Painted HVAC Units

 It had to be done. The HVAC units looked awful once the walls were painted so they got a coat as well. Now, freshness!

Kitchen Floor

 The kitchen floor looks like slate but its really a Pergo textured laminate floor. My goal was to avoid using a tile guy and take full advantage of Andy's talents. Wait until you see how I implement this strategy with the kitchen backsplash.

Bathroom Update

 Frameless glass shower door installed.

This Ikea vanity with integrated sink hang from the wall. Andy chiseled out the dated toothbrush and cup holders and put white tiles in their place -- 40+ years later, the same 4x4 white tiles can be found at Home Depot.

Bar Pulls

 These stainless steel bar pulls from Ikea cost $12/pair! I needed 5 pairs.

Wood Wall

This is about 120 sq ft. of unfinished scraps of utility oak flooring that I bought from Lumber Liquidators for about $1 a foot. I am going to have Andy apply it horizontally on the 12 foot wall of the bedroom, but first I have to seal it with polyurethane which is the process you see here. I was going to stain it first but I hated every color I sampled. 


It's VERY rough with knots and saw marks and color/grain variation - all of which I wanted.

I Heart Rittenhouse Square Pt 2

More reasons I love Rittenhouse Square:

Rouge at 10pm on a Thursday night

 Belgian Blocks

 Hipsters playing 4-square 

The Dorchester breezeway

Window Seats

I decided to paint these window sills black in both the bedroom and living room. It's the same black as all the doors. 

Here's a before.

Easyclosets.com

I highly recommend easyclosets.com. Using their 3D online software, I designed the layout of the entry and bedroom wall closets to maximize their limited space. It was a lot of fun. Then, a design consultant reviewed my plans with me over the phone. (I thought that step was going to be all about the up-sell, but it wasn't.) Everything arrived in flat boxes. Andy installed them in a day and was impressed with the quality. All in, they cost about $1,500. But Realtor Mark said custom closet systems are compulsory for their impact when showing, ROI when selling.

Tip: Drawers are more than double the cost of shelves. Use bins instead - or just keep closet doors shut, I mean, you weren't raised in a barn.

 Entry closet

Bedroom closet

Rittenhouse Square

Rittenhouse Square - where rainbows and moonbeams softly collide in a poof of stardust to make all your dreams come true.

In truth, it is one of my favorite places on earth. When I moved to Philadelphia for school, I could never have imagined living here one day.

The Building

This is the building - The Dorchester - on the southwest corner of Rittenhouse Square.

The condo is in the part of the building that looks like its between these two towers. (Currently, I'm living in the building on the right. It's a sh*@ hole.)