thirty.thirtytwo

Demolition Derby

2011-08-05T00:51:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh!!! We're officially in the kitchen remodel funnel! Well, technically we're kitchen-less at the moment and I guess technically we could make a decision: spend every free moment we have in the next two months laboring over as close to the kitchen of our dreams as our architecture and budget will allow or just live indefinitely without a kitchen...washing dishes in the basement utility sink and learning the fine art of microwave and toaster oven cooking....

Sorry, I know everyone and their mother is using instagram photo filters these days, but it's really the only way to make this whole mess of a project look semi-romantic and exciting...
Anyways, last Saturday Jean's brother-in-law and I grabbed our sledge hammers and obliterated the kitchen down to the studs and subfloor. The space feels so cool now...so open...so raw. Makes us just want to leave it as is except for the no sink, oven, cooktop, or countertop part.

The diagonally-laid solid wood subfloor is particularly cool...

Even our (leaky) temporary sink has some tempting rustic charm...

Wouldn't it be a shame to seal up that hidden neitherland area above the ceiling of our stairs? It's like a whole other entirely useless room in there!

We're hoping that all this roughing it will be worth it when we finally complete the project. To keep our spirits and motivation up, we have to continually refer to the sketchup model of the final space.

We're so excited to have an open kitchen that we can actually hang out in! The center island is going to awesome for prep, eating, and talking. The low seating area at the back will allow us to utilize our over abundance of dining chairs (ridiculous considering we don't have a dining room).
Framing the island is a steel structure our friend Nick at Piano Nobile is making for us to support the span. It will be powdercoated steel profiles with an incorporated rail for hanging pots and pans, plants, utensils, etc.

The kitchen will also get all new electrical and a reclaimed oak hardwood floor, new appliances, etc. So, yeah, it's going to be a long journey, but at this point we don't really have any choice. ONWARD WITH THE KITCHEN!!

The Sun Sets on Our New Trees!

2011-05-01T18:02:00.001-07:00

Sledgehammer!

2011-04-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Dylan brings the Hammer down on some pesky concrete!

Jared, the Happy Vermonter.

2011-04-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Curb Appeal?

2011-04-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not - this amount of progress has taken a year+ to achieve! Now we're breaking ground, buying trees, sawing timbers, and surveying our land! Huzzah!

The Goal:

1. Take out our mini-rockeries that dissolved into weedy sidewalks.

2. Replace them with a feature that will extend our landscape-able front yard and create a little distance and privacy from the sidewalk.

3. Plant some handsome trees to soften the corners of our house and screen our view of the sidewalk.

We feel SO GOOD about even getting this far. We've been joking lately about what an HGtv show starring us would look like - and this would be the bulk of the 2010 season of The Dupe:

J&D&J&C: Let's do something about the front yard! All in Favor say Aye! The Ayes have it!

J&D&J&C: Whaddowedo?

J&C: We like stone walls because we're from New England.

J&D: A friend of our made metal boxes to frame their front yard - they are really simple and modern.

C: .....metal? like, rusty metal? .......

J&D: Yeah, like in these cool pictures (indicating cool pictures)

J&C: ok... that could be cool. How much will it cost?

DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!

OK, I started writing this out, and I think it might be better summarized. Essentially we ALL got very much on board with metal boxes, and then got startled by the material cost, and then (with much debate) worked our way back to being on board with the cost, only to be startled AGAIN by the additional cost if installation. We went back to entertaining more economical ideas like landscaping timbers and "Home Depot" stone walls. J&C were rooting for stone, J&D were rooting for timbers. D&C swapped perspectives after a trip to Lowes and eventually we all landed on timbers thanks to the desire to just MAKE A DECISION!

Don't get me started on the tree buying decision, just know that we are the proud owners of 2 matching Japanese Maples - Acer Palmatum Osakazuki to be precise!

High Fives for Springtime progress!

Starting 2011 With a Big SHABANG! (through our kitchen wall)

2011-01-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2011!!!
Dylan & I started the year with a big bang.....through our wall between our kitchen & living room on New Year's Day!!

