Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

I really should read my own blog.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

In my day, never was longer.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / And That’s Pretty Much a Wrap on the House Renovation

And That’s Pretty Much a Wrap on the House Renovation

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The last major project was the construction of my custom desk. We stained it today, and are going to put a couple coats of polyurethane on it to make it impervious to coffee stains, and here it is:

I can’t decide if it needs another coat of stain or not. At any rate, this is going to be my main room (other than the bedroom and the kitchen), since I spend so much time in here, and I am really super excited. I put a couple 2 inch holes in the desk for cables, and have pvc piping underneath the desk, AND LOOK AT ALL THOSE FUCKING OUTLETS. Only computer dorks will totally appreciate this room, I guess, but I am soooo excited to get in there.

I am going to mount my older 42″ tv that is in my living room on the wall above on the bigger desk, daddy’s (my grandfather’s- that’s what mom calls him) antique desk against the wall for actual paper work, and my big lazyboy from the current living room will go in here so I can put adult furniture in the living room that fits the house and a new tv when I can afford to buy furniture, end tables, lamps, a desk, and an area rug. For now it will just be two old couches, but I won’t use the room much anyway so no big deal.

Tomorrow the inspector/appraiser comes and when he is gone, we are going to stain the main stairway, Comcast comes on Wednesday, and after they leave, we are going to put two coats of varnish down, and I plan to move in this weekend. Still waiting on one of you to needlepoint this (from the Money Pit) for me:

Also, in the front entryway, I am going to clean up and hang my great great-grandmother’s old mirror:

It needs some love and attention and I want to really have a good brace and support on the wall, so that will be down the road, too. At any rate, I gathered the crew together for a team picture:

And that’s a wrap. For now, because as people have been fond of telling me, you are never done. I’m going to go take a nap and lock my checkbook and atm card in the safe until December.

Reader Interactions

105Comments

  3. 3.

    Sarah in Brooklyn

    Geez, I think in the time you finished your whole house I got one room painted and the bathroom rendered unusable. I’m so envious.

  7. 7.

    SFAW

    Congratulations, John.

    So when’s the housewarming party?

    Oh, and in the team picture: which person is Alain, the Site Fixer? Or am I thinking of the worng type of site?

  12. 12.

    NCSteve

    I hate to say it, but if I wasn’t already packed, I’d be thinking about just flipping it at this point. The older you get, the more horrible moving becomes. Because you acquire so much while your body is deteriorating.

    It took 110 boxes last time I moved half a dozen years ago. 110! And that was after tossing or donating about a quarter of my shit.

  15. 15.

    khead

    My Dad once put a bunch of those outlet strips in my bedroom. Griswold style. For the TV, stereo and the Atari 800. I have no idea how the house didn’t burn to the ground.

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    Congratulations to you and your team, John. You did a great job, and very quickly!

    In my experience, there are never enough outlets for computer stuff. I’m a big fan of 12-outlet strips like these and have one mounted under my Ikea computer table/desk. It’s really handy for “wall warts” and other power sources that just about every computer accessory uses. It helps reduce rats nests of cables under the desk, also too.

    Enjoy your new home, and best of luck with it. Here’s hoping your beasties adjust to their new digs quickly.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    SligoRover1973

    I’d hit it with at least two more coats to get close to depth of color in those beautiful new floors, but that’s just me.

    And I’m digging the contrast between the wall color and the floors too. That’ll be a really great space when it’s all put together.

  20. 20.

    SiubhanDuinne

    That’s just fantastic, John! You have created a beautiful home. Big congratulations to you and your crew. (Can you identify them for us, or are they shy? I don’t mean doxxing, just “my college buddy Aloysius” kind of thing.) Anyhow, it’s great!

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t really like home decor blogs, personally. I like modern design, not Pinterest shit. As such, I like things concealed and put away. For cabinets, I have heard that cliqstudios cabinets are good. John could have done cabinets as supports for the work surface instead of the legs, but maybe he doesn’t need to store much stuff. The Container Store also has a nice line of mobile cabinets in a variety of colors that could go below a work surface like John’s to hold files and supplies.

  30. 30.

    Suzanne

    One question for John: how deep is the work surface? The standard depths are 24″ and 30″, and I personally MUCH prefer 30″. But I am farsighted and like the screen rather far away. Have you also considered any sit-stand solutions?

