Noguchi Coffee Table

Jessica’s mastery of Craigslist has paid off again. We just scored a Noguchi Coffee table (retail $1349) for $245.

Intro to Landscaping

My first year of college I debated entering Landscape Architecture rather than straight Architecture. As most of you are aware I ended up selecting architecture. As a result, I never had to deal with learning the names of thousands plants. Fast forward eight years, and I'm now undertaking this task.

Last week I researched perennials that are excellent in the Chicago's climate (most of which are native) and developed a list for the landscaping of the backyard. That list is as follows:

 

Short

Common Shooting Star - Dodecatheon meadia

Ozark Sundrops - Oenothera macrocarpa

Carpathian Harebell - Campanula carpatica

Yellow Corydalis - Corydalis lutea

Bloody Cranesbill - Geranium sanguineum

Blue Phlox - Phlox divaricata

Maiden Pinks - Dianthus deltoides

Medium Height

Canada Colombine - Aquilegia canadensis

Wild Geranium - Geranium maculatum

Hosta

Coral Bells - Heuchera sanguinea

Columbine - Anquilegia 'hensol harebell'

Lanceleaf Coreopsis - Coreopsis lanceolata

Dwarf False Goldenrod - Solidago spacelata

Sedum - Hylotelephium

Virginia Bluebells - Mertensia virginica

Tall

Blue Star - Amsonia tabernaemontana

Wild Sweet William - Phlox maculata

Obedient Plan - Physostegia virginiana

Black-Eyed Susan - Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii

Butterfly Weed - Asclepias tuperosa

Rose Mallow - Hibiscus moscheutos

Golden Columbine - Aquilegia chrysantha

Purple Coneflower - Echinacea purpurea

This back yard project originally wasn't going to happen for a little while. However, yesterday I was at Home Depot getting supplies for laying our cork floor and noticed that perennials were on sale... Two hours later I had a cart that looked like this:

If you're knowledgable about flowers, you'll notice I wasn't exactly disciplined in my purchases. I just couldn't pass up the mums and that orange Asiatic Lily. Plus, Home Depot only had the following flowers:

A type of Corydalis

A type of Phlox, but not the Blue Phlox

Hostas

Coral Bells

Sedum

Black-Eyed Susans

Coneflowers

By today our backyard looked like this:

Additionally, a few bulbs found there way into the flower garden. I'm thinking seeds from the remaining plants might just get scattered around in certain areas, but this is yet to be determined.

You also might notice our new "tree" (steel pipe) sticking out of the ground. This will be the location of our future birch.

Airlie bear

Meet Airlie! The new pooch in our pack. Our red merle mutt.

The shelter said she's an Australian Shepherd mix... but I'm not so sure about that. She's really leggy and has a short smooth coat. So I'm kinda thinking maybe Catahoula? Whatever she is she's super cute and sweet as pie!

She and Fat Rat are buddies. Zorro isn't really friends with her yet. He mostly just ignores her.

Yay! Puppy dogs!

Cork dork.

Here it is! Our cork flooring.

It'll take a lot of work to get it all down.

 We'll be working room by room, and so we don't end up with weird areas of overlap in the stain when moving on to the next room, we're pre-staining each tile. It's a pain in the ass. But I think it'll end up looking better overall.

I need a pedicure.

Hi, again!

Sorry, all, for the excessively long blog hiatus. We've been super busy the last couple months with family stuff. AND we've been working hard on the drawings for our attic addition! AND AND, we got the cork flooring delivery! AND AND AND, we've added a new member to our little pack!

But, I forgot the camera memory card at home... :(

Bummer, huh?

So pics will have to wait until this evening.

I'm sure the suspense is killing you...

Sofa!

We found a sofa on Craigslist on Saturday. It happened to be only a few blocks north of our place... so we carried it home. With multiple rest breaks along the way. 100 bucks!

Zorro REALLY wants to help Brad take a nap on it...

The New Roof - a fundraiser

So this is far from as philanthropic as the title makes it sound...

As some of you may recall, our house came with a few pieces of abandoned furniture and a bunch of doodads and knickknacks. And we don't want 'em.

So over the next few weeks, I'm gonna try to sell it all. Craigslist, Ebay, Ebay Classifieds, Apartment Therapy Classifieds, Etsy. I'm calling it our New Roof Fundraiser... 'cause we need a new roof. And new roofs cost money.

We could also stand for a new sofa:

And a chandelier:

I'll keep y'all updated.

Urban Heat Island Effect

Sorry we haven’t posted for a little while, we’ve been busy getting estimates for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, plastering, and a new roof.

One of the biggest problems with traditional asphalt shingle roofs is they attract a lot of heat. This causes two problems.

1. Contributes to Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI)

2. An increase in annual utility bills

UHI occurs in metropolitan areas and is essentially a micro-climate version of global warming. Beyond the obvious problem of creating an increase in utilities during summer months, UHI causes modifications to wind patterns, an increase in precipitation in and downwind of cities, and even an increase in pollution. While I do not have any statistics on hand, I have seen numerous different statistics and documentation on these matters.

For those of you who believe Fox News over scientists and that global warming is fake, you can’t argue against saving money off your utilities. A lighter more reflective surface will drastically decrease your monthly payments compared to a traditional asphalt shingle roof.

We decided to go with a light-colored standing-seam metal roof. These roofs are economical, durable, and they will look good on our house. From snow to sun exposure to hail, standing-seam metal roofs hold up very well in extreme climates (such as Chicago). Additionally, they have an excellent SRI (solar reflective index). So as a result we will have a good looking roof that is durable, economical, and earth friendly.