For the past four years we’ve lived in our house, the work we’ve had done has been pretty straightforward and relatively stress-free—putting in a new deck, adding proper attic access, having a new heat/air system installed. All of that changes next week, however, when my kitchen floor gets ripped out down to the joists.

About a year after we moved in I started working on the kitchen. I removed all the wallpaper (which is quite therapeutic, if I’m being honest), sanded and painted the walls, repainted the cabinets and changed out the hardware. At that point the next step was replacing the floor, which is currently a totally awful brick-patterned linoleum. In its place I wanted a black-and-white checkerboard tile. I found the tile at Home Depot and set an appointment to have everything measured and quoted. First I was told I had two layers of linoleum and the tile couldn’t be laid on top, the existing linoleum would have to come up. Fair enough. Oh, but because the house was built in 1952, there might be asbestos under at least the very first layer of flooring. Awesome.

But then the water heater exploded, more life happened and the floor project was put on the back burner until last winter, when we took out the cabinets around the tiny fridge that came with the house in order to make room for a new one that was made in this century. Here’s what we found beneath where the cabinet was.

We decided to get back to the flooring thing so we could get the kitchen finished and move on to other projects. The guy came back to take a sample to test for asbestos. And of course it came back positive. And it turns out there’s three layers of linoleum, not two. And he tells me that while they can’t remove the asbestos, we can totally remove the flooring and clean the subfloor ourselves. It’s not hard. Just use a lot of water! And we can bag it all up and leave it for the trash collector. Yes, of course you can just remove asbestos-covered flooring yourself with water and toss it out on the curb. All I could imagine was the EPA showing up at my house and turning it into the last part of E.T., when the government quarantines the house and covers it with plastic tunnels and what not.

So, fine. I got in touch with the only “asbestos abatement” company in the state. The guy comes and looks at the multi-layered floor, and tells me that the asbestos is in the mastic, which is what’s holding the first layer to the subfloor. Which means there’s asbestos in the subfloor, not to mention between the myriad layers of linoleum. And that means the entire subfloor has to come up. They’ll seal off the kitchen, cut out the entire floor (except where the cabinets are) and dispose of everything in an environmentally safe manner that does not involved piling it up by the street. The next day, my contractor, who sounds a lot like Rick Steves, comes in and puts in the new subfloor and then finally the new floor itself.

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. This weekend we’ll move everything on the counters, the stupid hutch I can’t seem to get rid of, and the refrigerator into the dining room. (And then the dogs will totally freak out because there’s a fridge in the dining room) Monday morning the work begins, and the dogs will get a two-night vacation at their favorite kennel, and we’ll spend Monday night in a hotel, since by Tuesday evening we’ll at least have a plywood floor in the kitchen. Everything should be finished by midday Wednesday, and we’ll finally, hopefully, be able to move ahead with the rest of the work we’ve got planned…because now the goal is to get this place on the market next year!

A shed is a small building that stands alone on a property.  It is the “jack of all trades” when it comes to storage solutions.  Some folks use their sheds for work, others may stock pile them with odds and ends that don’t have a home.  We recently renovated the shed that came with our property and boy does it look fabulous!

Our shed was just about gone.  The roof had caved in three years prior to our living here and the rain water and elements had wreaked havoc on the inside and the outside walls.  We nearly lost her, but with patience and time we were able to revive a living treasure.

Here is a photo of the shed as it looks today.  It is visible from my back porch and I have spent many late afternoons admiring our work.

Many things took place to restore the beauty of this 1937 smoke house. 

First, the roof had to be removed and replacedwith new build which was done over several weekends.

Then a layer of plywood for roofs had to be applied.

And finally an layer of shingles.  We chose architectural shingles which are all the rave when it comes to roofs these days.  For the exterior we decided to maintain the weathered look and used stained instead of paint for the siding and trim, the colors are by Cabot.  Walls:  Federal Blue and Trim:  Artic.  This project took four months of weekends to complete but the result is total satisfaction.

And last but not least, a view of the house from the shed.

It’s that time of year! Tel-Avivans (or is it Tel-Avivians?) open their homes, studios and offices to the public as part of the Houses from Within weekend tours. Last Friday (May 7th) I managed to see a few of the more than a hundred locations! This is  the first of a series of posts.

