snowy baltimore; dining room fireplace

I recently attended a party at Leigh and Corey's place (see Baltimore Rowhouse). There was a theme: Jersey Shore. As much as I enjoy Pop Culture - this one has yet to join my television repertoire. Nonetheless, I met another "blogger" while there. Summer, who has not blogged in, like, months, pointed out that "[I] sometimes blog a lot, and then not for, like, weeks." She's sweet - and honest. I'll follow her lead and just do this when the feeling strikes - or when the snow forces me indoors for 100 hours.

There is a ridiculous amount of snow here in Baltimore. These were taken during the first storm...




...and the day after. The backyard drifts are taller than a person - not to mention a huge dog.








Considering there is a step down when you exit that back door, this is an official crapload.

Now - Here is a before shot of this fireplace:


We first removed the rock and mastic, which left terribly damaged brick:


Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the process. I used a fireplace safe backerboard to smooth things out. Then, I adhered a small, mosaic tile:

stairs

The stairwell was extra oak'y and extra ugly. This first pre-kitchen, pre-brick picture is startling.





I believe Dustin preferred the stairs go unaltered...


...but, it had to be done.

Eventually it'd be nice to install new stairs altogether - for now, some aesthetic clean-up was in order. We primed first then used a dark brown floor paint from Valspar for the treads and balusters. Some bright white trim paint for the risers finished it up.

Since I'm sure most are curious about wear and tear with painting the floor, I'll admit that we actually did this job prior to filming the show (last summer). The paint has performed quite well. For about $50 I'd say this was a worthwhile, buck-banging effort.







Yep. Lady Gaga on the TV.

master bedroom; the big show

Sorry about the hiatus.

First. A few things about the show. We'd do it all over again. Seeing the house looking fantastic on TV was quite rewarding after all the work we've done. Also, watching ourselves was surprisingly not as painful as expected. We are good looking dudes.

I can't say I agree with the results (dead last). Although, trailing behind Leigh and Corey is fine with me - they're place is beautiful. While much of the show pointed out valid points, I would have liked more credit for actually building a kitchen in a space that did not have one. Conversely, we spent less than half the budget to which we were compared... that aspect wasn't discussed on the show and ultimately feels pretty damn good.

I can say we had a wonderful viewing party. The house was jam-packed with amazing people and much fun was had.

If you missed it, the folks at HGTV can't seem to get enough of us and it's been in rotation. Additional airings:
December 30, 2009 - 11:30 AM e/p
January 15, 2010 - 9:00 AM e/p
February 16, 2010 - 5:30 PM e/p

Now, about this master bedroom.

Before:






How about those beams? We tried to work with them. Ultimately, they darkened the room substantially and the lack of ceiling material allowed entirely too much noise transfer between the master bedroom and the one above on the third floor. You do not want to hear the noises coming from the master bedroom.

What's new? Covered the ceiling; added crown moulding; installed recessed lights and a new fan; refinished the floors; wallpapered a wall; FINALLY used those doors we spent so much time on a year ago; and have started putting it back together.

We love the king sized bed - which is resting on top of a frame from West Elm.

The side tables are an Ikea hack we saw on Apartment Therapy - $39 each (plus materials).

We think the wallpaper is stunning and give credit to Kay Ayres for helping find this. Kay is a close friend's designer Mom with a great eye. It's from Lee Jofa and installation was a breeze.











Merry Christmas from Baltimore!! Look at all this snow:



Of course - a dog picture. Here's Kanga looking sexy:

as seen on tv

Today is the day! Tune in to HGTV tonight at 9:30PM EDT to see what we've done!

hgtv - air date

Per Meg, we have an air date. September 11!

**********
Hey Craig,
As of right now we are planning on airing your show on 9/11. I will be sending out an email in the beginning of that week to remind everyone and the following week you will receive your DVD. I will update you if there are any changes.
Thank you

-Meg
***********

We also have a bunch of updates on the house - stairs, more drywall, floors... pictures are forthcoming.