We’re not the original owners… or it wouldn’t look like this. (**my first post**)
Over two years ago, my husband and I bought an old house. We moved from a pristine, Arts and Crafts, 1920’s home. To a disaster 1890’s Victorian. We have lived here while rehabbing.
It has been:
Good
Bad
Ugly
Heroic
Beautiful
Extraordinary
Crazy-making
Horrendous
Fantastic
The Internet has become part of my life in a way that it wasn’t before… In the last two years, I’ve spent an insane amount of time hunched over the computer.
The access to ideas, inspiration, fixtures, tile, advice… has been invaluable. But it also makes it nearly impossible to settle for anything less than the perfect solution because if you keep looking long enough, you will find exactly what you’re looking for.
I have spent untold hours scrolling, scrolling, scrolling… searching, searching, searching… For that one, unnamable, elusive concept.
The parts I’ve found most enjoyable are personal, house-centered, blogs. The ones with actual content. And actual homes, with real projects, real experiences, and real limitations. Not just gorgeous pictures and pristinely decorated unattainable spaces.
I found myself wanting to be a part of that experience. To share the process of what we are doing with our home, with people who are similarly inclined. I hope that this finds interested readers, and leads me to other blogs that I’ve missed.
xoxo,
Veb
April 3, 2012
August 2, 2013 @ 3:48 pm
Because you replied to my email.
Because you understood.
Because I’ve already read this one 3 times and never bothered to look at the date.
Thank you
August 9, 2013 @ 10:26 am
Few things are nicer than having someone read your very first post…
August 14, 2013 @ 2:13 pm
You are amazing. I am slowly reading everything you have written because I can hear you, sitting next to me, as I read it. I will never be able to redo a house as you have done, but I love following your journey vicariously. Thank you for doing this.
September 17, 2013 @ 6:47 am
Oh no! I’ve just spent three days straight (well around work and child wrangling) reading your blog backwards after finding the link from another blog (which I don’t remember and didn’t read) when searching for online answers to my quest for the perfect bathroom in a new build, contemporary country, unfussy, vintage, but clean lined home I am mid build. But now… I’ve run out of posts and I am sad… Please post soon because I love your style! Writing and home decor and living out loud in general. X
September 17, 2013 @ 11:29 am
You win a prize for making it all the way to the first post: my undying love.
It’s super valuable and better than the lottery.
xo
September 25, 2013 @ 9:17 am
Just found you via the Polymath Chronicles (yay!).
Starting from your first post and working back – and dreaming.
As we move around the world with my hubby’s job, we don’t ever get the chance to own our own home, or reno the rentals we get to live in – I’m now living vicariously through you in our current spot, a little corner of Germany …
October 2, 2013 @ 8:21 pm
How come I can’t get any of your links in your posts to work? I clicked on the one in this post and got a “page not found”. I copied the link, and am hoping you will tell me what I need to do. Or is this some type of inside joke, and I’m the one that always says, “I don’t get it”? Here is the link…
http://victoriabarnes.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/A-blog-about-restoring-our-old-Victorian-house%E2%80%A6-and-trying-to-survive-a-totally-DIY-renovation-with-my-husband.jpg
October 3, 2013 @ 11:17 am
Tearing my hair out over tech-stuff is becoming my full time job… tech-support was “fixing” another problem, and now seem to have caused twelve more.
THANK you for letting me know…
October 5, 2013 @ 9:55 pm
After reading 160 posts, backwards…I’m hoping there is a shiny prize. Actually 104 posts but I revisited about 56 of them more than once- And I just started reading your blog. Write faster please.
I’ve learned so much. I had no idea you could buy a skirted toilet. Awesome, now I NEED one to.
I now know that I’m suppose to pinch back the leaves on my seedlings to make them branch and that I should have been stalking Craig’s list.
And I never thought I would want mirror balls! Gawd now I have to have some!
Girl you are gifted, and crazy and funny and slimmer and paler than slimmer than Slim Paley.
Hilarious beyond words.
Love your blog!
October 6, 2013 @ 12:29 am
You had me at Craig’s list!
I had to restart at the beggining as I find you a hoot!
Love how you write.
Yay for new friends!
November 1, 2013 @ 1:46 pm
I, too, just discovered your blog! At first I thought, “Oh no, another self-centered diva with too much time on her hands” but then I discovered 1. you are none of those things and 2. I couldn’t stop reading your posts. Looking forward to learning more about your home adventures!
December 30, 2013 @ 4:13 pm
Maybe I am different, maybe I am strange, but after reading a dozen of your posts… and deciding that I love you… and that I too want to buy The River House… and waving photos from your blog at my husband while he is doing other things, “Baby. I want to go here. Can we go here? Baby. I want to go visit. Please.”… After all that, I decided to take several minutes to scroll all the way back to the beginning so I could read forward through your blog. I want to read every. Single. Article. In order. 🙂
January 26, 2014 @ 3:35 pm
I think you are my hero. Actually, I am quite certain of it. I got here from Pinterest, and have decided I must take on the “All Post Challenge”, which sounds a tad like a breakfast cereal.