  32. 32.

    mai naem mobile

    You did a great job with this house John. You should get together with your dad and become flippers. Ofcourse, L’Orange Shit Gibbon will probably crash the market soon so he and his buddies can get some bargains.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    @schrodingers_cat: The only part that I am not a fan of is that I do not like to sit facing a wall. I prefer to sit with a wall behind me or to one side, looking towards the door or a window. That changes the flow of a room quite a bit, but I find it much better for my outlook on life.

  36. 36.

    BCHS Class of 1980

    Congratz! Yep, you gotta keep the La-Z-Boy. It would be a betrayal of your heritage otherwise.

  37. 37.

    Mj_Oregon

    Personally, I’d like to see the finished kitchen from several different angles as well as a YouTube video that gives us a tour of the whole thing. Get on it!

    It looks wonderful, John, and I know you’ll settle right in along with the Paws Patrol group. I wish you many blessings on your new house and many contented years of making it a home.

  39. 39.

    Roger Moore

    @Another Scott:

    It’s really handy for “wall warts” and other power sources that just about every computer accessory uses.

    It seems to me that we really ought to have a better solution than a separate wall wart for each thing that needs DC power. They already have multi-port USB charging stations so you don’t need a separate charger for each device. That works because USB is a widely-enough accepted standard that everyone uses it to power devices that need less than about 10 W. Now we need a similar standard for 12V power so we can power the rest of our devices with a single multi-device power station. Even better, since most computers already use 12V power internally, they could have standard external connectors on the computer power supply to run a bunch of low-power peripherals.

  41. 41.

    Suzanne

    @greennotGreen: I share your frustration with that, but really and truly, most people do just have too much shit. I am just as guilty as anyone else on that front. But honestly, the best design tip I could ever give anyone, in any sort of building, in any sort of architectural style, is to get rid of stuff. I design institutional buildings for my job, and we spend soooooo much time working with our clients about meeting their storage needs. Some people are such unbelievable clutterbugs.

  43. 43.

    CaseyL

    Oh, it’s going to be glorious! Congratulations, John. What an adventure buying this house has turned out to be! What a wonderful home it will be!

    We’ll want streaming video of the moving-in part, BTW :)

  44. 44.

    Suzanne

    @Suzanne: I am thinking of one of my colleagues who sits at the workstation immediately next to mine, and despite the fact that we all have significant storage built into our workstations, he has completely filled his desk and over half of mine.

    He needs to throw shit out.

  45. 45.

    mai naem mobile

    @Roger Moore: I actually was figuring Pittsbugh because I remember John saying thats where he went for some big shopping items. For all I know I may have this all wrongm

  46. 46.

    Pat B

    Congrats on a great job! I have loved following your odyssey and am thrilled for you that it’s come to an, well at least a pause point. Have fun moving in.

  47. 47.

    Roger Moore

    @Suzanne:

    Some people are such unbelievable clutterbugs.

    The problem is that people tend to keep accumulating stuff until they run out of space. Naturally, different people have different ideas about what “running out of space” looks like, but most people won’t even think about what they should keep and what they should get rid of until lack of storage forces the issue.

  51. 51.

    debit

    John, I’m really so happy for you. I can’t wait for you to get settled in, breathe a big sigh of relief and think “I’m home.”

  52. 52.

    Suzanne

    @Roger Moore: Right…..but the weird thinking starts once they start getting to that point of “running out of space”. I have observed that approximately half of the population will get to the point of too-much-stuff-for-the-space……and then go out and buy MORE stuff to help them arrange the stuff differently. That is illogical on its face, and it never works. Not ever.

    I always talk to my clients about “loose fit”. Stuff (or building program) should occupy about 85% of the space you have, or you should build exactly what you need plus 15% more space. That will accommodate growth of your stuff and change over time.

    But there is no way to get around the fact that we need to get better at not acquiring too much stuff, and getting rid of the stuff we don’t use anymore. This is just a discipline.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I work in a space the size of a football field with many, many cubicles. I was moved from a low-wall cubicle to a high-wall cubicle and it’s like living in a cardboard box. I can’t decorate the wall I’m facing because the material it’s made of can’t be tacked or stapled. I used to rest my eyes by looking across the room, but not any more. I leave work much more bleary eyed than I used to.

  54. 54.

