I Built a Harvey Ellis Dresser and it Almost Killed Me

October 26, 2018

Design

...fitting drawers, finishing surfaces). Late 19th and 20th century furniture making involves not just one task all day but a mix of responsibilities as well as aesthetic decisions such as deciding which way to run the grain. The Ikea dresser is made on a post-Henry Ford assembly line where workers either monitor machines and/or do the same repetitive task all day. This makes for a much cheaper product but an unhappy worker. I made many mistakes buil...

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Kitchen KonMari Session, Illustrated

Mr. Homegrown

March 9, 2017

Domesticus, Tidying up

20 Comments

...roject. After some tense moments, we managed to purge a decent number of unused kitchen items and Kelly rearranged the cabinet to place frequently used items on more accessible shelves. Ironically, the kitchen cleaning session overlapped with the lunch hour preventing meal preparation. We decamped to a local Mexican restaurant for a meeting with a friend and Kelly finished this KonMari session on her own later. I’d call it a victory but we’ve stil...

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In Praise of Turkish Towels

Mrs. Homegrown

August 16, 2016

Domesticus

12 Comments

...your body. After a few disconcerting mornings spent missing terry, I grew used to them, and then fell in love. I love them because: The are not as bulky as terry, so wrap and tie around the body more more easily They roll up into neat little bundles and take up very little space in my bathroom cupboard They dry more quickly than terry towels They don’t hog the washer They’re not heavy when wet They dry quickly on the line and feel soft afterward...

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Tomato Grafting Fail

Mr. Homegrown

September 26, 2016

Gardening, Tomatoes

7 Comments

...have purchased or made a seed starting mix rather than the potting soil I used. I ended up with weak seedlings. Secondly, I did not manage the post-graft period well. Having a greenhouse within which to create a “healing chamber” for the grafted plants would have made the process much easier. Since I have no space or desire to build a greenhouse I’m, most likely, going to give up on attempting to graft my own tomatoes. I did this project out of a...

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The Return of the Portière?

Mr. Homegrown

August 11, 2017

Design

10 Comments

...al establishments, but modern designs also exist. Interior noren are often used to separate dining areas from kitchens or other preparation areas, which also prevents smoke or smells from escaping. The August 1903 issue of Gustav Stickley’s The Craftsman has a few pages devoted to portières. At over $200 each in today’s dollars, these were luxury items. [1] The very same portal that allows our UPS driver a full view of our bathroom has the telltal...

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