office; color coordinated bookshelf

...and we're back.  While the blog has collected dust, progress at Project Rowhouse has continued.  Here's to some spring cleaning.



Our home office has changed a few times over the years.  Take a look at the transformation.

Before:



No need to see the rest, right?

Here is a look at the first version.  While the orange was a fun, bright color, it wasn't the soothing environment we wanted for an often-used telecommuting work space.







And - here is what it looks like today:

















I'm hoping to keep things a little less dusty around here - wish me luck!

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.

filming - HGTV

It’s official. Filming is complete. I imagine somewhere out there, somebody is busy editing and cutting out the numerous “um’s” and frequent direct eye contact with the camera.

First - we don’t have an air date yet. As soon as we get some more information, we’ll let you know! (I wonder how many of you will still ask in the comments, despite my clear, informative writing.)

The process was fun and everyone involved was great! It’s tough to walk around and talk about your house with cameras in your face, but the producer assured us we were doing great.

The designer was Taniya Nayak, who we’ve recognized from other HGTV programming. She was nice and had great things to say about the house.

Here are a few of the crew working in the house:

Makeup – of course:

As far as who had their best Bang for their Buck – we don’t know yet. I guess we’ll find out when they air!

dining room; clear chairs; corn vase

We often hear kind words about the fact that we're a productive pair. Although, as of late work has slowed dramatically. There are a number of small, unfinished projects preventing the joyous occasion of a to-do list strikethrough.

It's funny how a professional designer and real-estate agent, with camera crew in tow, can motivate you. Things are getting done - in fact, we removed the to-do list altogether.



The picture is old - many of the jobs are now complete. Can you believe we had a question mark behind 'Backsplash'?

So about this dining room... before:



Mmm. Wallpaper.

And I must point out the fireplace massacre. Some brilliant person covered the entire front with an inch of mastic to secure rocks.



Today - In progress:











I'm digging the clear chairs.

The corn vase - SO FAR - is only liked by two people. Me and Jessica. It came from Red Tree.

hgtv

Bad blogger? Maybe.

Bad renovators? No – says HGTV.

That’s right, we’ve been selected to be on a show called Bang For Your Buck! We’re thrilled about the development and can’t wait to show Project Rowhouse in a different forum. Applying for the show was not too difficult. The production company posted an ad; Baltimore Grows blogged about it; We responded, with a link to the blog (of course). After a few weeks of some back-and-forth we were notified that we made it!

To make things more interesting our pals over at Baltimore Rowhouse will be on the same episode.

Filming is the second week in July and as we learn more information regarding air time, we'll be sure to let everyone know! Check back soon, we're finishing up a few projects and some blogging will follow.

basement: unveiled

Let me remind you of how things were:

Can you believe we bought that crap? 

Here we are now:

And some extra storage next to the stairs