This is just PHASE 1 of only-god-knows-how-many-phases-we'll-take-to-do-our-kitchen-remodel project.
We decided that this year we're gonna actually devote some time/effort/$$ for our house that's been a little neglected....
But also we just got tired of the middle wall that divided our living room & kitchen, which made our kitchen feel too closed off since the living room & kitchen is where both of us hang out majority of the time.

So as the first step, we decided to tear some stuff out to start the project.... and also release all the stress built up from 2010!!

Here's what it looked like BEFORE looking from the living room.

Dylan specking the wall to see what's up.

We took some time to tarp everything off...which is always surprisingly time consuming and not very exciting...

But then we started to tear out the first side of the drywall!!

And since I forgot to take photos, let's fast forward past making bunch of dusty mess, making grunting & hammering noises, taking down the upper cabinets and then tearing out the other side of the wall ....
TA-DA...we went through the wall!

Along the way I had to take this photo of this awesome texture, which was previously our 70's mauve colored tiled back splash wall....

Then we noticed that there's a mysterious half beam on the left side....yes, we just opened a whole can of worms.... This is gonna be an interesting challenge....

But here's what it looks like AFTER!

I know!...NOT that impressive looking at all!
Just to warn you, there's gonna be a whole lot of BEFORE/AFTER photos of stuff like this where the 'after' photos are just gonna look worse than before since it's probably just gonna be things getting torn up more and more....but hopefully that will change where the 'after' photos will get better as we get to do more exciting things.
But at least now you can see the whole kitchen from the living room!
The best part is that there's tons of light coming from the living room now, which is totally great!
I'm totally stoked about it even with just this raw-open wall. :D

Now we need to go figure out what to do with that weird half-beam....

Finished Garage...for reals

2010-07-08T00:50:00.000-07:00

Meant to post the update of our finished garage sooner...
But remember beginning of the year (too long ago) when we got the glass garage doors? Well, it wasn't our intention to have clear windows and having everyone being able to see into our garage was not something we wanted.....if that's what you've been wondering this whole time!
We wanted to save $$ so decided to not get frosted windows and figure we can do it ourselves later! Of course that always ends up taking longer than we intend..BUT we did ended up going with these frosted film for only $80 to do both doors ! It would have cost about four times as much if we had ordered them from the garage door company. So we gave patted ourselves on the back for being such a thrifty home owner. :D

Of course we nominated master Jared to do the job...
And indeed what a great awesome job he did...Boom. Done.
Just look at those garage doors...now that's adding property value right there!
...But just don't look at the wooden crate on the side or the messy garden hose, or the dingy paint, or the crappy aluminum windows.....Hey, it's still a work in progress!!

'30 Kitchen Dreamin'

2010-04-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

So, we're standing on the edge of the funnel here at 2430...the kitchen remodel funnel. And there we pause peaking over the edge of the funnel, half scared, half excited, half unsure, half confident, and half really bad at fractions. In this moment of reflection, we'd like to use a few posts to share a glimpse at what is inspiring our soon to be torn up and put back together kitchen. We're lovin' this island. We really want a dining height eating surface and this is the most elegant integration of one yet.

The feeling of this room is really nice. The graphic black kitchen with the mis-matched dining chairs.

A nice mix of materials.

The red here helps define the work area graphically.

I'd Like to Tap that House: Iconic House

2010-04-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a series that I'd like to call "I'd Like To Tap That..."
where it will be designs related to awesome spaces, interiors, kitchens or architecture.

I really like this simple iconic shape of a house extruded by Kavellaris Urban Design. It's great how they even continued the lines further out in the front to create the balcony and covered car lot.
Dylan & I are starting to gather some inspirations for our kitchen, and we like this open kitchen & dining room.The seemingly simple concept is well-executed with thoughtful details through out the house inside and out. Pretty amazing how how bright it seems even though the only light source is coming from both ends of the house!

