Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Come on, man.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

I was promised a recession.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Infrastructure week. at last.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Not all heroes wear capes.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Quick House Update

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94Comments

  12. 12.

    gene108

    I cannot figure out, where the appliances are going. I see where the sink might be and the fridge, but not sure about the stove/oven and dishwasher.

  16. 16.

    Mary G

    I have Shaker style cabinets too, love the unfussy lines and the blue is very calming. Your remodel is going fast, although I am sure it doesn’t seem so. Congratulations, John.

  17. 17.

    James E Powell

    Compared with the pace of every home improvement project I ever did on my house, you are moving at the speed of sound.

  22. 22.

    p.a.

    Really nice. White appliances too, or stainless? Are those Harvey windows? Also too, if your kitchen windows face south, you might want to upgrade one to a ‘greenhouse’ window for herbs etc. I wish I had. Other priorities here now.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Amir Khalid:

    My dad and I used to go to a local Chinese restaurant once a week, where the menu had it is “General Tsu’s Favorite Chicken.” My father always ordered “General Tsu’s Pet Chicken.”

    LOL, do you think he and Betty Cracker would have liked each other? :-)

  24. 24.

    Mary G

    @gene108: I am guessing the dishwasher goes in the gap of the bottom cabinets, to the right of the big window where I assume the sink will be. The refrigerator might go in front of the unpainted pillar with plywood to the left, and the stove in the corner behind the stepladder where there are a bunch of boxes now. Just guessing, though!

  28. 28.

    Suzanne

    It’s looking good. One question: any reason you didn’t go for taller upper cabinets so they go to the underside of the ceiling? Or were you planning to put in a soffit?

  29. 29.

    p.a.

    @SiubhanDuinne: a brand. if not national, common in northeast. the ones I’m familiar with (21 + 1 picture window in my house) are all vinyl, double pane low-e. moderately priced. vinyl clad wood generally considered better as replacement windows.

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @p.a.:

    Oh yes. I’m sure I’ve told the story here of the rooster at the Michigan farm where I spent most of my childhood summers. My job was to collect eggs every day, and while the hens were broody and gentle, the rooster–about as big as I was–was one mean fuckin sumbitch. I hated him. HATED him.

    Well, the day came–I don’t know why, maybe they got a younger cock–to dispatch him. I watched with bloodthirsty glee as the farmer chopped the rooster’s head off, laughed myself silly watching the bird run around the yard headless and dripping gore, and then contributed by holding his feet and dunking him into a pot of boiling water to loosen his pin feathers, and plucking him.

    We had him for dinner that night, stewed, with dumplings. He was tough and stringy, but I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a meal quite as much since then. A regular Blood Feast it was, worthy of a Game of Thrones or I, Claudius scene.

  32. 32.

    John Cole

    @Suzanne: My dad had originally wanted to, but I told him no because I can;t reach over my head as it is and wouldn’t be able to use them for anything. Remember, this has 10′ ceilings.

  34. 34.

    TaMara (HFG)

    It all looks great. White cabinets are a breeze to keep clean, good wipe down once a week. Love all the windows and light. Looks like a dream kitchen to work in.

  35. 35.

    Suzanne

    @John Cole: Can you put in a soffit made of the same cabinet material? Otherwise, it’s just going to collect dust. Your cabinet manufacturer should sell matching closure panels and filling strips for cheap. It’ll keep the whole place a lot cleaner.

  40. 40.

    CaseyL

    Looks great! That surface the giant level is sitting on – is that a half-wall to the living room or dining room? Perfect either way, as people always seem wind up in the kitchen when you have them over – so the more room and visibility, the better!

    We’re all invited to the housewarming, right??

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL:

    We’re all invited to the housewarming, right??

    I think that’s a given. And the house will be constantly warmed. If he remodels it, we will come.

  44. 44.

    lurker dean

    very nice. that’s the color and style we’d like if we ever renovate for our 50 year old kitchen. having light and a view through those two huge windows is great.

  47. 47.

    Mary G

    @raven: @SiubhanDuinne: Ang Lee’s Chinese movies are awesome (not to diss his English ones, either) and “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” is one of the best. It’s about a father and his daughters, so I think you would like it.

  52. 52.

    Patricia Kayden

    House is looking great, John.

    Per the thread below, it’s good to hear that the US Army stepped in and stopped DAPL from building under a water source in North Dakota. What a victory for the Water Protectors and regular Americans against corporations.

  53. 53.

    mainmata

    Having done this (what am I saying, we’re still doing it) on a 120 year old Shenandoah Valley farmhouse just 17 miles from your state, I know what you mean. While I learned basic carpentry/masonry from my Dad, we’ve been learning tiling, which is a real pain but we’re now pretty good at it and, of course, “improving” (as they used to say in the 19th century) the overgrown 5 acres of farmland we acquired with the house. After four years of renovation (we’re still doing our day jobs in the DC Metro area), we’re nearly finished with the house. Then comes maintenance starting with keeping those groundhogs from undermining the foundation. Sigh. We’re surrounded by Confederate flags but there are a surprising number of MD migrants that live here and that smile at our Obama bumper sticker.

  54. 54.

    Mary G

    I just assumed he made them in Taiwan, since they were subtitled in English. I didn’t know he was an Illini. The Wedding Banquet is so much fun, even if it might seem a bit outdated these days.

  57. 57.

    laura

    You are going to be so happy in that kitchen like you cannot imagine yet.
    For the first couple of months, when you enter this lovely, personal and functional space, your heart will swell. Even the lowliest of chores will take on a new meaning and be as pleasurable as can be made.
    Your dad is quite a guy to bring your ideas into your own, damn home.

