Watering Can Wisdom

I am back again for another post today as a guest writer on Kitchen and Residential Design; if you missed the announcement of the Little Bert Chair Giveaway at GrassrootsModern earlier today, please check it out!

As "green" "organic" and "natural" become such promiscuous advertising buzz words you want to throw up your locally grown lunch in the 100% post-consumer recycled paper bag it came in, I hesitate to propose any ideas on conservation. This simple suggestion is so easy though, and anyone with plants can appreciate it.

About two years ago, a friend of mine who I affectionately call an "old hippie" let me know that the watering can in her bathroom was not just there for decorative effect. In fact, she collected the water from her tub faucet as it warmed up before showering. She then used the collected water for her extensive plant collection. A simple idea indeed and I tried it at home immediately. I reported back to her that I now follow her example and thanked her for the idea. She laughed and told me that she had heard it a long time ago, and had been doing it for many years.

Since she shared the idea with me, I have shared it with two friends who now collect their pre-shower water. I know not everyone's water takes as long as mine to warm up, but for those of us who have to wait, this simple idea saves some water. Hopefully, other readers will try it too, and pass it on.

Little Bert Chair Giveaway at GrassrootsModern

Hello everyone! This is David Nolan and I have a giveaway to announce that is happening Christmas Day at one of my favorite blogs - GrassrootsModern. Personally, I have no use for a Little Bertoia Chair but it would make a great gift. You can enter the contest twice, once if you comment on the post and one more time if you retweet the contest. Definitely check out the rest of GrassrootsModern while you are there, it is filled with good taste and condensed writing. They do use the dreaded "we" in this post, with good reason I believe, but the second person plural may send Paul into another Apartment Therapy-esque rant which "we" wouldn't want. Generally, it is only I's for GrassrootsModern.

so what I am trying to say is . . . heavy on the one

jb here, posting on Kitchen and Residential Design. Yeah – I will admit it; I don’t know how it happened either. I certainly have very little formal design knowledge, and . . . I am pretty certain, too, that I am not as well traveled or as well versed as our host, Paul. But here we are, and I am, again . . . freewriting.

For those of you who do not know me, I am in the early stages of launching a business. My business targets what I see as a void currently found within the home improvement market. I bring this up less to sway you any which way, but more, rather, to lead you into what I am about to say.

While I have thrown my hat in, I have also chosen to do so in a slightly different way. In deciding upon that path, I have faced, and still expect to face, many challenges. None so far have been bigger, though, than simply trying to find the words that I need to effectively communicate what it is exactly that I envision.

In the course of planning, of course, I looked. I looked at the industry. And I found that these days there are companies and individuals doing remodeling, restoration, rehabs and renovations. Some businesses offer home services; others offer solutions. Some homeowners do design and build; others focus on maintenance and repair. All exist within a marketplace that is mostly divided: do-it-yourself or do-it-for-me, and to which caterers do I give my patronage?

In looking, I spent some time on the phrase – “home improvement.” It means, and I think we know it to indicate, any enterprise that effectively upgrades, fixes or otherwise improves a house. The act of doing and done. “Home improvement” as a discrete phrase, however, may exist, too, not only as the high level descriptive, but also as a sub-set of itself.

OK . . . I know that there are slight nuisances associated with each of those sub-sets of activity. In terms of a business you may call, for example, you may expect a “home improvement” company to offer a wide and blurry array of home services. With these organizations, too, you may expect a limited amount of design service and/or only a few aesthetically-oriented questions.

The phrase “home improvement,” you see, has been utilized by many. And over years, some have claimed it and used it for good. Others, though, have helped to cultivate a sense, adding meanings, of maliciousness and mistrust; no? Be it the tonic salesmen with their overpriced door-to-door pitching of wares, or the hypnotists who have taken on clients only to leave them in the end in a daze.

From that, I often avoided the phrase as if it were a four-letter word. But I have come around and I have come to use it, sometimes, more as a matter of convention. Still I do not attach it to my business, specifically.

I feel in some way that I must apologize now not only for writing some those words above, but also for any negative meanings that I myself may one day add. They are, after all, only two innocent little words, natural and attractive.

Heavy on the one, they say – Home is the focal point of life, and I am not talking only of those things attached to the house. Think about it – is there any other place you spend more time; is there any other place that you know so well, or care so much about?

And perhaps as a phrase today, home improvement, more so than rehabbing or designing and building, actually offers an opportunity to take back a little something for ourselves and others. Am I so bold, yet, to do that alone; no!

Or could I maybe just modify it to fit my needs, instead, calling it something like -- life improvement? A new business sub-set, no; no, I can't. After all, I do fear a steep fall into the pit of either misrepresentation or, worse, of self-help freakdom.

I go instead, at least in marketing material, with “Home Project Services” or “Home Project Support.” These phrases are meant to denote non-standard, and somewhat non-descript, construction services. Not design, per se, and still I wonder what I am trying to say.

Now . . . did this little tangent accomplish anything for anyone? I don’t know; sometimes, these things are hit or miss. But I do know you may notice me here and there, trying to find the words that say, “My business (and more should follow) may really be less about home improvement, and more about helping people find the means to improve their most important asset … themselves.”

*******

Thank you for reading, thank you to Paul, and Happy Holidays to all:

jb @BMoxieBMore
Blogging for now at :: http://www.agentsofmoxie.com/

How-to/self-help photo shot by Barry Morgan at Barry’s Big Blog of Building @blogofbuilding (check him out for a daily visual log of building and other things): http://bigblogofbuilding.blogspot.com/

and ps. Here is a great little story about both moxie and the work of some home improvement contractors, courtesy of Mike Hines @eXapath :: Forgotten...But Not Gone

A wintertide break and an honor bestowed

I will be pretty scarce around these parts for the next ten days or so. I need a break for starters and I wanted to use that need for a break as a way to get some different voices to appear on this blog. Well, it started this morning with Elizabeth's walking tour of her neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It picks up again tomorrow with JB who's going to check in from Baltimore and these guest posts will continue for the next ten days. There are some really great people lined up so be sure to keep checking back.

