Showing posts with label Remodel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Remodel. Show all posts

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Friends and Neighbors


"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."             Ralph Waldo Emerson



Good friends are one of the best things about being human.  Those friends you can talk to once in a blue moon and it's like you've never had a break in the conversation.  Friends who hold you when you cry and don't remind you how bad you look when your eyes are all red and puffy.  Friends who signal you to get the parsley off your front tooth or remind you to check your zipper - they are priceless.  Aren't those friends who gently hand us a breath mint or even a fuzzy cough drop wonderful on days when we don't notice our breath is less than beautiful?

My friend and neighbor, Patti, was kind enough to suggest (in her own sweet, non judgemental way) that I might want to put curtains on my front door.

We (Mr. J&C and I) were so happy to get rid of the double front doors that were here when we moved in.  On cold, windy nights, I could stand in front of those closed front doors and feel the breeze.  We found this Texas Star pattern at Lowes and added the sidelights to fill in the space the second door had occupied. 



The light coming into the house is so wonderful.  Before the change out it was like standing in a closet, once the new door was in, sunlight flooded the room.  The door is on the north side of the house so the extra sunlight adds light but not heat, it is just a thing of beauty. 

Being neighbors, Patti and I enjoy discussing the comings and goings of the neighborhood.  As Jane Austen so cleverly put it, "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?"  Who knows what the neighbors really get up to, but it is fun to speculate.  Rumor has it there's a sweet little lady with a telescope in her front window and she lives on my street.  Patti pointed out to me that if she had a similar door, she would have curtains.  I can see her point.  If the lights are on anyone and everyone can see into our house.  So, I've been pricing curtain rods and curtains.  I'll put up curtains but I'm going for the lacy ones - I love the light and don't want to get rid of that, I'm just looking for a bit more privacy.

I hope Patti is not suggesting curtains because one day she dropped by and saw more than she planned to see...  But then she's my friend, she can be discreet and I trust that no one else knows what goes on at our house... Then again, maybe it is something that Patti does in her own home that has her worried for me?  Hey! We're old friends, I will keep her secrets. We're also neighbors, so naturally I'm wondering what she's been up to...




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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Addicted to House Porn

House Porn - (noun) - Any picture(s) in a book, magazine or (especially) in a 30 minute television program that makes remodeling or redecorating a house look simple, quick, and easy.  Especially dangerous when it looks inexpensive. 

I should warn you now that if you google the words "House Porn" you will not see this definition.  Trust me on this one. 

I heard the expression or read it somewhere, I just don't remember where.  I'm truly sorry I can't remember where I heard it because I believe in giving credit where credit is due.  I also wish this was my original idea. 

I should also tell you now that I am 50 years old  (51, but who's counting) and I have spent more than half my life watching "This Old House."  By the time HGTV arrived I was addicted House Porn.

Almost six years ago, we found the oldest house we could afford (that was in a neighborhood we wanted to live in) and bought it.  Yesterday we had an electrician repair all the bathroom exhaust fans.  Almost SIX YEARS it's taken to getting around to that job.  Six years without a heater in the bathrooms.  Six years without an exhaust fan where it is needed most.  Our powder room could have been used to get confessions out of harden criminals - excessively hot in the summer, bottom freezingly cold in the winter. 

Today, I'm a happy woman. O.K., truth is most days I'm a happy woman, it's just my nature.  Today, I'm an 'extra' happy woman... except now I need another project.  So I leave you to go and find my list.   The one I made six years ago as I walked through my 'dream house.'  The list that we add to each New Year's when we plan the year before us.  The list that grows almost every time I watch a little house porn.