  58. 58.

    Feathers

    @John Cole: One trick for the top of the cabinets is to either put paper towels or light towel fabric cut to size on top (weighted down at the corners with washers). You can then either swap out the paper towels or wash the fabric once a year or so, which is much easier than having to keep them dusted. Although Swiffer dusters with long handles and bendy tops have made that job much easier.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    There is this nice streak running through you that comes out every so often. It makes you seem, well less saintly, if you ever were such a thing.

  63. 63.

    normal liberal

    @Feathers:
    Or a telescoping wand and an angled brush for your vacuum cleaner. Also handy for ceiling fixtures like lights and fans.

    It looks like a kitchen anyone would be happy to cook in. The blue and white scheme can be carried through so many ways.

  65. 65.

    mai naem mobile

    It looks nice. It looks small for you for the way you talk about cooking with the guys etc but it looks functional and we’ll planned out. I personally am too chicken to use non neutral colors in common areas but the blue looks nice.

  66. 66.

    Gravenstone

    @SiubhanDuinne: I am reminded of a local Chinese eatery that has the charming (?) typo in their menu touting a dish with “spicy Human (sic) sauce”. Or maybe they were being literal and it was long pork. *shrug*

  67. 67.

    Lizzy L

    The kitchen looks great. I like the white look. My kitchen cabinets, counter-tops, and one kitchen wall are white; it’s been two and a half years since I moved into this house, and they’re pretty much pristine. I wipe them down constantly, but for me that’s not a hardship, since I live in a small space and I LIKE keeping things clean.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gravenstone:

    Heh. Didn’t we have a commenter here a few years ago who took his/her nym from the famous cookbook typo “Freshly ground black people” (was supposed to be “Freshly ground black pepper”; I think the publisher had to pull thousands and thousands of copies of bookstore shelves)?

  70. 70.

    Sab

    @Feathers: I have cabinets like that (nowhere near as attractive) and I agree that dust is a problem but I love them for storing large things I only use once a year that would otherwise use up an entire cabinet.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ruckus:

    SNORT!!

    I don’t even know how to react to that. It’s either a pretty compliment, or the nastiest putdown I’ve ever seen. Either way, chapeaux!

  74. 74.

    Gin & Tonic

    I mentioned this before, but that seam at the bottom of the cabinet doors, i.e. between the panel and the thicker segment, will collect gunk that is impossible to remove.

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ruckus:

    I enjoy hanging out with ambiguity, but I’m also glad to take a compliment wherever I can snag one.

    Thanks!

  79. 79.

    p.a.

    @Gin & Tonic: when you replace a toothbrush save the old one. they’re great for cleaning/dusting places like that; especially the rt angles. just don’t confuse them. i drill a hole in my old ones just in case. (i’m not only paranoid, i’m stoopid too. to quote Costanza: i got it all, ladies!)

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    I was walking through my current neighborhood today and realized how many of the house still have at least a few elements of having been Storybook Style houses from the 1920s and 1930s. Some are still pretty pure, while others only retained one or two elements after remodeling.

    Now I want one of them. Sigh.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    @Amir Khalid:

    IIRC, General Tso’s Chicken is one of those uniquely American dishes that pretend to be from the old country. Pizza is like that, too, along with chop suey and other “Chinese” dishes.

  82. 82.

    Aleta

    @Mnemosyne: Those look like a smaller one in my neighborhood. Previous owners once told me it was “a Sears Catolog House,” from a mail order kit ordered from Sears in the 20’s-30s.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Also.
    I didn’t have to collect eggs but my grandmother, who lived in south central LA, had a garden and coop that took up her whole back yard. My grandfather died during the depression so she raised as much of her own food as possible. As a child we would go to Sunday dinner and she would wring a chicken’s neck, do all the rest of the required steps and we’d have fried chicken for dinner. I was around 7 or 8 the first time I saw this. Sixty yrs later it still sticks in my mind as a high/low light of my childhood.

  84. 84.

    Aleta

    @Mnemosyne: There’s a smaller house that resembles those in my neighborhood. The owners told me it’s a ‘Sears Catalog House,’ built from a mail order kit from Sears Catalog in the 20s-30s. I still find that funny.

  86. 86.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid:

    When done properly, it’s crispy chicken nuggets in a spicy clear red sauce. Very good, when done well.

    Otherwise, it’s soggy chicken bites in too-sweet jelly, terrible stuff.

    So there you are.

  87. 87.

    J R in WV

    @Aleta:

    Mrs J’s paternal grandparents had a Sears house, delivered by RR to just a few blocks away from where it still stands.

    Theirs was two story, 4 rooms on each floor, and the whole lot was either flower garden or vegetable garden. A nice house.

  88. 88.

    stinger

    A nice soft blue with white — looks so clean and fresh. Updated but still in keeping with the overall tenor of the house. Can’t wait to see it with the countertops in!

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    First impressions:

    Around the third time you have take off and scrub the white blades of the ceiling fan, the serious cursing will commence. Also, that fixture doesn’t look (from the photo) as if it will provide a lot of illumination – although it is impossible to tell from the picture whether that’s an LED light. YMMV, as always, but am of the school that there’s no such thing as too much light in a kitchen.

    Presume those tiles you got in Pittsburgh intended for a backsplash will still be installed?

  91. 91.

    grumpy realist

    @Feathers: And with the Swiffer brush you can also remove owls from your house! (Go look for the Swiffer brush + owl clip on YouTube.)

  92. 92.

    Duane

    Storybook is the perfect name. Love the turrets, but they look like a maintenance nightmare.

    Also,Cashew Chicken, courtesy of Springfield,Missouri.

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