The sound of thin walls

When I moved in my landlord told me that the last few groups of people hadn't stayed long, and he wasn't sure why. During the first few months I tossed around ideas of things that would have made them leave, and pretty soon I was sure I knew why. It had to be the noise.

(This is the sweet spot for maximum outside sound amplification. Yes, where I try to sleep.)

These walls are pretty thin, and the houses are quite close together. In the summer most of us without air conditioning end up leaving our windows open at night. Of course, in the summer it stays light much longer and people hang out on porches and in the street later. On those nights I get hot and crabby, and when I'm crabby I notice all these sounds:

• front doors slamming
• cars bouncing in the potholes
• dogs. lots and lots of dogs.
• people talking and yelling to each other in the street
• sirens
• neighbors getting drunk on the porch and yelling
• my wall-sharing neighbors dropping things

And every little sound seems like an intentional jab into my sleep. I'm certain they know how annoying they're being, and I'm sure it's just to make me mad.

But, when I'm ready to be rational again, I realize that I can learn a lot about my neighborhood by listening. Lately I've been listening with a more gracious attitude (recognizing that I, too, make noise), and this is what I've been hearing:

• my neighbors' wind chimes. They play in the evening breeze, but almost never any other time of day. They're not tinny and shrill, and they sound really cool in the rain.
• parents talking to their children. There's a little boy a few houses down who loves to play outside, no matter the weather. He usually talks his dad into coming out to play.
• the train. When I rode the bus to school every day I was very aware of the train tracks because the bus had to stop at each one. Hearing the train from my house reminds me of trips on the bus and my time in that part of the city.
• my wall-sharing neighbors laughing. It sometimes feels weird to hear bits and pieces of their life unguarded, but it's kind of cool too. I hope they hear laughter from my side too.
• a young band trying to make it big. Somewhere in the neighborhood there are a few musicians who like to jam on the weekends. They're actually quite good, and I don't mind hearing their music echoed around the block.
• the FedEx guy ramming through potholes. Let's be honest, who isn't excited about getting packages?
• my neighbor starting his car to go to work. My neighbor works a night shift, and when I hear his car start up I know it's time for me to go to bed. I've also started praying for him and his family every time I hear him leave. I can't imagine that's an easy life.
• the goodbyes at the end of dates. Ok, so this has only happened once, but it was cute. A really excited and giggly couple ended a first date in front of my house, and it took them at least 20 minutes to say goodbye. It was adorable.

I wonder if I'll hear anything new in the coming months, and if I'll ever get over my annoyance once and for all. 

How do you handle noise in your neighborhood? Do you just accept that you won't sleep full nights for part of the year?

Use it again: picture wire

There are some things I find myself pulling out of the craft room more than I expected. They're usually things I splurged on for one project and didn't plan to use again, but then end up using in a whole variety of projects. "Use it again" is a place to show all the different ways normal materials end up being used in my house.

I got my picture wire for obvious reasons--to hang pictures. I've picked up a lot of frames at resale stores lately, and some of them have needed quite a bit of work. 

But I also got to use the wire when I opened my box of ornaments and realized that they didn't have any string or hangers. I just made my own.

This fall our office had a gourd decorating contest. We all submitted our works of art, and they were displayed around the building for judging. I decided to recreate American Gothic out of fabric on a gourd. 

Yes, I now know that's not normal.

See how cute it turned out? The wire was exactly what I needed for the glasses and pitchfork.

The fabric was all scraps I had in the house, including some leftover from the guest room duvet attempt.

Here are the other gourds I made, just for fun:

For the office Christmas chapel each agency was encouraged to bring an ornament representing an area of the world in which we work. Feeling subversive, I whipped out this spiky ornament:

It represents the Israeli occupation in Palestine, the national borders and detention centers of our immigration system, and our broken prison system.

We stood out a little bit.

Have you made anything with wire? How did it turn out?