Ballard Danish Treats

2010-03-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

One of the OG shop in Crownhill/Ballard neighborhood:
Larsen Bros Danish Bakery is this totally understated and seemly unappealing bakery that's filled with colorful goodies and super affordable Danish baked pastries, cookies, and bread. I've yet tried everything. But so far all the Danish treats I've tried have been more than satisfying!Some of the Scandinavian treats they offer:
Danish Kringle
Cinnamon Rolls (kanelbullar)
Julekaka Bread
Yest Bread (vetebröd)
Saffron Bread (Saffranbröd)
They even offer these beautiful special Scandinavian Kransekager cakes made from layers of these almond-based paste cake for wedding or anniversary celebrations! I love how the mini-flags is part of the decoration.COOKIES!!
One of my fav is this flaky almond past-filled pastry with poppy seed. A light and delicious treat for only $1.25Not sure what these green things are....haven't had the courage to try them yet...but the look of anticipation on their faces made me regret not getting it.

New Garage Door for the New Year!

2010-01-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know...it's been WAY too long since we've updated our Dupe blog. But to start off the year, we're excited to say that we're FINALLY getting our glass aluminum garage doors installed...TODAY! Also Dylan's birthday! What a wonderful day it is!!The installer is doing the work right as I'm writing this post! I love not having to do the actual work! I'm just sitting here writing this post, sipping on some tea, and BOOM, this handy installer guys has already got one side of the door in! UH-MAZING!
Besides the obvious of improving the facade of the Dupe, the doors will replace our previously half-functioning vinyl crappy doors and....fill our Chikabird studio and wood shop with happy warm sunlight!! We won't have to be working in the dark cave anymore! YAY!!
Our garage doors are from these handy guys of Distrubu Doors...with their fancy van of the owners and their miniature Distrubu Door predecessors....Love it.

More shelving progress

2009-07-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

2 more shelves done and I think I might not need the 4th one. Here are some pics installed with goodies on the shelves.

Above is a before shot with blue tape outlining the proposed shelving arrangement (the TV was originally going to go here). Months and months later the dream is nearly realized! Just have to figure out how to finish the shelves, but not change the color of the wood (I don't want it to yellow...any ideas?).

Shelving at last...almost...sort of

2009-07-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has visited '30 in the past 2+ months may recall the seemingly purposeless white wood textured panels on our wall. The panels were the beginning of our built-in shelving...one of those projects that has taken way too long. We got one step closer recently. Finally have 1 shelf of 4 sort-of-kind-of ready. I'm pretending it's ready at least. 3 more to go! Plus notching for the brackets and finishing them.

I am building the shelves using this great bracket system from Rakks and using the wood-textured wall panels (actually planks of primed house siding) as wall panels that hide the the required vertical brackets in the gaps between. The shelves will be lightened white oak and will be adjustable in height using the clever camming action of the Rakks bracket.

More on the whole project when I finally get the damn thing done.

Ultimate Freedom Meal 09'

2009-07-13T17:25:00.001-07:00

Oh! What a glory day it was to celebrate the day of freedom. The dupe (our house) celebrated honored our country with great pride by coming together to make an awesome freedom meal.....well actually, to be honest, we really just needed an excuse to convince Jesse to make his infamous burgers made with red wine reduced sauce and shallots. Ever since he first mentioned the process on how to make those burgers a year ago, we've been dreaming about it ever since. So what better time to make a burger than on July the 4th?

Chika on the other hand took charge of making some homemade french fries & curry ketchup! You'd think that making fries is easy as cutting it up and just throwing them into a giant pot of hot oil...well, not these twice-fried-perfectly-crispy-outside-with-soft-inside-fries.

Chika peeled, sliced, and soaked them in water the day before to take out some starch. This was an important step to ensure the best result for the fries.

At the dupe, we don't joke around. We don't just do the most obvious and quickest cooking technique. We like to prolong the process, add more steps, or reduce whatever liquid we can to make these seemingly simple dishes more than awesome.

The burgers and fries were beyond my expectations. Burgers were juicy and well flavored...the fries were crunchy and soft at the same time. It was just heavenly. Burgers+fries=Freedom=Food coma in heaven.......with burger angels. ooh yeah.....

For dessert, I made Chocolate croissant bread pudding. This also required an extra step of pre-toasting the croissant so it's extra crunch and buttery! This is not a dish that's highly recommended for the South Beach dieters...fyi.

