My Creative Times blogger friend Eleanor is a professional organizer. Unfortunately, organizational skills aren’t contagious, so I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting her to help me out.

It turns out that Eleanor is having a summer sale, so there is no better time to do it! I may be a highly disorganized and dysfunctional procrastinator, but when it comes to a bargain, I’ve got my act together.

I asked Eleanor if she can clear the clutter from my brain instead of my desk or closets. Sure, I haven’t filed in over a year. Sure, there are clothes on the floor of my closet. But there’s a deeper root to the problem and that is ME. I’m not drowning in “things”. I just take on too much at once and I’m all over the board. I need focus and Eleanor thinks she can help.

So, I think I’m gonna do it! But you should do it first. So you can be the guinea pig and tell me what to expect!

Remember way back when I did that blog post on the first LEED Platinum building in Brooklyn and then interviewed architect Mark Helder in that silly smile-lard butt- but fabulous haircut video?

Well, fast forward to today. One unit has been sold and there are two spaces available for rent in Metropolitan Green. Here’s what I got from the email Mark sent…

Space 1

There’s one office available in the ground floor space. There is a storefront window and 2 floors, Mark plans to stay in the space as well with his green architecture company and rent out the other floor. The lighting is great with a skylight and big windows, cork floors, very high ceilings, outdoor area, lots of foot traffic on this street, etc. There is flexibility in the share, so go see the space and they can work something out. This space could also work well as a gallery. Depending on how the space is divided the rent would be somewhere from $1700-$2200 a month.

Space 2

The other unit is the amazing penthouse. This apartment is brand new, you would be the first tenant. The penthouse is a very large one bedroom duplex, 1054 sq ft, plus a 405 sq ft roof deck and 45 sq ft balcony. 1 block from the Lorimer L stop, 4 blocks from the Bedford L stop.

Bamboo floors, floor to ceiling windows, lots of light, super 360 views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Also, because of the interior wooden staircase connecting the three floors you actually feel like you are more in a house than an apartment.

This one is $3300

A few of the green features include:
-Private solar panel array, watch your electricity meter run backwards!
-Filtered air, filtered to HEPA levels, some of the cleanest air in the city
-Radiant floor heating
-Temperature controlled by tenant, heating and cooling in central system
-Passive heating and cooling

It was perfect weather for yesterday’s outdoor Blogade at Kush Cafe. So perfect that the turnout was lighter than expected. That was probably a blessing as my web design guru Veronica brought her laptop, so we all had a chance to see what was going on.

Everybody was late. Everybody! Rob of Luna Park Gazette was the first to arrive. Ok, so he was only a few minutes late. Then others started trickling in. Eleanor of Creative Times showed up with Michael of Art in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Modern’s Gerald was there, as was Morgan of Save Bedford Stuyvesant. We even got to meet Morgan’s mommy briefly when she dropped him off! Of course, Blogade mommy, Louise OTBKB was there.

Veronica showed us the latest and greatest Wordpress plug-ins and stuff that may or may not have sunk into my little pea brain. No worries, she posted a PDF link on her Noseround site so we can look at it over and over.

What did I learn yesterday?

I learned that my Wordpress software is in serious need of an upgrade.

I learned that people will respond “yes” to an RSVP and then not show up. You know who you are. Yeah, you!

I learned that my fellow bloggers (and my web design guru) rock.

San Fran scene. Hmm, blue is an option.

All of this porch demolition. It’s now time to start thinking about what we’ll replace it with and to get a feel for the color scheme. I got seduced by the painted ladies of San Fransisco some twenty years ago. “Someday I want a house like that.” said I. My house could be every bit as spectacular. She’s just a little rough around the edges is all.

Anyway, I’m spending some time looking at porch spindles, corbels and fanciful gingerbready things to add. Plus, I need to find an intense color scheme!

Kind of like the contrast of the dark gray with the red.

Holy Mother of God! I would kill for this place. Kill!! This is the Carson Mansion in Eureka, CA. I wouldn’t mind adding do-dads to my peaks though. And some iron work.

Cape May, NJ. The husband won’t let me go pink. Nor will landmarks. Eh, maybe this is too frou frou even for me.

Iowa. Interesting porch woodwork, but I think I have my heart set on chunky balusters.

Like these.

Reader Jill Fudo, architect, tipped me off to a newish product called Timbersil.

The wood and glass fusion lumber sounds too good to be true, but it’s definitely worth a look into.

Looks more like straight up wood than composite material.