At the front entry of these three (the third is not shown) 1926 buildings I was not prepared for the space that awaited me.

With light pouring in from all directions the space had a bit of an old European grandeur to it. It was an elegant solution to the growing need for office space by the S. Horowitz & Co. law firm which currently occupies the buildings.

The original architects of  31 Ahad Ha`am St. corner of Yavne St., Tel-Aviv were Huberman, Borner and Stark; and B. Margolin and G. Koigan.

The renovation architects: Miriam Meiman and Bruria Shaked-Okon in cooperation with Nina Chernobilski, incorporated urban preservation concepts but without compromising the relationship between the buildings, the street or the skyline.

Here is the front entry I just walked through.

Then I turned to the right saw this clean lined entry to some offices.

And stepped back and looked up to this vista.

And finally the glass enclosed top floor and roof.

I really liked the choice of industrial looking lighting combined with the warmth of the wood flooring on the foot bridges.

At the opposite corner were the elevator and stairs which were carefully integrated.

Here is a closer look:

And look at the attention to details:

Such a dignified message holder.

I really liked those port hole A/C vents.

The renovation managed to preserve the buildings as separate entities that merged into a flowing complex by means of a transparent entrance lobby.

All images and text copyright Judy Weiss. All rights reserved.

I spent most of my free time in the last month cleaning up a long-neglected apartment in south Tel Aviv with a group of fellow artists. We patched the many craters in the crumbling walls, hauled away mountains of trash left by past tenants, painted everything white, and built a dividing wall in the kitchen.

before

after

Three permanent members and three guest-artists of a group called BreakOn, we faced this dusty, grimey mess in preparation for our second exhibition in an alternative space. BreakOn’s purpose is to provide ourselves with opportunities to exhibit our art, without having to rely on traditional channels to get our work in front of an audience.

Cleaning up the space lead to the inspiration for the show’s theme and the title, Momento. The apartment is a strangely-oriented series of rooms with startlingly low ceilings and odd protrusions everywhere. It is hard to imagine anyone ever having lived in this place! We found all kinds of objects left behind by people years ago, plus remnants that brought us to the realization that the space was also used as a knitting factory for some time. The clothes, papers, and many other personal items we came across made us all think about human memory—how past events can be recalled by the simplest little image, trinket, or phrase. And we had our theme: each artist has expressed in their own way what a memento is or the meaning it can carry.

Included in the few-dozen works on display is an old plastic medicine cabinet that we found hanging on the kitchen wall. It has a red star-of-david on its door, and there were even some gross-looking old ointments left inside. As part of our effort to incorporate the character of the apartment into the exhibition itself, we decided to create a collaborative piece out of this weathered box. Each artist brought a memento or tchochke of our own to put inside the cabinet, and visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to examine these items closely. I left an oragami swan that a close friend sent me in the mail, and another person left a vintage button she somehow acquired on a trip to Lebanon.

I’m ecstatic to be able to exhibit my work alongside five extremely talented artists, but an added treat for me as a graphic designer and all-around design enthusiast is going through the process of branding the show and also configuring the space. In such a quirky environment, hanging fine art becomes a difficult balancing act. We did our best to maintain the character of the apartment in a way that felt appropriate for displaying contemporary art—being careful never to cross the many lines that could easily make this endeavor seem like some sort of craft project gone-wrong. The end result is an immersive experience on many levels.

One of our guest-artists is Mya Guarnieri, a young but well-traveled journalist and creative writer. While the rest of us are visual artists, Mya uses words to illustrate the power of memories. She has two pieces in the exhibition: the first is a series of four poems she has written to deceased women from previous generations in her family, and the second is a heart-wrenching short story that deals with emotional pain, loss, and how important personal belongings can be in difficult times.

Photographer Patti Ezratty, another guest-artist, emulates the way images of one’s past may appear in the mind. Using pinhole camera pictures she took in various places and times in her life, she has created a multi-dimensional collage of pictures. Each one has a story within it, while from afar the collection of memories has an amorphous quality that’s as complex as it is beautiful.

Nitzah Avigayil is an accomplished conceptual artist who has traveled a lot and who, like most of the other artists in BreakOn, has in the past few years moved to Israel from far away. She’s created an installation in one of the oddly carved-out nooks in the apartment. The viewer is invited to interact with a collection of her travel mementos, all sealed in plastic bags and suspended from above.

