Renovator's House Tour

Sometimes when my husband and I are walking the dog after work... when the sun goes down, and people's living room lights switch on, I have to admit... I become a bit of a snoop. Now, before you're completely grossed out, and decide to report me, let me explain. I could care less what Harry Homeowner is doing in his kitchen...or what DeDe Decorator is watching on television. I just really want to peek at his choice in kitchen cabinets or the color paint she decided on for her living room! Or solutions they figured out for small space living, exposed brick, interesting mantels, beautiful chandeliers, mouldings or art pieces, etc., etc. Most importantly because I appreciate it. I value how hard they worked to achieve it, whether I know them or not, or whether they actually did the work/decor themselves, or they moved in and it was done for them. Someone did it, at some point.... and I want to see it!!!

And oddly enough, the more grand and gorgeous the rowhouse, the more historic the property -- the more I feel like it's my right to be able to see how awesome the interior is! Again, because I would appreciate it. These people don't know me, nor do I know them... I just want to see their house! Is that weird???

Well, I might have found my solution...


Saturday, October 13th is the 7th annual Renovator’s House Tour on Capitol Hill. I haven't had a chance to go to this yet, but I'd really like to make it this year. Has anyone else? I'm interested to hear any feedback if you have. Here is an excerpt from their site.... it sounds promising.

"Designed for the modern homeowner, this popular self-guided walking tour showcases a wide variety of homes and styles across Capitol Hill, from the hip H Street corridor to the expanding Barney Circle neighborhood. AMONG OTHER DELIGHTS, be prepared for a peek into:

• the unusual apartment space celebrating its 100th birthday overlooking Eastern Market;
• a 500-square-foot workman’s cottage;
• the art-filled home of award-winning actor Robert Prosky;
• a crow’s-nest bathroom complete with claw-foot tub.

Intrigued? Desperate? Tickets are just $25 to see 10 incredible homes, while supporting a DC public school at the same time (100% of the proceeds go to the Capitol Hill Cluster School — how great is that?)."

Old architectural stars

As evident in the header design of RowHouse - I'm obsessed with old stars! To me, they say classic, American, old, and beautiful. What else could be better? Growing up near Old Town, Alexandria I became accustomed to seeing these old solid metal stars on just about every home exterior, especially old rowhouses. Now, I enjoy walking around Capitol Hill looking at these and other architectural details.

Here's a bit of history for why they were actually very useful: Tie rods and these star-shaped "washers" were often used to connect the gable walls of masonry structures. The floor joists would hold the weight bearing walls from spreading, so these were often the solution for the non-load bearing walls.

Design idea: Collect a bunch of these stars in different sizes. You can find them at just about any salvage shop. Find some large nails, and nail through the hole in the center to hang on a wall - hang several. If you are using tiny stars, you could even use a thin piece of rope, twine, or ribbon to hang frames, with/out photos in them. ...Or simply just prop up on a mantel or shelf.

(images via flickr)

More inspiration from the 2007 Idea Home

I really get excited when Cottage Living features their yearly Idea Home. And this year's home, in New Orleans, certainly did not disappoint! I love every room. Here are some of my favorites...

Painted chalkboard kitchen wall

I just read the newest issue of Cottage Living. And I love, love, love this idea from their 2007 Idea Home. So much so, that I fully plan to do something similar in our next kitchen (our current kitchen wouldn't really work with this). And I really love that this "recipe" below lets you choose your own color, instead of standard black. Oh, and that rustic sliding door -taken from an old bank in New Orleans - awesome.

"Everyone loves the novelty of a chalkboard surface, but most of the time you're limited to black or green. This recipe allows you to mix your own colors. For the pantry area, we mixed the chalkboard paint in 1-gallon batches.

1. Pour 1 cup of acrylic latex paint, in the color of your choice, into a clean, 1-gallon bucket.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of dry, unsanded tile grout mix into the paint, and mix until the paint is smooth and clump-free. (Use plain grout mix without added pigments to prevent color shifts. We used a kitchen whisk to mix our paint.) Repeat the mixing process until you have enough paint to complete your entire project.

3. If necessary, prepare the wall with a light sanding or priming. Apply the chalkboard mixture to any paintable surface with a roller or brush. (We used two coats of our chalkboard paint to build up a thick surface.)

4. Allow the paint to completely dry, then sand the surface with fine sandpaper until you achieve a texture that accepts chalk. Next, "color the surface with the wide part of a piece of white chalk to get a chalkboard-like patina.

5. Wipe away excess chalk with a damp cloth."

(quoted article from Cottage Living, photo by Robbie Caponetto for CL)

Poppytalk Handmade launched today!

A huge congratulations to Jan over at poppytalk. Today she launched a site dedicated to her favorite handmade treasures from over 75 vendors, and all are for sale! Spend some time clicking around on the site - some truly adorable finds. What a great way to support emerging artists. Check it out: Poppytalk Handmade

(screenshot from poppytalk handmade)

Affordable throw pillows

How great would these be against a white or pale blue couch? I just saw this site called Wrapables for affordable throw pillows, cushion covers, and fillers among other things. Some are as low as $21.95...

(images from Wrapables)

ZARA Home

A few months after graduating from college, my good friend Ann and I moved to New York City in 2001 for a brief stint. We shared a tiny a sublet apartment on the Upper East Side. One of our favorite things to do on the weekend was to shop the discount stores such as H&M and Zara (this was before either store had arrived in DC - so we were in designer knock-off heaven for clothes!). NYC was my first experience with either store, and since then I have been hooked on the good deals. I only just recently discovered that Zara has an entire Home division. The bad news - not in the U.S. The good news, their online catalogue is still lovely to browse. Does anyone know (perhaps from the UK) if their home-wares are as affordable as their clothing line?? I can't tell online. Some of my favorite shots from their Autumn/Winter 2007-2008 collection...

(Images from Zara Home)