If any of you live in an old home, you know what it is like. When there is a series of days below zero things (especially pipes) begin not to work. Yet, this is the reality of living in an 1839 home with uninsulated walls and a dirt basement. Having been in our River HomeContinue reading “With the Cold Comes Frozen Pipes”
Category Archives: Old House & DIY
Upstate New York Instant Garden
Trying to think of COVID friendly, fun, meditative, and healthy activity, look no further than creating your own Instant Garden. In just under 5 hours, our team (Rick, Emily, and myself), turned our drab front yard into a country oasis breeding new life to the front of our 1800s Hudson River home. Stemming from ourContinue reading “Upstate New York Instant Garden”
Repurposing Unused Windows for a One-of-a-Kind DIY Greenhouse
Spring 2020 The quarantine meant we had time for home improvements; first off was backyard projects! Since we have been home for a considerable amount of time we decided that we would put some love into our yard (especially since there were no vacations in our foreseeable future). This project was completed in April, butContinue reading “Repurposing Unused Windows for a One-of-a-Kind DIY Greenhouse”
Turning the Unfinished Attic Into an Art Studio and Meditation Area
Rick just completed remodeling one-third of the attic! The attic is a great space except for the extremely steep stairs! We have wonderful views of the river from the two north-facing windows. We now have an art studio area and a yoga/meditation area. We used materials that were easy to transport up the steep stairsContinue reading “Turning the Unfinished Attic Into an Art Studio and Meditation Area”
An Affordable Solution to the Dreaded Dirt Basement
Our 1839 home has a dirt basement. Finally, after opening up the basement stairs, it was time to tackle the basement once and for all. When we purchased the house, there was a toilet on top of the stairs to the basement. The old owners tried to make this house into 3 apartments. Two weeksContinue reading “An Affordable Solution to the Dreaded Dirt Basement”
$50 Guest Bedroom Remodel
After almost 6 years, it was time to do a cheap remodel on the small guest bedroom. We ordered a quart of paint online at Home Depot ($14.00). Yes, you can order paint online for at-home delivery. We also ordered 2 white comforters from Target ($18.00 each). We painted one accent wall navy blue. InContinue reading “$50 Guest Bedroom Remodel”
Raised Flower Beds
For Mother’s Day 2017, Rick built raised flower beds enclosed to protect our flowers and vegetables from the variety of wildlife in our backyard. Due to our love for industrial style and the need to protect the garden, we decided on corrugated raised fencing. I am sure by now that you can tell we loveContinue reading “Raised Flower Beds”
Our Kitchen Got a Face Lift
Spring 2019 Due to the urgency to make the house livable in a timely fashion, we rushed doing the kitchen with the knowledge we would work on it down the road. To begin, we bought butcher block from Lumber Liquidators for the outer cabinets and to save time and money chose a simple tile forContinue reading “Our Kitchen Got a Face Lift”
Building a Ship-Lap Wall to Hold Our Electric Fireplace
Fall 2017 In our home in Vermont we had two pellet stoves, yet due to the size of our new home there was no need for another source of heating. Yet, we wanted a fireplace, but it was too expensive to run a gas line to the living room. During one of our regular tripsContinue reading “Building a Ship-Lap Wall to Hold Our Electric Fireplace”
Driftwood Jewelry Tree
This project started at last week’s auction, where Elisabeth found a tall, skinny mahogany bookcase in which she wanted to display some of her books in her room. Yet, seeing her room was already full with little room for the new bookcase, she went about rearranging her room. After spending a day rearranging and reorganizingContinue reading “Driftwood Jewelry Tree”
Upstate Vintage Living 