Before and After: Living Room Built-Ins!

Before I even bought my house, I dreamed of a Craftsman style home with built-ins surrounding the fireplace. So when I found my place, those immediately went on the to do list... after the bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, heating / air conditioning, electrical, backyard, etc etc etc. 

More than three years later, I FINALLY got my built-ins, thanks to my big brother Monty! Here is a little reminder of the "before" (this picture is pretty old, sorry):

And here is a picture of the pre-decorated "after":

Again, apologies for not cleaning up before taking the photo. I was just so excited!

Some people (not me, obviously) were concerned that the shelves would make the room seem smaller. But since they're only 8 inches deep, and painted the same color as the walls, they didn't seem to reduce the space at all. In fact, I think the horizontal lines make the room seem wider. And I definitely have a lot more storage! Everybody wins!

A huge thank you to my brother Monty, you're the best!

Kitchen Demo: It's Finally Here!

It's been a whirlwind of activity at the Rosenfeld Cottage the past few days! Demo has officially begun on the kitchen remodel! Check out the before pictures, so I can have your complete sympathy...

Can you believe I ever hosted Pre-Thanksgiving in this kitchen?? Now feast your eyes on the glory that is demolition...

Looks better already, doesn't it? That big old hole in the floor is so that we can run the plumbing over to the other side of the kitchen, for the sink and dishwasher. The crawlspace was too small to fit a person, so we had to go in through the top. Luckily, replacing the floor was already on the menu, so it wasn't too big a deal.

When we pulled down all those weird pressboard ceiling tiles, we uncovered a recessed vent hood in the ceiling! Not only is it a cool piece of character from the original build, but it also saves me a bit of money on buying a new hood (those things are expensive! Who knew?). 

It already feels about ten times bigger than it did. You can see we have some drywall up on the half wall! Things are beginning to take shape!

Disaster Watch 2011: Backyard Nightmare

When I walked through my house before purchasing it, the backyard was fine. Not fantastic, but it was a good size and seemed pretty well maintained. Then I moved in, and it all went to pot.

I was so focused on fixing up the interior, that maintaining the backyard was pretty much out of the question. I hired a gardner to mow the front lawn and generally keep things up, but I didn't give him access to the backyard, mostly due to the fact that it was the construction headquarters.

It has taken a beating pretty much from day one. I turned off the sprinklers, so that we weren't watering our building materials, which meant that the grass died. Then one of the dead avocado trees fell over in a storm (God was smiling on me though - it fell in the perfect position to miss both the garage and the cinderblock wall). Random chairs started showing up back there, positioned conveniently so that the neighbor kids could climb over the back fence whenever they wanted... it was about that time that things started disappearing from the workshop.

In short, the backyard is a hazard. Think I'm exaggerating? Check it out...

And this is actually after we'd made some effort to clean things up! I wish I could say "stay tuned for the big reveal" but sadly, there is no big reveal. This is pretty far down the priority list for right now, and I have a feeling it's going to be one of those projects that gets worse before it gets better. Heaven help us all!

Happy House Warming! Er... demoing...

Those of you who know me personally, know how long I searched for a little fixer to call my very own. From South Central to Glendale and beyond, I left no reasonably-priced stone unturned for almost two years. My tireless efforts (and those of my steadfast Realtor) finally bore fruit last month! I am now the proud owner of a two bedroom, one bathroom, 936 sq ft cottage in Mid-City Los Angeles. Hurray for me! Now you KNOW there is work to be done before moving in. What fun would turn-key be? Check out the pics from the listing...

Not too terrible right? Well did you happen to notice there are some rooms missing? How about a kitchen, a bathroom, and maybe a bedroom or two? Here are some pics I took on the final walk through...

Unfortunately, I didn't get one without my dad standing right in the middle of the kitchen (look how distraught he looks. You can basically see him asking me, "what have you done?!"). But you can tell: a) there is NOT a lot of space b) it's basically been untouched since 1925 c) this is going to be expensive. What you CAN'T see in the pic, is that there is no refrigerator, nor is there room for one. Lord knows where the last owner put theirs, I'm guessing on the back porch. Keepin' it classy.

What a cute little bathroom, right? I don't know what I like better, the makeshift vanity that someone cobbled together from random pieces of particle board, or the electric that is run on the outside of the wall, conveniently next to a water source. Fun times! Still, this room has major potential and you have to love the original hexagon porcelain tile floor.

This is the master bedroom, measuring 11.5 x 11.5 feet. Not the Taj Mahal, but not terrible either. What you can't see from the picture, is that the popcorn ceiling is actually falling down. We tried to break off a little piece to get it tested for asbestos, and basically ended up with a whole-lotta ceiling on our heads. And yes, that carpeting is going to go, post haste. The bedroom will be my first project, as I can't (or won't) move in until I have a safe, sane place to sleep -- without a Chicken Little ceiling and vintage Mid-Century carpeting. Did you hear that bullhorn? Let the reno begin!

Nightstand Before & After

Okay, don't judge me too harshly, as I bought this bedroom set more than 10 yrs ago. Rattan was big back then! It was from Pier One! The height of sophistication!

Before: A rattan monstrosity



After: A decoupage dream!



The hardest part of this project was prying off that darn rattan -- each piece was individually stapled down! But once I got it all off, all I had to do was cut pieces of fabric about an inch and a half bigger than the drawer fronts, and apply them with (what else?) Mod Podge. Then sand, prime, and paint the rest of the nightstand with white flat paint. Once that was dry, I decoupaged the fabric on to the top and side panels. After adding a couple of pretty drawer pulls (from Anthropologie, naturally), and a piece of custom-cut plexi for the top, I was done!

Looking back, I would have used a semi gloss paint for the night stand. It makes dusting so much easier (not that I do a lot of dusting, mind you). But overall, I love the splash of color this lends to my bedroom. Next project: making over the matching dresser!