I used a recipe online, but altered it a little by adding sherry to the sauce and used 97% dark chocolate. I topped it with some toasted hazelnut and homemade cinnamon whipping cream. But here's my slightly altered recipe:

Dark Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

4 to 5 large croissants, cut into 1-inch cubes to measure 6 cups
5 tablespoons softened butter, divided
2 cups half and half
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
1 / 2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sherry or brandy
chopped toasted hazelnut for garnish
Fresh mint for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut croissant into 1 inch cubes. Spread croissant on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted; set aside and turn oven off. Spread 1 tablespoon butter in the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish and add toasted croissant cubes. Heat half and half and remaining butter in a medium saucepan until almost boiling; add vanilla and sherry; cool to room temp. Whisk together sugar and eggs in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in chocolate mixture. Fill bottom of baking dish with one layer of croissant (use about a third of the croissant cubes), sprinkle with chocolate. Pour sauce over croissant cubes, making sure that all are coated with mixture. Repeat step until the whole dish is filled with croissant, chocolate, and sauce. Let stand for 1 hour and preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve warm with whipping cream or ice cream!

After our meal, we enjoyed a bike ride to Fremont and watched the amazing fireworks by Lake Union. It was a good freedom day.

Having Pun In the Bathroom

2009-06-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Dylan and I are getting some inspirations to remodel our bathroom....our first major remodeling project! It's a pretty small 9ft by 6ft bathroom....so it should be pretty manageable....I hope.

As we browsed around on Remodelista getting some inspirations, we found these series of clever Pun Tile Collection by Ascot.Dylan and I actually talked about incorporating Corian surfaces and CNC little nooks for soaps, shampoo bottles, and etc. It would be even better to add those Pun Tiles!

I Pea-ed My Plants!

2009-05-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

I have to credit Jared for this blog titled... This was a joke that Jared had made about my FIRST pea that I grew! That guy think he's a comedian or something....
But this is the first and ONLY one that grew since end of March when we started planting.
I like how you can see the inside! SO CUTE!
But the problem is that there's only ONE....and I worked too hard to want to eat it....quite a dilemma.Also, here's the recent update on the other plants....it's been almost 2 months since we started planting! The cheery and heirloom tomatoes are getting quite tall...at least 2ft tall now! We'll be transplanting them soon. Oh boy!! I just hope it'll yield more than one so I can at least keep one and eat the other!

Jean

Inspiration: Traditional meets Modern

2009-04-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Plastolux. I impressed by how they integrated the addition into the original home! It's obviously different but it still works well all around. I've been fantasizing about how we can add an addition to the back of our house, too...seeing this makes me want it more!
Granted our house isn't two stories tall nor do we have that much backyard space...but, it's still a great inspiration nonetheless. I think we'll be able to save up and do this from our "keep the change" program.
I especially LOVE the backyard with the fireplace that's actually shared in the living room! I like two for one deals....
I like the idea of a 2 sided fireplace that can go perfect between the dupe units in the backyard. We actually want to build a fire pit, either way...we want some hot burning flames outside. Tsssss.....HAAAWT!

Get Caffinated VIA Instant Caffee

2009-04-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is totally old old news. I'm trying to post all the things I was suppose to months ago! With Jessee who's a manager at one of Starbucks shop in Seattle, so we got to try the Starbucks instant coffee, VIA before it came out! COOL HUH!? But I guess it's really not so impressive sounding anymore since it's everywhere now.... I still have to share that so it makes me feel more special. It worked! :D
But mostly I wanted to share how we all became big fans of these well packaged practical little packets of instant coffee powder. It's so good that you'll want to snort it....oh yeah.
Not only are we in love with the packaging that reminds us of clever Japanese packaging, the taste itself is bold, flavorful and STRONG. It definitely gets me really caffeinated for a good amount of time.