    Another Scott

    @Roger Moore: Dunno. I mean, it would be nice, but there’s so much churn in electronics, and a lot of that churn is due to continual shrinkage of form factors and reduced power consumption which gives rise to the use of ever smaller connectors. I’ve got some laptops that take 12V, some that take ~ 19V, and one that uses 24V (IIRC). And there’s lots of stuff that takes 5V. It seems too early for a residential DC voltage standard for electronics, so I think we’ll have to live with “wall warts” for a while.

    Once residential solar becomes more common, there should be a bigger push for a residential DC standard to reduce conversion losses. It looks like there are already some efforts along those lines.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  56. 56.

    Kristine

    Speaking of clutter…I learned to my delight that a local shredding place accepts residential paper once a month. So, given my folks have been gone for years and I no longer own any of the things they had title to and there are no outstanding legal issues, can I get rid of all their papers? Is there anything anyone would advise keeping?

  57. 57.

    Mary G

    Love the built-in desks. Not sure how you are going to get another desk plus lazy boy in there, but maybe the pictures don’t show the room size accurately. Walter’s rescue gave you great karma; that is the fastest remodel I have ever seen not on television with a cast of thousands.

    I did a few needlepoints in my younger days, but my hands won’t push a needle through canvas any more. Even for you, who I adore.

  60. 60.

    Kristine

    I should’ve added that the room looks great, John–I admire the cord neatness.

    FYWP wouldn’t let me edit my previous comment. First time that’s happened to me.

  66. 66.

    Shell

    Beautiful job, John Thru all of this though, no mention of your old/current house. Has it been sold, going on the market?

  67. 67.

    madmommy

    That’s actually cross-stitch, not needlepoint. That design could be run up in a couple of hours, easy-peasy. How big do you want it to be? Cross-stitch fabric comes in different sizes, which affects how big the design ends up being. Do you want a particular color scheme or just like the picture?

  68. 68.

    John Cole

    Also, computer monitor. The desks are very deep. I have three pairs of glasses. My prescription sunglasses, which stay in the car, my computer glasses which are set to have perfect vision for a monitor at arm’s length which stay right at my computer desk, and my bifocals which I wear everywhere else.

  69. 69.

    Steve in the ATL

    @raven:

    Nice job, can’t wait until a bunch of whiny fucks show up for the critique.

    This type of post is why you are on the Balloon Juice A-List.

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    @debbie: Yes. I am farsighted, so things that are too close stress me out. I like to keep my worksurfaces pretty clear of clutter, and I like to be able to look out the window. Most professional offices—mine included—have lowered or eliminated workstation partitions to reduce the rat-maze feeling. Downsides are that conversations carry and that clutter is exposed, so courteous behavior becomes more of a priority.

  71. 71.

    Birthmarker

    @debbie: This sounds terrible, Debbie.

    Congrats, John!! It’s awesome and I’ve enjoyed following along. Thank you for that.

  72. 72.

    mai naem mobile

    @Kristine: I would keep deeds/titles/pay off statememts to real estate. But,that may be because I have had extended family where it’s helped. Also if there was any income/inheritance stuff the IRS may want to know the initial cost for cap gains if you’re still within an audit possibility.

  75. 75.

    hellslittlestangel

    Would it be impolite to ask, for those of us entertaining thoughts of doing something similar, approximately what this project cost?

  78. 78.

    hovercraft

    Great job! I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you accomplished a beautiful reno in a very short time, and you at least still have enough money left in your piggy bank to feed your petting zoo ;-)

  79. 79.

    Roger Moore

    @Another Scott:
    There’s a lot of computer-related stuff that’s 12V. At the very least, that’s what almost all the various computer accessories I have that require wall warts use. The problem is that they haven’t made a serious effort to standardize. Each company decides on a voltage and connector for their individual product without reference to a broader situation. Not only does it lead to everyone having a ton of wall warts, it also means a lot of pain if one of those wall warts ever fails, because simply finding a good replacement is a major hassle.

    After looking in more detail, it seems that the USB power delivery standard should help if companies are willing to use it. It uses USB type-C connectors and allows a wide range of power delivery at voltages that vary depending on the power requirement. So your phone can charge at 5V (or 9V if it uses rapid charging) while devices that require more power can draw at 15V or 20V. It requires some smarts in the power supply and the device, but the chips required are getting cheaper all the time. It would be so nice to be able to replace a half dozen wall warts with a single power supply.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:
    Had a boss who wanted me to save every piece of snail mail I got and print and save every email. For ever. Nice way to clutter up a cubical. Didn’t argue with him, just didn’t bother. Massive waste of paper and our IT dept saved every file and email on backup every night. I would put my snail mail in a pile and every 3 months or so I’d cart the whole pile to the recycle as I’d never touched anything in the stack. That went on for years. Now the good part, he was anal about his office and would never have more than 4 or 5 pieces of paper on it at any time and they were all arranged in perfect alignment, spread out vertically on one side of the desk. His office looked more like a shrine than an office.

