Craigslist

July 22nd, 2010

I picked up a vintage Danish dresser off a lady out in the desert. It was weird. Craigslist is weird sometimes.

I drove a good two hours after work in about 120 degree heat to get to her place in Indio. When I got out to her dismal place the piece was WAY MORE damaged than her posting or pictures alluded to. Chips, missing veneer, scratches, water damaged – pretty much the gamut of shit that can go wrong with furniture. Originally I had talked her down to $100 via email when it was clear that the listing had been languishing on CL for some time, but when I arrived and saw what kind of shape the dresser was in I was like I will give you forty bucks and you should thank me.

We argued. She gave me a sob story about her divorce after 30 years and her ten kids. I sweated in the UNBEARABLE heat. She talked me up, I talked her down and finally we arrived at  a price under a $100 but over $40. Pretty much I didn’t want to have wasted my time driving all the way out there.

I’m going to fix it up as much as I can and have it live in the master bedroom. Since we got rid of almost everything in there at the big sale this is one of the first steps for the big redecoration of the master bedroom – yet again.

Hopefully by the end of summer we can pull it together. I’ve got some projects brewing…

FILED UNDER: craigslist, thrifty, vintage

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House Visit

July 20th, 2010

My friend Maya recently left the West Coast (like a traitor!) to live on the East Coast with her brilliant husband and new puppy Mika. For the past few months they have been fixing up their first home out in the wilderness of the New York coast – seriously – it’s like in the woods only a minute or so from the ocean. I’m so jealous…delicious cooling and refreshing ocean…

They just moved in a few weeks ago and are starting to settle in. Maya sent me some pics of the house from her iphone so that I could see some progress – which is a bad idea when I have a whole website dedicated to house crap.

My dream Bumling light! In brass no less…

The house is not completely finished and like us they still have a bunch of DIY projects to go, but I’m thinking this is a fucking amazing start. Knowing Maya I’m positive that she will keep futzing with things so I am preserving this moment digitally since I can’t be out there to see it in the flesh.

I can’t wait to come out and spend some time futzing around on the East Coast and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to photograph the crap out of the house and share all the changes as they settle in and fix up even more of the place.

Maya. I swear. Soon. (When work isn’t so crazy)

Sorry about putting your house on the internet.

FILED UNDER: tour, travel

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Tank

July 16th, 2010

I know it’s a bit premature (since the side yard is nowhere close to being ready to install the pool) but we went ahead and got ourselves a 10 foot galvanized livestock tank.

We were planning on restoring and painting the garage doors on my single day off this week, but since it’s been a 100 plus degrees for some time I think my brain may have got a little fried from being overworked, overstressed and totally overheated. Pretty much I just said fuck it, there is no way we sanding and painting garage doors in this heat and we aren’t driving two hours to the beach and I need to swim RIGHT NOW.

We went over to the local tack and feed store to pick out a tank and I was super disappointed to see that the 8 foot galvanized tanks were gone. The owner informed us that there was no chance of getting another shipment in for months and months and months…shit.

I had recently gotten a couple quotes from BH Tanks to have a custom tank made like this one; at about $1,300 – $1,500 it was out of our budget. We settled on this 10 foot biggie and at about $500 it was a little bigger and more expensive than we originally planned. We had to go home and remeasure the side yard to make sure it would fit – and with the yard at 16 feet wide the 10 footer is going to be a better fit.

Until we get the side yard cleaned out and ready to go, plumb out the tank and order our salt water pump and filter we are just going ahead and filling that bitch up. Total ghetto Hemet style our above ground pool out on the back patio. No filter, no chemicals, just an old fashioned cowboy style dipping trough. When the water gets too filthy to stand we are draining the tank into our sad and overheated grapefruit tree.

The Boy even went more ghetto style and brought in a folding plastic chair to sit in while in the pool. Classy.

I must have spent three hours soaking and swimming around in there and it was AWESOME. SO AWESOME. Seriously worth every penny – that’s how happy I was. I haven’t been that elated or relaxed in a long time – the Boy got his TV and I got me a pool. Now at least when we are doing projects outside in the 100 plus degree heat we can jump in the tank for a little cool down and get back to work.

I’m betting that we can get the side yard going since, big announcement, the long arduous battle that has been the exterior painting is ALMOST DONE. So close. So very close.

FILED UNDER: before, exterior, pool

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