Archive for the ‘before’ Category

Ground cover…and the Santa Anas

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Economic times are pretty bad and the Brick House is falling apart…no money and mo’ problems.

Hello cheap mulch!

I cleaned up the grapefruit tree and spread out a few 3 dollar bags of “decorative ground cover”. The next morning a massive wind hit So Cal and the Santa Anas ruined my pretty new bark bits as well as…

They huffed and puffed and blew down the fence! Oh my.

Before…bad shape yes, but after – hello neighbors.

Well times are assuredly tough, my city is THE premiere REO capital, and the neighbors just lost their house last week. That gray and white house is vacant – so at least no awkward conversation about the ghetto roped together fence and new gaping hole.

I searched around for some quotes for a new fence and the cheapest bid was $3000. YES $3000 for 108 feet.
Even DIY is going to cost around $1000 in materials if I use the cheapest pre-made wood fence sections at the Home Depot.

POOP.

I’m at a loss for cheap ideas or solutions. I guess we are going to have a lovely view of the vacant house next door for some time to come.

Damn you Brick House.

Kitchen Sink!

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

Finally. Its done.



Before….and….

Here it is! Installed and totally functional. Now I can touch it without the fear of catching some sort of venereal disease.

More before and after action for you. Its so shiny – I must not be allowed to leave dirty dishes everywhere.

Remember that hole?

I’m doing all that I can to wipe my memory of it – mainly drowning my brain cells in vodka.

Retro Renovation
had a great post about authentic cast iron choices for post war kitchens. I’m just to cheap for authenticity though…

I’m in love with the sink but not the faucet. I had to make a choice quickly and bought the cheapest – least offensive model I could find at Lowe’s. I feel like one day I’ll run into some beautiful – and heavily discounted faucet – that will replace the Peerless, Double Handle Chrome Faucet.

Kitchen Sink

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Looks like party time – and nothing says raging party quite like diet A&W root beer. We’re crazy bad-ass motherf*r’s at the Brick House.

This past weekend we had a birthday/housewarming/kitchen sink BBQ. The big lesson I learned: its not a great idea to remove a kitchen sink during a party. I probably should have planned better…

Below is the old sink, which seems to be original to the house. That sink was HEAVY, and had an awesome metal ring that locked it in place – it also turned into a total pain in the ass to remove.

What a lovely sink you say…oh yeah? Check this shiz out.

Ahhhh! The faucet leaked – pretty much out of every single part – it was rusty, and pitted and never would get clean. Also the interior of the sink was pitted, stained and the enamel flaked off in big chunks. It looked like you might get chlamydia from touching it.

All the boys came to the rescue during the BBQ. They pulled out the old sink and got the Youngstown steel cabinets ready for the replacement. My poor turquoise faux boise Formica!

Here’s a little preview…I’m still doing dishes from the party (in my brand new sink!). Pics soon…


American Standard, Lakeland Kitchen Sink (on clearance in stores, $98)
Peerless, Double Handle Chrome Kitchen Faucet (on sale in store, $48)