Photo: World Monument Foundation
My February trip to Havana with the Finca Vigía technical team was a short, three-day visit focused on paper conservation and the planning of a new laboratory. Ernest Hemingway’s home outside Havana was where he kept his personal library of over 9,000 books, journals, manuscripts and so on. Papa was a pack-rat and held onto all sorts of souvenirs, from bullfighting posters to shopping lists for his fishing trips.
Sandra Ramos' "No Matter How Much I Run, I Can't Arrive" (2003)/ Photo courtesy: The Farber Collection
I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to Cuba three times in the last several months. Each trip was associated with a particular group or project, as individuals are still not able to travel to Cuba on their own legally. If you are of Cuban descent, as I am, and you have relatives on the island, then you can obtain a permit easily to go visit family. Otherwise you need to go with a group.
Friends from the San Francisco Art Institute invited me to join them on one such trip to tour the art museums in Havana and meet with contemporary artists in their studios. Many of these artists have made their reputations in Latin America and Europe, but because of the trade embargo that our country has imposed on Cuba for over 50 years, they remain relatively unknown here.
Two of my favorite Cuban artists are:
During a recent interview with The New York Times columnist Bob Tedeschi, a.k.a. “The Pragmatist,” I asked if he had any words of wisdom for the DIY beginners—individuals, like him, who are learning as they go. Not surprisingly, this chronicler of his own trial-by-fire do-it-yourself mishaps and successes served up some great advice.
That’s what I asked my Twitter followers a couple of weeks ago. It’s natural to expect that your renovation’s happiest surprise will arrive upon the project’s completion; at the moment when your lingering doubts disappear and your tired optimism suddenly transforms into a feeling of proud delight. However, it’s during the process itself, not after it’s over, that many homeowners discover the biggest renovation surprises of all.
Throughout the years, I’ve been lucky enough to meet scores of talented, experienced contractors and craftsmen—proud workers committed to excellence. A couple stand out for me: Norm Abram from “This Old House” and Bob Ryley, the builder I worked with on “Home Again”. I think individuals who excel in their trade— plumbing, roofing, masonry, whatever—usually have a few traits in common. Why have I been thinking about this stuff? The following question reached me through Just Ask Bob: “You’ve worked with some great contractors. What qualities do excellent tradesmen share?” View my response below…
Here’s a before-and-after worth noting. The wood wall paneling inside an 1890s NYC brownstone was severely damaged nearly a century after its installation—by a guy with a sandblaster. What to do?
The apartment’s interior features a beautiful Jacobean ceiling, parquet oak floors, and floor-to-ceiling paneling of quarter-sawn oak. The paneled walls had probably been painted and left that way, until someone realized there was beautiful wood under the paint and chose to use a sandblaster. Sadly, that someone didn’t realize how much damage would result from using such a drastic method of paint removal. All the wood paneling now has a severely distressed grain which, even when stained and varnished, resembles fir plywood.
There’s no reason why your woodworking shop can’t be easy on the eyes, outside and in. The one pictured above was created in order to write and research my book Bob Vila’s Workshop. We trimmed it out to reflect the Greek Revival homes and other structures common to the area it’s located in. (Adding to the old-timey feel of the place are the old doors and windows bought at salvage).
Photo courtesy of Douglas Friedman
The week before the holidays, I had the chance to talk *color* with Celerie Kemble, the New York and Palm Beach interior designer whose most recent book, Black & White (and a bit in between), recently landed on shelves. Before long, however, Celerie and I found ourselves discussing, of all things, light bulbs.
With incandescent fixtures on the way out, designers—like the rest of us—are experimenting with compact fluorescents (CFLs), which are known for their sometimes harsh, cool, too-bright light. Not surprisingly, Ms. Kemble has found at least one way of modulating CFLs’ temperature…
Although I used to have a pretty big workshop back in Cambridge, things changed once we sold the place and became snowbirds. I’m not into any major projects down here in Florida, like building a dining room table, but I still need a place to do minor fix-its.
This bench, originally used for storage, is really perfect for minor projects like re-wiring a lamp. I don’t have any big power tools, but the bench power tools can easily be used on this surface.
As you know, many of the little repairs that we have to do as homeowners require going to the scene of the crime. That’s why I keep that small yellow tray handy so I can take the right tools for the job. The mini storage drawers, top left, are cheap and perfect for all the odds and ends—picture hooks, assorted screws and nails—and things that you’ll never find a use for.
Now that I’ve shown you mine, why not share where you tackle your home improvement projects? You can upload your images on our Facebook page.
And, if you want to see some impressive DIY workspaces, check out Blog Stars: In the Workshop.
While visitors to Miami primarily come for sun and fun, the city offers a wealth of artistic, cultural and architectural wonders, among them Vizcaya—the former winter residence of American Industrialist John Deering.
My first memories of Vizcaya date back to 1960 when I visited the grand estate with my parents and grandmother one Sunday afternoon. It may well have been the spark that ignited my love of old houses and classical architecture. The house is a perfect Italian Renaissance Palazzo. It was built in 1916 by Deering, a vice president of International Harvester, to resemble a 400-year-old Italian estate that had been occupied and renovated by several generations of family. Much of the actual building components (ceilings, doors, floors and mantlepieces) were bought from Italian antiquarians and installed here along with a ship-load of antique furniture.
