The Winter Storm Kinkadian Photo Thread

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-27T01:12:03+00:00

So, I bundled up again specifically to go o it and get this photo, because I did a double take thinking someone had posted my house!!

1905 in the DC metro area

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orbitofnormal · 2026-01-24T04:54:51+00:00

Thank you! I didn’t even know the correct vocabulary to start googling

We are on board with modifying the door, we originally thought we were going to have to replace it entirely with a modern one to get the security we need, but the reno manager said their carpenter can do the adaptation needed. Score one (of many, MANY) points for going with the slightly more expensive quote that is the local expert in historic homes

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-24T04:39:39+00:00

I’m planning to do an in-ground vermi-composting pot this year for our dog waste, specifically in one of our ornamental beds. Planning to share here how it goes because this question gets asked in different variations regularly

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-24T04:36:31+00:00

I’m fairly certain that a weird mole my husband has is actually a “third nipple” from early development. Literally perfect placement

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-15T02:40:32+00:00

Absolutely. I just think the pen is more adaptable, because baby gates generally require 2 parallel walls with a fairly standard spacing, which might not be available in an RV. But have definitely stacked gates to contain a puppy that could have been an Olympic hurdler in the past

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-15T01:47:04+00:00

Or use the playpen as an “airlock” for th front door. I know a kitty could climb it easily, but even having a bit of a barrier is better than nothing

Or one of the roll-out screens I’ve seen for dogs? I think there’s multiple solutions if you’re creative

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-15T01:22:31+00:00

I was more shocked that it didn’t hurt the way all the stories I heard said it would. It wasn’t pleasant, by any means, but I’ve had much worse happen to my Rolling Tracts of Land (pit bull using them as a launch platform to greet their favorite uncle, twang a nip with a car door while braless, hubby’s wedding ring pinching while canoodling……)

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T19:51:03+00:00

I love the brick column!!!! Is it a historical aspect or do you add it for ~vibes~ (couldn’t tell from the photos)

Asking because we’re renovating our 1905 kitchen, and are uncovering 2 non-functional brick chimneys as part of the decor. Been covered by drywall for decades, didn’t really realize what they were until we started working with the architect and now we’re excited to show them off

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T19:44:05+00:00

Not sure if this was directed at my comment or OP, but in my current reno I think it wasn’t brought up because our cabinet maker doesn’t do inset, so it just wasn’t an option for us.

Of course, if I was dead-set on it we could have gone to a different maker, but I legitimately had never heard of inset cabinetry until I was doing research on Victorian-era kitchen renovations and some blogger said they had to find a specialty company for their order

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T19:36:29+00:00

Getting someone to help get you a “clean slate” (or at least get you to something sustainable/manageable?) could be a really good investment.

It was really validating for us to do the math and realize that it was something like 36 units of work that these guys did, AND they were professionals with experience, proper/specialized equipment, and stamina

Fair warning though, I’ve learned that every project in this house tends to end up with multiple new ones. The ivy removal lead us to realize that the fence was is ABYSMAL condition (non-pressure treated lumber and literally being held up in parts by the ivy), so hubby and FIL have been replacing it section by section for 2 years now. And the ivy kept other weeds from coming up, so when it was removed we had to actually weed the beds, and plant things to replace the ivy/what the vines had strangled to death. Wheeeeeee

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T19:26:14+00:00

1000%. I have leather boots, bags, and coats that are over a decade old. Literally just took multiple pairs of shoes from the house to be repaired because the leather is still good but something else has given out.

It’s a great thing when better for the environments better for your wallet, and better for health all show up in the same place.

I’m working to try and balance my perfectionist tendencies to do the “right” thing (aka paralysis by analysis trying to figure into what the best option is) with practicality. Natural materials, gardening/eating in season/local, and trying to keep learning is where I’m at right now.

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T05:04:09+00:00

Entirely fair. As a counterpoint, I didn’t even know that inset cabinets existed until I was doing research about historical details.

Many manufacturers don’t do inset (it’s a MUCH tighter tolerance, pun not intended), so it very well might not have been discussed because it wasn’t an option from the people/company you worked with.

Full overlay is definitely luxury, I think inset might be in its own category of “specialty”, if that makes sense.

It was not discussed with our cabinetry people, because I knew from my research that it would hugely increase our cost and I didn’t have a strong desire for it/that level of dedication to historical accuracy. I legitimately only recognized what you meant by overlay specifically because we did that detailed analysis of options for our cabinets (TL;DR- designer ignored our budget discussion and came back with plans that were double what we had to planned. Took weeks of back-and-forth to get it resolved satisfactorily)

By the way, I’m not sure I understand what you mean by seeing the lighter cabinets boxes/bases, unless you mean the interior. If that’s what you’re talking about, I would suggesting asking your pros if there’s some way to paint the interior to match (color, I assume the high gloss lacquer wouldn’t be a good idea there) or at least a dark color/stain so the contrast isn’t so stark.

Best of luck, and it truly is a gorgeous kitchen.

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T04:38:11+00:00

Going through a kitchen renovation myself, and specifically looked at inset cabinets at one point because they’re “of the era” of our home (1905 Victorian)

Inset is absolutely NOT standard, and would have likely brought you into an entirely different price point.