You certainly amuse me, but you have far better hair, jewelry, and blog. If you weren’t fantastic I would dislike you. As it is, you inspire me to write more, even about the tragically flawed projects that I am sure I am not messing up through any fault of my own. It’s because the universe isn’t currently able to comprehend my creativity…or my garden shed isn’t able to hold all of my projects in waiting.
I write this just after my spouse has left the house to go to work, forbidding me to acquire a set of nesting tables posted on Kijiji (Craigslist has nothing here except for Missed Connections). So naturally, I have emailed the people with the aforementioned nesting tables to ensure they are still available. That’s reasonable behaviour, right?
January 26, 2014 @ 4:59 pm
I too just found your blog-Bravo! Your post on the craigslist “Kingdom” mirror was priceless. I had to read part of it out loud to my husband. I rarely read anything out loud to my husband, he’s always busy reading his own stuff. By the way, I think that mirror looks fabulous in your
abode and, maybe this is silly, but I also think it’s so cool your name is Victoria and you’re
in the process of renovating your Victorian home. I’m starting at the beginning and can’t
wait to catch up. I subscribed to receive your new posts but I’m a little confused because WordPress wants me to sign on so I can start my blog. I don’t want to start a blog, I just want
to read yours. Hopefully I signed on correctly and am in the loop. Looking forward to hearing your story.
February 24, 2014 @ 2:07 pm
Victoria,
Two days ago friend suggested that I watch your bed moving video which I found utterly charming, as did my dear husband, who normally cares nothing about such matters. So it was off to read from the beginning. I started with your first post and have returned to it to tell you that I have had two wonderful days reading your saga, sharing many of them with the husband. He thinks Paul is part saint and part magician and that you are a crazy genius. Your house and garden are lovely and your writing is very entertaining. I’ll be dropping by to keep up with all the shenanigans in Philadelphia. I’m dying to know if you really are going to shorten your mattress.
Warmest regards from a new fan,
Elizabeth Speicher
April 16, 2016 @ 1:50 pm
OK, so somehow, I got linked to the post about the Kingdom mirror. Hilarious. You remind me of my oldest sister, with a dash of my youngest sister. Please tell your long-suffering husband that I feel for him. He deserves bacon… or something. Maybe more power tools, cause you can never have enough. I shared your mirror post with my sister Linda, who needs to be kept away from you or else the universe may implode. I am now reading everything you have written from the beginning. Thank you both for saving a cool old house. May you be showered in chocolate and craigslist bargains.
June 18, 2016 @ 7:37 pm
First started reading about your kitchen renovation, and realized that starting from the beginning was a great idea. Looking forward to reading your blog and hearing about all your projects.
July 4, 2016 @ 8:41 am
So this morning on a lazy 4th of July I-don’t-have-to-go-to-work-today day, I saw that one of my friends had shared your outrageous kingdom mirror post. I was hooked right then and there. Your bold and audacious passion screamed, “READ ME!” So, I kept reading. I was primed for it. Mind you, I had JUST had a crazy Craigslist day yesterday…except in my case, I have no man and no truck and nowhere to put my treasures (yet). I am closing on a mountain cabin in 15 days and thought it was a good idea to buy 3 rooms of furniture for my new cabin that I don’t have the keys for yet. So, I quickly rented a truck and a storage unit and begged a guy friend to help and it was an all-day adventure. I can already see that reading your blog shall become a raving addiction. I took the first bite…I’m done for. Thank you for sharing your journey. I can’t wait to read every post! 🙂
September 28, 2016 @ 11:55 pm
Big smile and I need a drink after all that! It’s like you are in my head and I can hear you talking. LOVE the energy that comes through even your words. So glad I found this – and got here somehow via that incredible Kingdom Mirror.
March 7, 2017 @ 9:12 am
I’ve been skipping around your blog for a few days now, reading posts here and there whenever I have some spare time. I love it! I feel like I’ve only just scraped the surface and can’t wait to read more. Your house is beautiful!
June 28, 2018 @ 5:46 pm
First posts are alive and well! Found a link at actualconversationswithmyhusband.com and she’s never led me astray yet!
I’m a die-hard DIYer and looking forward to reliving your journey.
February 15, 2019 @ 11:07 am
Hello,
I have read your very first post, the giant 11.5′ cabinet thing and all of your bathroom ones (so far). We too have an 1890’s home that we working on and Kijiji (Canada’s version of Craigslist) is my best friend, much to my husband’s chagrin. I subscribed to your blog and I look forward to reading your posts.
Best,
Paula