Best part is that we won't have to risk getting bad coffee outside of Seattle...and Italy. I admit it, after living in Seattle for nearly 10 years now, I've become a total coffee snob and I'm damn proud of it!
So no more drinking watered down flavorless coffee on the airplane, in the hotel, at restaurants...or even at your relatives who still drinks Folger's. Sorry relatives.....
Thanks Starbucks VIA ! I can now stuff my pockets full of these babies wherever I go....

We're Growing!

2009-04-25T01:06:00.000-07:00

The dupe got bunch of vegetable seeds and we're growing them!! LOOK! Well...we actually started in end of March. So don't be surprised if you see the plants a foot taller in the next couple posts. :P
This is my first time growing vegetables from the seeds, so this is totally exciting to see these cute little greens growing out of the soil and watch them get taller and taller each day! I know nothing about growing vegetables, so I've been getting lots of great tips from everyone. One great tip we got was putting the seeds in the fridge for couple days and then plant it. This way, it tricks them in thinking that it's warmer weather and then they'll wanna come out! Silly plants...they don't know any better.
Here's what we're growing! Egg plants, beets, cucumbers, peas, peppers, arugula, heirloom and cheery tomatoes, cilantro, dill, chives, basil...Eventually they'll all go to our backyard! I just hope we can keep them alive and to produce some awesome vegetables...otherwise I'm gonna be really sad....and pissed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...permanently, so that'll ensure all the plants will produce awesome vegetables.

Jean

30...after 3 months of living

2009-02-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

We finally got off in gear and took some pics of our living and kitchen space, which is where we spend most of our time and thus most of our decorating effort.

The biggest impact to date was relocating the fridge from the credenza wall to the door way niche. Although it renders our side door useless, it's totally worth it for opening up the kitchen space...it feels so much bigger now! We took the freed up space and made a two tier seating and work surface using some laminate surfaces (bright yellow!) from Ikea from the as-is for $40 and an old Eames table base. It's great for eating and computer use and the added counter space is a huge plus when cooking. This is where Jean took the retro 50's cake she made couple weeks ago.

BEFORE KITCHEN:

AFTER KITCHEN:
BEFORE LIVING ROOM:
AFTER LIVING ROOM:
The living room is decked out with the Eames lounge and Knoll sofa accompanied by our JOIN Seattle projects: AlphaBrass (lamps) and Megadoiley (rug). The blue tape you see on the wall is a sketch of the modular shelving and panel system we're going to put in hopefully soon (brackets from rakks). It will house the TV and all of our glorious trinkets.
Plus, we put up the really simple mid century globe lamps in the hall way (scored off ebay, 5 for $40) and installed custom base trim (scored for FREE by my Step-Dad Stan! Nothing better than free stuff. Thanks Stan!).
BEFORE HALL WAY: (with boob lights)
AFTER HALL WAY:Also, thanks to Home Depot gift cards from my Fam in Wisconsin, we've been able to deck this place out for very little out of pocket $$. Yah!

Progress is slow, but not bad for 4 months in I suppose...plenty more to come!

More on Jean's Flickr.

2009-02-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, Superbowl Sunday. It's practically a holiday in conservative, flag-waving Ballard, where residents of the dupe did what any true patriots would due when faced with gridiron mayhem: we invited a bunch of people over, flipped on the big screen, and adjourned to the kitchen where we tried desperately to stay warm in front of the deep-fryer.

In between our asides in deep-fryer experimentation (Chika insists that America is just not ready for the bacon-wrapped marshmallow), we made some downright tasty fried goodies. There were fried plantains, fried pickles, fried lotus root, fried burdock root, fried bacon (that's right), and these bad boys:

Lavender-Infused Honey and Thyme Goat Cheese Jalapeno Poppers:

24 medium-sized jalapenos
8oz goat cheese
16oz cream Cheese
1/3c honey
2T lavender petals
1T thyme, minced
1t + 1T kosher salt
1/2t black pepper
4 eggs
1/3c milk
1c flour
2c panko breadcrumbs
2c oil for frying

Prepare the honey by placing 4t lavender petals and honey together in a glass bowl or jar. Set the jar in simmering water and melt the honey. Let the honey infuse overnight.

