately, they darkened the room substantially and the lack of ceiling material allowed entirely too much noise transfer between the master bedroom and the one above on the third floor. You do not want to hear the noises coming from the master bedroom.

What's new? Covered the ceiling; added crown moulding; installed recessed lights and a new fan; refinished the floors; wallpapered a wall; FINALLY used those doors we spent so much time on a year ago; and have started putting it back together.

We love the king sized bed - which is resting on top of a frame from West Elm.

The side tables are an Ikea hack we saw on Apartment Therapy - $39 each (plus materials).

We think the wallpaper is stunning and give credit to Kay Ayres for helping find this. Kay is a close friend's designer Mom with a great eye. It's from Lee Jofa and installation was a breeze.











Merry Christmas from Baltimore!! Look at all this snow:



Of course - a dog picture. Here's Kanga looking sexy: