Something for nothing– that’s my kind of deal. So I was delighted when my neighbor across the street offered me some surplus daylilies from her landscaping. My wife and I have been talking all summer about planting lilies along the foundation at the back of the house. We had other ideas for the space, too, [...]
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I like my shrubs clearly distinct from my trees. In my mind, trees are taller than me, have woody trunks and leafy canopies of branches, whereas shrubs are shorter than me and have foliage from their top to the ground. Okay, so they’re simplistic categories. In fact, the enormous lilac (shree? trub?) in my front [...]
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I just can’t stick to my shopping list at the hardware store. I stopped in to get some polyurethane for a stepstool I’m finishing for my son and I picked up a home test for lead paint on impulse. The test was probably a good impulse because it was cheap and the paint chips in [...]
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This weekend our only house project was to be great hosts to some friends visiting from New York. These were our first houseguests to spend more than a night or two with us since we moved into this house. To celebrate their visit, we packed more activities and nightlife in this past weekend than any [...]
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Entertaining houseguests is always a joy. When guests this lovely stop by, it’s time to break out the good nectar and snap a few photos to mark the occasion.
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Measure twice; cut once. That’s the kind of wisdom that you come up with after measuring once and getting it wrong. So here’s my latest maxim from the Hard Way School of Home Improvement: “Check it all before you call.” This is my sad, stupid story. My dishwasher was failing to drain the water at [...]
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Apparently I’ve been flaunting my lack of HTML skills for the whole world to see by putting bad links all over a recent post. It’s kind of the web equivalent of forgetting to put on pants before you leave the house. So embarrassing! Well, I’m happy to report that my metaphorical pants are back on: [...]
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In response to overwhelming popular demand one kind request, I am posting a handful of exterior photos of the star of Bungalow ‘23. Here you go, Leah– enjoy! This is the front of the house as seen from the front steps. Take note of the massively overgrown cluster of lilac stalks while you can– they [...]
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I have been struggling with a filthy clogged floor drain in my tuckunder garage for a couple weeks now and I’m about ready to call it quits. A friend was kind enough to lend me his drain snake (thanks, Daniel!) but so far I’ve only been able to lower the level of sludge in the [...]
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My wife is away at a work retreat and my son is upstairs sleeping– it must be time to fix something! A couple days ago, I had to remove the dishwasher from the kitchen cabinets for an appliance fixit job that is still ongoing. When the dishwasher came out, I found that the space under [...]
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I'm Josh and since 2005 I have shared home improvement stories and ideas from my family's Arts & Crafts bungalow in Minneapolis, MN. I'm trying to combine the best of 1923 with the best of the 21st century-- and I hope it won't take another 88 years to do it.