1. Set a pot of water to boil. Slice the peppers in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds and stems. Blanch the peppers in the boiling water for 90 seconds, and chill them in an ice bath to stop them from cooking further.

2. Set up a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Blend the goat cheese, cream cheese, 2t lavender petals, the thyme, and salt and pepper to taste until creamy. With the mixer running at it's slowest speed, drizzle the honey into the cheese 1T at a time, tasting as you go.

3. Heat up oil until it reads 325 on a deep fry thermometer. Prepare a dredging station with three bowls: in one mix the flour with 1T of salt, in another beat the eggs with the milk, and in the last put the panko.

4. Fill each jalapeno half with the goat cheese mixture. Dip each pepper in the flour, dust off the excess, dip in the egg, and then roll in the panko, pressing to adhere. Fry each pepper until the panko darkens, and the filling just starts to leak through the batter. Remove the peppers to paper towels to drain.

Color Ka-pow

2009-01-13T00:56:00.000-08:00

We have completed most of our painting here on both sides of the dupe, but have yet to get good photos to post. In the meantime, here are a few scans of inspiration examples that guided our color boldness taken from late 60's, early 70's decorating books. While we didn't go so bold as to paint a whole room pink, we definitely used strong colors to define our spaces and "architectural features" (if you want to call them that...). We'll have shots of our actual spaces soon, but in the meantime use these to fuel your imagination...

Winter Projects

2009-01-10T15:26:00.001-08:00

Per Stuart's suggestion, we decided to ditch the driveway and put in an aquarium. There's plenty of street parking anyway, and the garage doors seem pretty water tight. I hope Jean and I don't get TOO distracted by the new view out our basement studio windows.

We did consider the cost of heating and upkeep for such a pool and pet, but we figured it would come back to us at resale time. Plus we saved a ton of money by doing most of the work ourselves and sourcing materials from salvage yards and Craigslist.

I don't want to spoil the reports of other projects, so I won't until we have our pics together. I'll just say there are some good entries to come!

*** Photoshopping and good idea credit goes to Stuart Ottenritter***

Walk this way (virtually)

2009-01-03T00:49:00.000-08:00

I noticed the other day that Google now has its crazy street-level-view system set up for Seattle. Which means you can take a virtual tour of our street and neighborhood. The shots were taken during the summer, before we bought (hence the for sale sign).

Take a walk down NW 62nd here.

Our First Turkey Day! Success!

2008-12-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

I hate to gloat, but I have to say we kicked some major ass on our first Thanksgiving.

Our recipe for success:

Double the capacity: That's right, we Ballard Power Rangers combined forces to create a super-ultra Thanksgiving celebration. Between 32's perfect pre-diner lounge to 30's make-shift giant "formal" dining table, we crafted the optimal dine-work-chill space. Double the kitchens meant more birds and other awesomeness (see below points). Perfect for our total of 15 attendees.

Fancify the cocktails: Outdoing herself as usual, Jean busted out a mean array of potent, refreshing, and tasty drinks beautifully arranged complete with typewritten labels. Drinks included red and white Sangria, Egg Nog Brandy, oolong-infused plum wine, pomegranate-mint vodka lemonaid

Triple-threat birds: We assembled a delicious trio of foul. Dave brought his freshly killed 12+lb new feathered friend formally known as "mash potato", who's white meat melted in everyone's mouth. Chika's scrumptious deep fried grouping of Cornish Game Hens looked gorgeous and tasted the same. Finally, my Peking Duck (complete with the head) tided everyone over as we waited for the final diner preparation.

A top notch supporting cast (of munchies): For appetizers, Jesse assembled multiple platters of culinary delights including Bacon wrapped prawns (Yummo!). Chika rocked the mashed potatoes (which also included a bacon boost). Drew, Jeff, and Sarah showed up Le Creuset's in hand with delicious soup, salad, and from-scratch brioche

Killer deserts: Jared provided the quintessential pumpkin pie and Apple Cheddar pie both done up right while we gorged further on my Mom's carrot cake bites and Jean's toffee chocolate crunch.

Good friends and family: We of course could have never enjoyed ourselves so thoroughly without the fine company we had. Thanks to everyone for coming and contributing.