  84. 84.

    laura

    John, when you decide it’s time for furniture shopping please give strong consideration to used stuff. It was built to last. Lamps today are crap with the exception of high-end, and you don’t come across as the high-end type.
    Take a spin through an Ashley Furniture store and see for yourself how crummy the quality is. Then check out used. Reapolstery is way less costly than buying new.

    Also, Mary G’s comment touched my heart. It’s true, Walter’s journey from unspeakable cruelty and abandonment to safety, care and a loving forever home is as good a deed as can be done and your snug, beautiful home will be blessed.

  85. 85.

    Feathers

    I can’t believe you haven’t gotten anybody taking you up on the cross stitch request. Not my main bag, that’s knitting, but I do know how to and have done cross stitch. Do you want those colors exactly? I actually have a piece of really nice dark green cross stitch fabric if you’d rather have that than the pink. Do you have a size preference?

    I’m assuming you can get my email off the blog, but I’ll email you too.

  86. 86.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Pogonip:

    I’m considering assuming my father’s mortgage rather than go through the horror of moving.

    I’m leaning toward bonfire myself

  89. 89.

    randy khan

    It’s fantastic.

    Even without considering where you started, it’s impressive that you got so much great work done so quickly. But when you think what it was like when you bought it, well, it’s hard to imagine this end result, let alone so soon.

  90. 90.

    Mary G

    @Shell: I could be wrong, and I am too lazy to search old posts, but I think JGC is renting and that this may be the first house he has owned his own self. He has lost his real estate virginity!

  92. 92.

    Bobby D

    @Roger Moore:
    Unless there is some proprietary connector on the device end, it’s east to get wall warts for anything at dirt cheap prices on amazon or ebay. I’ve replaced 3 in the last few months, including two oddball ones for guitar effects processors with weird connectors and revered polarity. Just match the volt & amp specs, and polarity.

  95. 95.

    Roger Moore

    @Bobby D:
    I might have exaggerated a bit on the difficulty of getting a replacement wall wart, but compare it to working with USB.

    Wall Wart procedure:
    1) Check wall wart for voltage, plug design, and polarity.
    2) Shop on E-bay for a replacement that matches the spec.
    3) Wait for delivery.
    4) Plug it in.

    USB power:
    1) Plug it in.

    I know which one I’m going to pick. Standards are great, and the whole electronics industry would benefit from making it as easy to power other kinds of DC electrical devices as it currently is to power USB devices- or anything that can plug into a standard 120V/15A socket, for that matter.

  96. 96.

    SFBayAreaGal

    John, you and your crew did a fantastic job. The computer nerd in me is jealous of all those outlets you have.

  97. 97.

    pseudonymous in nc

    AND LOOK AT ALL THOSE FUCKING OUTLETS

    That’s pretty impressive. Surge protection, though? Maybe it’s built into the boxes, but you don’t want a surge to knock everything out. I’d second a UPS for at least the modem/router (so you have local and possibly remote connectivity during the first few minutes of a power outage) and for anything where a hard crash could corrupt data.

    Anyway, congrats and top work to you and your crew. Live in the house for a bit before you think about adding furniture. You’ll get a sense of what ought to go where. And yeah, you’ll know where to look for it.

  98. 98.

    humboldtblue

    Well done, what a crew. Good for you, Cole.

    And from what seems evident in the preceding comments, the electrical engineers deserve some love. We all need just one more outlet.

  102. 102.

    dianne

    An older co-worker of mine once said that at a certain point in life whenever something new comes in the front door something old has to go out the back. We remodeled two years ago and as good as it felt to see my new looking house, the huge amount of stuff we got rid of was ever bit as rewarding.

  103. 103.

    Lee

    Yes the desk needs another coat.

    I do prefer darker rather than lighter stains. Also if you are going to putting coffee on it, the darker the stain the easier it will be for the coffee stains to blend it and become part of the ‘look’

  104. 104.

    JustRuss

    Still waiting on one of you to needlepoint this (from the Money Pit) for me:

    Huh, when I saw that I assumed it was from Betty Cracker’s house.

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