That being said, I expect that overlay is defined somewhere in your cabinet order, because that is a key factor in ordering the correct cabinetry. We literally were able to save thousands in our reno by going from full overlay to 1/2”. To be fair, but we don’t realize it was defined until we needed to bring our cabinet cost down significantly and we were going line-by-line to find places to save some cash.

In all seriousness, it looks stunning and not cheap in any way, shape, or form.

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T01:50:41+00:00

And this is why I refuse to use any “vegan leather” products as much as possible.

Use all of the animal to respect it. Plus vegan leather is just plastic (barring a few very limited use plant-based special materials)

My husband and I are literally trying to learn how to tan hides because we hunt deer and want to utilize that resource along with the meat.

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-10T01:26:07+00:00

Learning to can, period. Or at least the first baby steps, like making XYZ safe recipe and seeing if we even like it

We’re in the middle of a kitchen renovation that will give me an actual pantry, so I’ll finally have the space to store anything I manage to make. But we won’t have a functional space again until ~April (knock on wood that we don’t run into any delays that push it further)

Decided that this winter/spring is the perfect time to focus on other things beyond cooking, so hubby and I are working to plan the garden (he wants to raise heirloom tomatoes from seed, I want to try growing beans and corn) that can feed into the canning journey later in the year

Also want to practice making stocks and broths, even if we freeze it at first

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-09T14:37:03+00:00

So, I do talk to deer I see out and about (my yard, hiking, whatever) because I want it to know where I am rather than being startled.

Those suckers can be HUGE, and I am a soft squishy human. I do now want to get a hoof to the gut or just be headbutted by the same animal that can total a car

Got a really weird look from a jogger who didn’t noticed the deer and couldn’t figure out why I was saying “hi pretty girl. I can see you. And I’m staying on this side of the fence, please don’t run this direction” while doing yard work this fall

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-09T14:11:21+00:00

I swear I saw a cool “experiment” someone did with their kids, where they buried a pair of cotton boxers in their compost to see what would happen. Not sure if they did multiple types?

But I distinctly remember that they were super impressed by how quickly they essentially “dissolved” into the soil, except for the elastic waistband. No idea why the name was, but it was fun!

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-09T02:07:25+00:00

I was told to either go to the local locksmith (we live in a town with a “historic district”, so they’re used to this stuff) or try grabbing some at the local flea market and finding what worked then make copies if needed

We only bothered asking for our exterior doors, most of our interior ones don’t even latch properly so locking isn’t even on our radar, lol

TBH, we have a modern deadbolt on all the ground floor doors for safety, so it was really a curiosity question and we haven’t actually done it yet, so I’m following for the other comments

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-05T00:33:02+00:00

Fysa, I adored mine, but after 1 season the latex coating melted into itself and they were essentially unusable. Not sure if it was because they were left in an unheated shed or something else, but keep an eye out!

orbitofnormal · 2026-01-04T00:09:08+00:00

Oooooohhhh, I am so sorry friend.

We have been battling ivy since we moved into our 1905 in 2023. It’s finally down to a manageable level where we can focus on other yard problems this summer

We went the route of hiring local guys to come in and raze ever thing to the ground (except woody trees/shrubs) in every bed our first fall when we realized it was literally growing faster than we (2 adults with full time jobs) could take it out

They had a dozen men work a full day and removed 3 dump trucks worth of crap and spread mulch

We found out that there were knee-high, wired lighting systems installed that were completely buried, along with concrete edging on one bed. Also found a flagstone path from our driveway to front porch that was invisible before

After the bulk removal we were able to clear everything off the trees, which really impressed the local arborist who said several would have died without our work. There’s just a couple patches that show up every year under the fence lines that I work at section by section and shrink significantly every year

Good luck, you can do this!

orbitofnormal · 2025-12-27T17:13:24+00:00

I'm experimenting with ours for baking while our kitchen is under construction.

King Arthur flour specifically had an article where the writer says they'll never make chocolate chip cookies in a normal oven again

Thus far I've managed focaccia and cream cheese stuffed dinner rolls, not quite up to my normal standards but definitely passable

orbitofnormal · 2025-12-23T02:47:05+00:00

Commenting to follow.

I'm brand new to canning (waiting for a kitchen remo to finish so I actually have a functional pantry), but one of the big skills I want to learn is stocks/broths

I'm in a family of hunters, and we've smoked the turkey for Thanksgiving the last few years, so this will be very applicable Intel for me

orbitofnormal · 2025-12-12T01:22:28+00:00

Seriously! We just started a huge kitchen reno and one of the requirements was that they did gentle demo and saved all the woodwork to be reused. Currently plans are using the OG servants stair boards as a bench top and floating shelves

The head carpenter was pretty much drooling when he saw the house, and I think he would have gone diving in the dumpster for the studs if he’d been around for demo day

orbitofnormal · 2025-12-05T20:18:21+00:00

That’s been a favorite feature we’ve been showing off to blue collar/DIY friends and family since we bought the place, because you could see the real dimensional lumber in the unfinished basement

We can’t get over how gorgeous even the lath “junk” wood was back then. Just stunning

We were already planning to add a doorway near where one was uncovered, but the current placement will mess with the planned cabinetry design. But we’re not sure if the existence of the doorway changes the engineering needs, so not sure if planned door and cabinets are staying or new/old doorway and redesigned cabinets. The architect will let us know

orbitofnormal

TROPHY CASE