Greener than pressure treated lumber.

More durable than wood.

Stands up to insects and water because of the glass.

Oh yeah, and fire resistant too.

This can be stained like any other wood product. Timbersil fabricates products ranging from building materials to finish materials such as trim and tongue and groove flooring.

According to the website, prices are affordable. I have calls in to the local distributors. I’ll let you know when I find out exactly what those prices are.

Two Tri-State dealers are Hood Distribution and Wehrung’s Lumber.

Related: Good Millwork

Last time I reported on my porch was over two months ago. Let’s see how far we’ve come since then. Shall we?

Basically, there is no porch left. I’d just like to draw your attention to the green rain gutter with the white spout. The husband tried to kill me with this and I have a nice scar on my lower lip to prove it. He didn’t secure it so when I stepped on it, that white tip hit my face and I was cut by the sharp, dirty edge.

The temporary plywood was taken up for joist repair. This lovely handrail keeps the mail carrier (and us) from falling into the gaping hole. We don’t invite guests over, so that’s a non-issue.

See the chunk o’ bricks in the background? That was just moving around willy nilly in the ground. A deeper hole was dug out to install proper cement footing. That ain’t going nowhere now.

I’ve gotta say…this kind of makes me nervous. I mean, what’s it sitting on? So, hubby has worked on major bridges and structures that are still standing. Do you think this looks kosher? Or does he want to finish the job that the rain gutter didn’t take care?

Some wine connoisseurs pair wine with cheese or meals, but Soho’s City Winery pairs wine with music.

Just found out about tonight’s event via Gothamlist. Stevie Wonder! “Songs for the Cup of Life”. 30 wines. 30 tunes. 30 bucks.

This is not a live Stevie performance, but check the City Winery calendar for those. They do have some pretty decent live events.

It’s Reclaimed Home’s turn to host the rolling Brooklyn Blogade. Since this is not a neighborhood blog and since I’ve lived in just about every part of Brooklyn, I could’ve chosen any location.

I chose Kush in Clinton Hill because one, I can walk there from my Bed Stuy home and two, it’s one of my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn. Like, on the top three.

So anyway, what’s a blogade all about? Well, it’s a monthly gathering of bloggers who get together to exchange ideas, encourage one another and eat. There’s usually a theme. I wanted to talk about the technical aspects of blogging, so I’m getting my web designer to fill us in on blogging from different angles.

Vanessa of Noseround Productions will look at breaking away from your average post and making your blog more interactive. She’ll bring in examples of plug-ins, add-ons and open source platforms, such as web carts and forums. She’ll try to explain ways to make your blog both user friendly and also owner friendly.

Sounds good, no? So far there are about 20 of us gathering on the 28th. If you haven’t RSVP’ed yet just give me a holla to let me know you’re coming. I’m still working out the menu, but it’s a brunch thing with a vegetarian and a vegan option. Cost will be less than $15.

Hope to see you there!

My mission this week is to choose the flooring we’ll be installing on our porch. Not that we’re finished with our structural work yet, but it’s always good to be ready, ya know? The top priorities are environmental impact and price. Oh yeah, and looks. And durability.

There are fewer options when looking at outdoor flooring. For example, oak wouldn’t be the way to go. Although it’s a perfect interior hardwood, it’s not water, insect or mildew resistant.

Right now it’s looking like we’ll end up with a local wood such as cedar or douglas fir, but I just started internet research mode and haven’t visited a flooring supplier yet.

Here’s the rundown:

Local woods include pressure treated pine, cedar, redwood and douglas fir. Pressure treated is full of chemicals, although not as harsh as they once were. Redwood is becoming scarce, so that can’t be very eco-friendly. That narrows it down to cedar or douglas fir, both soft woods.

The exotic wood species are more durable and more beautiful. Although FSC wood can be purchased easily enough these days, it still doesn’t sit right with me. Not to mention the price and difficulty of working with such hard woods. These would include the ever so popular ipe, mahogany, teak and tigerwood.

Of course, if we go the recycled route, we can justify any wood. This would be our number one choice if we can afford it. You’ll be the first to know what we decide.

I should mention that composite decking is yet another option that has come a long way. IMO, it’s not wood. It’s fake and it looks it. If we were talking a back yard deck, I might have a look into it, but this is the front porch of my soon-to-be gorgeous house. I just can’t….

Oh, Tiny House Blog, you’re killing me! Now I totally want this eco-friendly pod house. Watch the vid. Go to the link. Enjoy!

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