As if to kick me out the door, Carmen from Decorating Diva ran a profile of and interview with me today and I am beyond flattered. Decorating Diva is a bit of a big deal and I am indeed honored. Thank you Carmen.   Spend some time looking around that expansive website. If you have a design dilemma or question, Decorating Diva's your answer.

I'll be spending some time with Sara Baldwin at New Ravenna Mosaics while I'm out of town and I'll be brimming with new and exciting developments from her world when I get back. Ciao!

A Sunday Stroll around Suburbia, Argentine Style

Hi there, its Elizabeth from My Political Exile in Argentina. I want to thank Paul for giving me the opportunity to guest post on his great blog. My blog is definitely outside the realm of design and it is to Paul's credit, and his great sense of curiosity for many different things, that I am sharing with you just a little peek into my life as an expat, and more specifically, an expat living in Argentina.

I am writing you on a Sunday. Normally, most families in Argentina not just those from the suburbs are preparing for an asado. I wrote previously about this extremely important meal in this post. Well today we are going to friends for an asado. I need to run by the bakery to pick up some bread. Want to come for a walk with me? Let's go.



As we make the short walk into town, you will notice two curious features likely not found in a suburb near you. One is the little booths found at nearly every intersection (see in above disaster of a photo). These house the "Guardias" or the hired security guards that watch the comings and goings in the neighborhood. They became popular in the late 1980s after the various juntas that ruled Argentina were dismantled. One of the benefits of military rule was everyone was so scared there was no crime. With the return of democracy, there was more instability economically and socially, and as a result, crime increased. And while I would argue that given the number of people that live in the huge sprawl of Buenos Aires, crime is not a huge problem. While I have always felt very safe living here, Argentines are hyper vigilant and sensitive to security issues. Hence, these booths are manned 24/7. The guards are often retired, older (one of ours is mostly deaf) men that may not be a lot of help in a crisis situation. But they are sweet and they like to talk about the weather.



Another odd thing that you see in front of everyone's house is the metal basket that is set off the ground. They are for the NIGHTLY pick up of garbage. Its a beautiful thing.





My family and I live in one of what are referred to as the Northern Suburbs or Zona Norte. Due to the close proximity to the center of Buenos Aires or what people call the Capital, we live in a suburb with an urban vibe. We can walk just a few blocks to our "pueblo" where there is a vibrant, noisy center with a commuter train station. On a Sunday though, things are pretty sleepy. Everything shuts down for the weekend midday Saturday and stay closed until Monday morning. Today, only the bakery, the cafes and ice cream shops are open. There are quite a few people out window shopping and you will see cars using the usually truck congested Avenue to get where they are going.



I had to take a number in the bakery or panderia and wait as there were others buying fresh bread for their choripan. Argentines like there sweets and there many dulce de leche laden desserts to pick from. Here are the typical Christmas breads that you see in all the shops now.

With our business done in town, lets make a bit of a detour and walk down some of the residential streets near our home. Our town belongs to a larger municipality that was established in 1692 by guess who, Spanish priests!



It was pretty much a swampy outpost on the Rio de la Plata until the late 1800s when the railroads came to Argentina with the English(to build and run them)and their families. The area we live in was developed into a community for the first of the many Anglos that made their home in this era (many others went south to Patagonia to farm and fish). As a result of this particular immigration, a large percentage of the houses you see today in this area are English style and have orange trees planted on the tree lawns. This was to have oranges available for making marmalade.



As Argentina entered its golden age at the turn of the century, there was considerable growth in the suburbs and the English railroad homes had to share the block with other styled homes like the Spanish Colonial Rival homes. Many of these were built in the 1910s and 20s.There are very of these homes remaining in my neighborhood.



Labor costs have always been relatively low here and those that could afford to would tear down the existing house for the newest and best construction (and to some extent that is the way it works now). In the 60s and 70s people seemed to opt for what is called "chalet". It’s a pretty generic house.It has an efficient layout but architecturally boring and they can be very dark. From the same time period you also see several houses that are modern and like the one below in dire need of some windows.



Here is one of my least favorite styles of houses.



It’s a Faux French style that is favored by expats. I don’t know why. They are generally devoid of any character inside, lots of big windows and an obscene number of recessed lights. What they do have, that many Argentine homes don’t have, is a kitchen meant for more than just a maid to work in. Often houses, especially, the older larger ones have an after thought of a kitchen strategically situated near the dining room but having four walls and a door keeping the smells and activity separate from the lives of the residents.



Almost every block has what we call a "crack house". It’s actually more or less an abandoned house that the family estate can’t decide what to do with. The family will employ a maid to live there to keep squatters out. Often the house sits neglected for decades. Some of this is due to the chaotic nature of the economy here and people one day are above water and the next are not. Some of it has to do with the Napoleonic inheritance laws that make selling inherited property difficult. People pay cash for homes, so they won’t lose it to a bank here, but often if unable to keep it up or rent it out, it becomes what looks like a crack house.



Here is where a bunch of nuns are squatting. No, actually, that not true. Some rich German Argentine family willed their family home to an abbey. So there are nuns living there. They seem to be homebodies. Not a lot of action coming from here. Not even on the weekends. Its a very cool building.



Well its time to get back to the house with my bread. Get the kids out of the pool and get them dressed for our afternoon/evening meal at our friend’s home. Hope you enjoyed the walk. And again, Paul, thanks.