The House

That’ll Wake the Neighbors- Our First House Mishap

Encountering some mishap while getting the new house ready was inevitable. It just came from an unexpected source- the alarm system. Our new house has a robust alarm system. There are motion sensors in every room and a panic button in our bedroom. It even has its own little box next to the circuit breaker in the basement. I think it’s overkill considering how nice the neighborhood is. There’s even a light switch in the…

Continue reading

The House

The Dry Bar Design Dilemma

An exciting feature of our new house is in the basement. The previous owners left an unfinished workshop, laundry, and boiler spaces around the perimeter of the basement. But in the center of it, they built out a finished room, complete with heat for the colder months. The stairs divide the finished area in two. One side is a hang out area that Marisa has already claimed as a crafting and puzzle zone. The other…

Continue reading

The House

Coming Together by Coming Apart

My dad and I ripped the last wood paneling off the walls of our new house’s master bedroom. Each sheet that came down revealed the wallpaper underneath- blue, with white and gold leaves. As I hauled the last panel into the backyard, Marisa smiled and excitedly said “our house is coming together!”  I thought about all the paneling that still needed to come down and replied “it’s not coming together- it’s coming apart.” Glue from…

Continue reading