More photos here.

stitchin' pictures together!

2008-11-26T01:27:00.000-08:00

been stitching pictures togehter of some of the work on 2432... maybe I should just get a wide-angle lens?

Beginning to see the light

2008-11-11T23:20:00.001-08:00

Things are slowly but surely coming together on the '30 side. We are finally getting some painting finished up and getting rid of the hideous boob ceiling lights that were installed in our unit.

The bedroom is the first one shaping up. Here's the before as found when the previous tenant lived there. Note the boob light looming above us.

Pull out the carpet, add some awesome furniture, light aqua blue paint, and a vintage George Nelson bubble lamp and we have a nearly complete room we can be proud of. The GN light definitely steals the show. We purchase it from our friends Cheryl and Casey at Tiny Modernist via a random Craigslist connection. Thanks guys! We love it in the room. Craigslist strikes again!

Jean mixed the paint from opps paint we got from Homie D's, so all said, the improvements have cost us $65. $50 for the lamp, $15 for paint and supplies. Not bad, ehh? We still need to tackle window treatments and base trim. Sigh. Back to work.

The "Dupe" of the future??

2008-11-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

This post doesn't begin to hold a candle to Jean's Power Range post, but it does involve more photoshop trickery.

Here's a rendering I did of the house's front facade when we were all psyched up in the time between the offer and closing.

I'm sure this is the first of many ideas about revamping the front, but I think this one has some potential. The goal would be to unify the front more to make it look less like two separate units. This would be done via a 8-10" frame around both windows that would create a window box below for wicked awesome plants that we'd probably enviably kill with neglect. We would then change up the siding in between them and it would create this awesome huge-looking single window thing. Oh, and we'd also paint the outside some bold dark grey with color accents under the roof. Where's the $ and time going to come from? I'm banking on a high likelihood of a Federal bail-out, but we could also get higher-paying jobs as a back up plan.

What do y'all think?

Ballard Power Rangers to the Rescue!

2008-11-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

As you read on the first post with Chika's intro for Thirty.Thirtytwo...while this may not be a reality show...it doesn't mean that it can't an awesome show with 5 kick ass super heroes (Chika, Dylan, Jean, Jared, and Jesse)....actually 5 and a half, counting Jesse's cat. We are the NEW Mighty Morphin Power Rangers-Home Improvement Edition 2008. (We're currently trying to pitch this idea to HGTV for kids...) Our mission is to save this old 1962 building from it's ugliness and turn it into total awesomeness. Each one of us has our own superhero powers with our own special power ranger weapons....and with all of us combined, we're gonna kicking some major ass....did I mention that we're awesome?

Here's our character break down:Chika-Founder of Chikabird Inc.---morphs into--->Pink Power Ranger-Unlike the ditzy former Pink Power Ranger, Chika is sharp and meticulous. When she sets her mind on something, she makes it happen using her Pterodactyl Power. She can also use her half-Japanese Crane Power to cut through kitchen cabinets, as well at shooing all the squirrels and crows away.
Dylan-Product engineer at HenryBuilt Kitchens & Co owner of L&G Vintage---morphs into--->Red Power Ranger-Similarly to the former Red power ranger to be known as the "class clown, good nature, spirited and likes to have fun. With lower IQ level but has the power of the Tyrannosaurus." Dylan's Tyrannosaurus power can spot super deals from Craig's List in a blink of an eye. He also uses his Power Sword to cut up HB scraps and turn them into awesome cabinets and furniture.Jean-Co Owner of Chikabird Inc. and Founder of L&G Vintage---morphs into--->Yellow(Asian) Power Ranger-Unlike the lame former Yellow Power Ranger, Jean is much cooler and doesn't do all the stereotypical Asian spiritual/kung fu crap. Instead, Jean uses her Power Dagger or whatever thing to ensure that the team uses minimal resources for maximum results. Jean also can now apply with her saber tooth tiger power she uses for L&G Vintage, to spot deals and one of a kind finds from afar at garage sales, estate sales and thrift stores for decorating the house!Jared-Head product designer of General Assembly Product Design---morphs into--->Blue power ranger-Like the former Blue Power Ranger, he's the smartest of the group who wears glasses and has "super genius IQ level." Jared is a perfectionist and a whiz at making things work even if he's never done it before. So far, he has installed a kitchen range, a vent hood, a sink, and even a door bell with his Triceratops power without even looking at any instruction manuals.....okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But he did install the door bell without looking at the manual!Jesse-Store manager at Starbucks---Morphs into-->Green Power Ranger-Like the former Green Power Ranger Jesse joined the team soon after the other Power Ranger teamed up. It was the perfect time to pull out his green Power Ranger costume from his closet and start wearing it once again! (since Starbucks wouldn't allow him to wear it while serving coffee) Now, as part of the Power Rangers, Jesse provides the team with unlimited supply of coffee and insures that everyone is caffinated and woking on the house 24/7. Jesse also works magic in the kitchen and on the grill. Currently, his Dragon Dagger (also doubles as a flute) is still packed up, but once retrieved, he will surely be back in action making amazing gourmet meals.Baby-Jesse's pet cat---morphs into--->Black Power Ranger-Although not an African American human like the former Black Power Ranger, Baby is a cat who also enjoys "dancing, magic, and is a good friend with a good heart." Baby always know to cheer up the group with her cuteness....Besides that she just hangs out around the house all day and gives high fives.

