Month: January 2018

Mission 

Follow along as I continue the restoration on our “Old House” in Ann Arbor’s Old West Side Historic District! Learn from my mistakes, let me share with you the knowledge I have learned over the past 10 years (project management, planning, design, logistics, product selection, historical restoration, renovation, and much, much more), and let’s see what the rest of the journey has in store!

We are all here because we have some kind of passion for old houses! Maybe we grew up in an old house, we are currently renting an old house, or we currently own an old house. Whatever the case, we love and appreciate the history, character, coziness, and charm these old houses bring into our lives! My passion is to continue to share and celebrate them! Additionally, with the continued decline of our “old school” tradesmen and women, their knowledge is increasingly becoming a dying art. My mission is to pass on this information in an effort to improve the process of fixing, maintaining, and renovating/restoring/remodeling our “nonrenewable resources”!!!

It’s all about the details, folks

Did I mention details? There are many wonderful groups out there sharing various pictures and projects, but for many of us, major gaps in project content still remain. We often see the before and after, and that is great, but what about all the details in between – The WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN , WHY, and HOW???

Key to success

The key to any successful project is proper design, planning, and diving into every detail up front and early with “all” stakeholders involved – on paper…on purpose! Work smart…NOT hard!!! This minimizes mistakes, miscommunication, and rework – that costs you time, money, and having to live with something that you hate. We’ll talk about this a lot!!!

Logistics

Keep in mind, no project is perfect, but with a holistic approach to design, pre-planning, and understanding of how all the project elements affect and interact with each other, we can accomplish “near” perfection, and end up with a space that is designed and built for maximum functionality…and easy on the eyes!!!

Let’s do this!!!

Follow along as I continue the restoration on our “Old House” in Ann Arbor’s Old West Side Historic District! Learn from my mistakes, let me share with you the knowledge I have learned over the past 10 years (project management, planning, design, logistics, product selection, historical restoration, renovation, and much, much more), and let’s see what the rest of the journey has in store!

Here is a sample of some basic topics we will dive into on my weekly blogs, so make sure to come on back to the site for a visit:

• I’m looking for a house, where do I start?
• I just put in an offer on an old house, now what?
• We just closed on our Old House – YAY…now what???
• Old house checklists and general maintenance.
• Old house projects: Is there a specific order? Spoiler alert…fix the core first, renovations/restorations (interior/exterior), paint, materials, mechanical, energy efficiency, etc.
• Are you designing for maximum functionality? Current vs desired.
• How do I get that “magazine” look? – Tips, tricks, and material lists.
• Life Cycle Costs and Logistics.
• Old house history and records.
• More…