Collections: graffiti

Since this house has gone through many owners, many tenants, and many decades, it has ended up with an eclectic mix of fixtures and materials. These are small details that don't come through in other posts, so this is a chance for me to show you the "collections" in this house.

I hesitate to call this graffiti, because it's really just somebody's doodles on the wall, but the last few pictures convinced me. You'll see.

"T baby" left her mark on the bathroom windowsill, next to the toilet. 

She was kind enough to leave a second scribble in pen beneath it.

The bathroom door sports a reassuring "OK", apparently done in some sort of paint.

Use it again: window tape

There are some things I find myself pulling out of the craft room more than I expected. They're usually things I splurged on for one project and didn't plan to use again, but then end up using in a whole variety of projects. "Use it again" is a place to show all the different ways normal materials end up being used in my house.

My house leaks cold air (as I'm sure you know by now), so window plastic was a high priority. The tape that comes in the window kits is just double-sided tape, but I had only thought to use it with windows. That is, until...

I made big paper stars to decorate our office. The stars are modular, meaning each point is made out of a separate sheet. I was worried they would fall apart, so I secured them with small strips of window tape. It worked perfectly!

So then I tried using the tape in bigger pieces to attach chalkboard fabric to glass, and that worked too. See the framed chalkboards here.

Collections: heating grates

Since this house has gone through many owners, many tenants, and many decades, it has ended up with an eclectic mix of fixtures and materials. These are small details that don't come through in other posts, so this is a chance for me to show you the "collections" in this house.

I kind of wish the house had more exotic grates, but the basic rectangles work too. Each grate is a different size, and there seems to have been disagreement about how far away from the wall each one should be.

These are the only two embedded in the wall. I'm not sure why one grate fits and the other doesn't.

Yep, someone painted over the grate in the bathroom.

The one on the left is actually quite large--it's probably twice the size of any other in the house.

Would you replace boring grates with something more decorative?

Collections: wood

Since this house has gone through many owners, many tenants, and many decades, it has ended up with an eclectic mix of fixtures and materials. These are small details that don't come through in other posts, so this is a chance for me to show you the "collections" in this house.

I'm very lucky that I have wood floors and trim. My neighbors on the other side of the wall have painted trim, and years ago someone painted the second story wood floors a dark green. Of course, they don't have have to deal with popcorn walls, so it kind of evens out.

I'm amused by all the different kinds of wood in my side of the house. Some of it is newer, some is weathered beyond recognition, and some of it is just gorgeous.

The upstairs flooring, which seems to be the most recent flooring, and the upstairs doors

Unfinished wood in the craft room, and some sort of laminate in the bathroom

Part of the bathroom built-in shelves, and the railing on the stairs

The stairs, which are 2-toned from a carpet runner years ago, and the main floor edges, which seems to be the oldest flooring

The insets of each room on the main floor, which were originally carpet and seem to be older than the upstairs flooring, and this last gem is from the back hall of shame.

Know any tricks for keeping wood in good condition? 

Building a guest room

This weekend my family stayed with me for the longest time yet. It was a great chance to test out the guest room! (And assemble some of it, with their help.)

The plan for the guest room started with some pillows I had made a year ago:

I originally made them for a guys' living room, so I tried to incorporate masculine elements like black leather and tie-fighter shapes.

Yeah, still my style more than theirs. I was really proud of the way I worked both dark blue and black into the same designs. These pillows became the color palette for the guest room.

Collections: door knobs

Since this house has gone through many owners, many tenants, and many decades, it has ended up with an eclectic mix of fixtures and materials. These are small details that don't come through in other posts, so this is a chance for me to show you the "collections" in this house.

My house somehow ended up with quite a variety of plates and knobs. They're all different shades of metal, different levels of embellishment, and tend to rest at different angles. And who on earth paints over door handles?!

Yes, the gem on the left is from the back hall of shame.

Oval knob with round plate, round knob with oval plate.

I have no idea where the stripes came from.

And a bonus:

Yep, the door knob punches right through the plaster.

Do you prefer embellished or plain door knobs? Would you ever paint over one?