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Happy New Year from Modern in MN
Despite the fact that my guest room is still working overtime as a furniture graveyard, and I've still got that room plus a few other walls that are dressed only in dirty white primer, we bit the...
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IKEA Hacking: Desk Lamps Into Wall Lamps for the Media Room
So...wall mounted light fixtures.I adore them for their functionality and clutter-reducing, space saving-ness. They're great for small spaces, and great at putting light exactly where you need it for...
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Listing to Port, er...Starboard?
It seems there is an unwritten rule here at Modern in MN which says that we must make a crazy dusty mess with drywall at least once every few months. That day came around (again) last weekend, when I...
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Summer Project #1 Commences: Wood-Fired Oven
Spring is finally springing...time to get outside and get started on some fun stuff!I think I've spoken before about how I get antsy when I don't have at least a couple of house projects in the works....
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Big Progress on the Wood Fired Oven
It's FINALLY raining here, for the first time in what seems like at least a month, so I figured I'd take a minute to get you caught up with the wood fired oven project progress.At my last check-in, we...
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Bridge Slab on the WFO Base
Almost to the fun parts!The countertop height upper slab upon which the actual oven dome will be built is an unsupported "bridge" that spans the CMU base we just finished building. That means all...
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Oven Floor and Going Up
Here's the hearth bricks cut and ready to set on the insulation base:I'm building a 36" diameter oven so I just cut a paper template for that plus the area covered by the vent opening and landing, laid...
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Ready to Fire!
Think of this like a TV cooking show, where there's some babble and some stuff thrown about in a pan for a minute before the cut to the swap out reveals a finished, ready-to-go version of whatever they...
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IT'S ALIVE!!
Turns out the whole wood fired oven thing actually works as advertised!I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the WFO project ended up reminding me of the end of our house build. Although on a much...
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Rambling in a Snowstorm
What's under the big blue tarp? I'd show you if it would stop raining...or snowing...for half a minute.I continue to be thwarted by the icky weather we've had lately. Just when I finally get a free...
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Wood Fired Oven, Now Open!
Ta DA!The big reveal of the almost finished WFO enclosure complete with mid-October snow which, thankfully, was only temporary. The enclosure is clad in Hardi-panel with exposed fasteners just like the...
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Rearranged
Just in time for Thanksgiving, a little rearrange-ify-cation of things:Now, if only I had a cooking fireplace around which to nestle that cozy little seating area, my last remaining kitchen dream would...
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Mosaic Madness, the Sequel
It is with great relief that I bring you the documented completion of one of the many projects on my winter agenda!The guest bath, as you may recall, was subjected to a whirlwind of decorating after...
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Inked Again!
At long last, Modern in MN meets Brigitte Woman!This has been ages in the works and it's really fun to finally see the finished product. The whole deal actually started over a year ago, when I got an...
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Flesh: Lost and Roasted
So after agonizing all summer over how to finish the facade of my wood fired oven, I finally made a decision...that led to more agony:If it weren't for being packed with grout, those ouchies and BIG...
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Welcoming the Doldrums of Winter
Happy 2011!Whew!I'm finally feeling like I have time to take a deep breath after the craziness that extends from late summer into fall and then into the ubercraziness of the holidays. Thus, I am taking...
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Still Building a Modern Shed
So. We're building a shed, remember?Day one started with digging sod, leveling and preparing spots for the nine stacks of concrete blocks that will support the underpinnings of the structure. We opted...
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DIY Modern Shed, Day Three
Shed, day three. In between another trip to the building supply store for lumber and sheathing, I traversed the cities picking up some recycled windows and a door I found on Craigslist.MAjor score.I...
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And Then it Was Winter
In Minnesota, when the weather decides it's done, it's done.We made quick work of installing the awesome (KEYED!) Craigslist slider and windows, and then spent another couple of hours wrapping the...
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I KNOW. It's Been FOREVER.
The problem is, I just have way too many projects on my to-do list.The shed:Done except for paint on the soffits and a couple of pieces of trim.The whole tree incident, other than causing the finished...
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Kee Klamp Trellis
Have you heard of Kee Klamp? They're a whole line of plug-and-play fittings that can be used for building just about anything out of fence post or iron pipe, and they're pretty neato. With iron pipe,...
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Modern Shed, the Finale
Here's a couple more shots of the completed shed, hurray!I ended up taking your advice about trying the window frost spray for that big picture window. It worked kind of eh. It's doing the whole...
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Lawn and Garden Check-in, 2012
I think I've talked before about our desire to do some facade greening on our very sunny western exposure, partly for visual interest but mostly as a way to help keep things cooler inside the house....
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Thirsty?
Happy new year!Winter project completion, check.In the interest of moving the whole house thing forward, I've gotten in the habit of assigning myself a summer and a winter project each year. Having a...
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Pergolicious
Another fall, another fall house project, (another day, another new post!) and since there's now a foot of snow on the ground, obviously I'm a little late on full report.It's kind of a shame, but I'll...
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