Interior Design

We are so close to being done with Kenwood! SO CLOSE...

Let me just say, I've heard no silver bells in the Kenwood house this week. Last Monday, the house was a flurry of activity - my new favorite Mechanical/HVAC contractor, Marcin, was incredibly professional and on-task, Tomas was going to town on plumbing, Sebastien and the other...

So, I locked myself out of the Kenwood house today. Not my brightest moment. The very front door no longer has a key, we've been locking the 2nd front door behind it. The 2nd front door was removed apparently. I was knocking on the door as a...

Ahh, Thanksgiving week - excess amounts of turkey (no matter how realistic a size we buy), wine, cider, cheesy stuff...

Another exciting week at the Kenwood house! As you saw last week, the concrete set beautifully. The plumbing inspector gave us final approval (thanks to my investor) and we're back on a moving freight train. Wesley and Sebastien are back in the house (yeah!) and...

If it seems quiet regarding the Kenwood house, that's because it has been. Very quiet. Why, you ask? Two words: Plumbing inspection. What do I mean, you ask? One word: Failed. So, here's what happened. First, in the City of Chicago, you need to allow a minimum...

Robert, my GC, is still on vacation this week which creates a stressful dynamic in the renovation process. There were quite a few responses to questions that started with "I think what he meant is...

The Kenwood house is moving like a freight train right now. We're on our second week jacking up the floors - this is not something that is done in a day, the house is a century old so we have to inch up the floors...

After biking home from the Kenwood house today, I decided to move the car into our brand new spankin' parking space behind my building. As I was pulling out of our parallel parking spot on the curb, a car at the stop sign decided he...

I cannot tell you how many of the million (or 7) GCs that I've met over the past few months have said "Drawings look pretty on paper, but don't always show what's really happening." This was a particularly annoying statement following a demand that I...