All these fab glamor shots were done by Jean's late night saber tooth power as well...Everyone's hair styles are authentic to the former ranger's photos . So check out the before shots. Trust me....we don't usually look THIS good.

Us in the New York Times!

2008-11-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

We got mentioned on the New York Times! Well..not exactly US...per say...more like Ballard..the neighborhood.... Close enough though!
In any case, the NYT wrote this travel article on how cool and awesome Ballard is with their organic farmer's market, Salmon locks, Nordic Museum, nice shops, cafes & restaurants, and everything nice. It's exciting to think that people all the way in NEW YORK are reading about Ballard while riding on the subway trains or in their NY lofts probably thinking about how nice it would be to visit....and here's us...with a house and actually living in Ballard. NEAT!!

IN YOUR FACE, NEW YORKERS!

Jean

Introductions!

2008-10-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

With the loom of google-spam-watch threatening to lock up our blog - I guess we'd better post something in between chores!

If this were a reality show, I would say "This is the story of 2 couples who thought it would be a good idea to buy a duplex together. See what happens when the stresses of financing, moving, and fixing-upping take it's toll on their relationships." And then I'd try to stir up drama and ratings by hiding tools from the person who needs them, and leave trash in weird places so a rodent problem develops.

BUT this isn't a reality show, just a home progress log of 2 designing couples teaming up to acquire and achieve more than possible on their own. So far, that's meant a tidy 1962 duplex in the heart of Ballard. We'll get to consult with each other on projects, pool resources, learn from each other's mistakes, and work together on our investment and home. On the West siiiide is Jared and Chika and on the East (siiiiide) is Jean and Dylan. All four of us have an industrial design background, and like to travel, shop, and eat. Jean and Dylan have a penchant for seeking and finding vintage treasures, and Jared and I tend to comb supermarkets and stationary stores for everyday modest delights.

I think we'll post progress reports, before/after pics, maybe the occasional how-to, and restaurant reviews from the neighborhood. So far, the 7-11 at the end of our block gets 4 out of 5 high fives! 4 for convenience, slurpee and pop-tart selection, and for stocking my favorite ramen. I'm holding out on that last high five because they were out of taquitos once when I really needed one. Before you cast doubt on my judgement criteria and qualifications, I'll tell you the one thing NO ONE tells you when you buy a place - you end up eating a LOT of fast food that first month. Between projects and trips to Home Depot (hereby referred to as Homey D's), who's got time to cook?

Lots of catching up to do - like harrowing tales of cleaning out the rat infested crawl space! And an update of what we've done (and haven't done) to our kitchen! And what projects we've started but won't finish until Winter forces our hand (installing new heaters!). And just what is up in that attic crawl space? Which brave soul will be the first up there?

Stay tuned....