Our landlord came by yesterday with his van full of hand planes and chisels and other things he figured we might need in order to hang the antique door I came into last week.…
Last spring, when the weather warmed but the virus still raged out of control and playgrounds and parks were closed, I dreamed of a folding lawn chair. We still lived in our old apartment,…
It’s spring break here in New York. Childcare is in short supply, the need for low-stakes projects to keep kids occupied is high, the springtime impulse to clean out and start fresh and pay…
Adding glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling above your bed feels like something of a childhood rite of passage. Faye has been begging to take the leap for weeks, but I felt reluctant to buy…
There’s an old phone jack for a landline telephone on the wall of our dining room. It’s a few inches from the doorframe that goes into our kitchen and I have every confidence that…
Yesterday I made pinwheels to celebrate my mom’s latest children’s book launch. Like other things ostensibly made to delight children, pinwheels are silly and sweet and also a little bit magical. In other words,…
We have a wall-to-wall painted canvas floorcloth in our dining slash living room. I painted it myself last fall and while I’d love to take credit for the idea, painted canvas floorcloths predate me…
Nearly all of the door knobs in our apartment are mismatched. Some are lovely and look quite original to the home, if very painted over. Others are clear modern replacements. Three of them are…
The kitchen in our apartment is sunny and bright. There’s a window to throw open, a vintage stove to cherish, a dishwasher to be eternally grateful for along with the very good fortune of…
My hands—and the baseboards in my bedroom—are covered in white paint. Making slow painting progress on this apartment while tuning into live coverage of national news is a thing that I’ve taken to doing.…