Living in Southside is fun, until you come home late and the frat boys who live next door are having a party. Then, their friends have parked in your two available curbside spots so Tony has to go over to the party, find the culprits, drink a beer, and get them to move their cars… Continue reading Southside Backyard: Fence & Parking
We loved the pseudo-midcentury lines on this ranch house, and the stacked stone front, but when we bought it three ginormous evergreens were covering the little front porch. I'm sure someone out there will be offended by the evergreen murder that occurred, but we really wanted to be able to see the nice horizontal lines… Continue reading Signal Mountain House: Exterior
Once the shower was tiled, we cleaned up the tub well and moved on to flooring. Speaking of the tub, several folks asked why we didn't replace it. We chose to keep the original cast iron tub because a.) it was original, b.) it was suuuupppeerrr heavy, and c.) finding a modern tub to fit… Continue reading Southside Bathroom: Flooring and Walls
Imagine a bathroom renovated in the 1980's. With several sets of homeowners having used it. Then with a group of nasty boy renters using it. When it was time to move back into our Southside house, we knew the bathroom would be a big priority, since it was the ONLY bathroom in the house. Check… Continue reading Southside Bathroom: Demo and Bath Tile
When we bought the Signal house, there was a set of basic concrete steps leading out into the huge back yard. They were fine. Except they stepped down into a puddle of mud that our dogs dragged their paws through on the way into the house every day. Because we had this big, beautiful backyard,… Continue reading Signal Mountain House: Back Deck
For the entire time we lived in this house, we dealt with this nasty second bathroom, which was the size of a closet and smelled like a moldy basement. It started out with old tiles on the floors and 1960's speckled tiles on the wall, plus an ill-fitting fiberglass shower insert. When you took a… Continue reading Signal Mountain House: Small Bathroom
Tony's sweet parents are flooring experts, so during the week that Amelia ditched out to celebrate her birthday in another city, Tony and his 'rents were able to tile the whole floor. We chose a 4x12" slate-look porcelain tile for the space, because we wanted something neutral and easy-care. We also chose a gray grout,… Continue reading Signal Mountain House: Kitchen Installation and After
IKEA. Love the store. Love the website, with all of its cozy, hygge-inspired home pics. Love the tiny 200 square foot rooms you can shop through. Alas, cabinet shopping at IKEA wasn't very hygge. We arrived first thing in the morning with our plans from their online kitchen designer and reported to the cabinet area.… Continue reading Signal Mountain House: The IKEA Saga
So, I know there are some folks out there who find demo the most fun part of a project. I (Amelia), am not one of them, so I went out of town for a week. While I was gone, Tony's parents came in to help. Here's what that process looked like: First part of demo;… Continue reading Signal Mountain Kitchen: Demo
This was the BIG PROJECT! When we bought the home, there was a discount applied to renovate the kitchen, so the owners clearly realized what a bad sitch it was. The kitchen was enclosed, and suuuuppperr tight. To wash dishes or get into the fridge, you had to walk between the counter and a peninsula,… Continue reading Signal Mountain Kitchen: Before
T&A Fix It Up 