Also featured in the show are painter Diana Brody, guest sculptor Einav Uziel, and yours truly, Daniel Klein. My primary medium is silk-screen printing.

"Reines Street" by Diana Brody is a series of square compositions on canvas using impressions of the trees that the artist sees on her street

"That's Not A Bird" by Einav Uziel is part of a body of work that explores the spiritual mementos used in Jewish religion

"Tangerine Boys" is a work I created to remind me of a recent trip to Tangier, Morocco. The print is made from a photo I took of some kids chasing each other in the street; nearby, through a massive arched gate, stood a mountain of discarded pieces of tile with gorgeous patterns. I brought a few of these shards home with me and used one of them here.

Momento is at Salame Street number 97 in Tel Aviv through the 22nd of April.
open hours: Monday – Thursday 11 – 2 and 6 – 9, Friday 11 – 3
viewings also available by appointment
closed on Israeli national holidays
please visit the BreakOn site for more information

Jay Heritage Center, Rye N.Y.

I recently came across an article in the local news about the Jay Heritage Center, located in Rye New York.  This historic 1838 Greek Revival mansion was the home of  young John Jay, a first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and one time governor of New York and beloved resident of Westchester county. 

What struck me as wonderful is that the $8 million renovation includes a geothermal heating and cooling system which makes this renovation green.  It takes a lot to heat grand mansions such as this and if this new wave of preservation will insure that these buildings are around for our children to enjoy, then hats off to them. 

The preservation of landmarks such as this insures that generations to come will enjoy the architecture and history of these historically rich areas.  If you find yourself  in the vicinity of Rye, N.Y. which is about 20 minutes north of New York City, then a visit to this history filled destination is a must.

Wherever I go I always keep my eye open for historically preserved buildings. I spotted the Schiff House (Beit Schiff) a few weeks ago on the corner of Herzl and Lillienblum, Tel-Aviv. The Israel Discount Bank Tower does dwarf it, however the care with which the building was preserved and restored to a museum lends itself to a worthwhile visit.

HerzLillienblum, The Museum of Banking and Tel-Aviv Nostalia  (maybe they could have picked a more creative name) opened its doors in 2009 in Tel-Aviv’s centennial year. The tours are adapted to a variety of audiences: focusing on history or economy and those that combine the two. I went to the later in Hebrew, because it was the closest available tour.

Originally built as a residence for Olga and Izik Frank – one of the pioneers of Ahuzat Bayit (Tel-Aviv homestead). The house was renovated in 1925 by architect Yosef Berlin and engineer Richard Pasowsky in an expressive  Neoclassical style. It later housed a hotel, a bank, a barbershop and even a sausage factory.

I was mostly interested in the phenomenal restoration of the exterior as well as interior by architect Amnon Bar-On. There are several examples of spectacular floor tile work.

And beautiful wall covering borders.

If you look carefully you may see the birds.

Architectural detailing:

Out of the museum’s three stories the first floor was designated as a replica of the past including the first branch reconstructed using photographs and veterans’ accounts.

Authentic items from 1930 to 1940. Here is an example of a FACIT machine – one of the first calculators:

The second floor is supposed to represent modern banking.

Inside an ATM machine:

How easily cheques can be printed, a trading room – I still left confused. I was there to see the tiles:

And the third floor is supposed to represent the future of banking – I got lost in all the pyrotechnics.

Here is an example of wall restoration:

and preservation:

The museum is an interactive hands-on experience with films and clips which makes the hour and a half tour seem too short. Our guide was informative, polite and very efficient (I think I often held him up with all my shooting).

Tours need to be reserved: 1-700-55-8000

All images and text copyright Judy Weiss. All rights reserved.

My girlfriend Sara Eisen actually sent me this picture ages ago. I always meant to get to it – but never did. Until today.

Sara hates the “balatot” (terrazzo) tiles in her front entryway, but getting the area re-tiled isn’t currently an option. So she asked me about cutting out an area of the tiles and putting in decorative tiles instead.

Here’s one option for you. Cutting out the corners of the tile and place in decorative tile in a pattern through the space. A skilled tile person can do this without a problem and it shouldn’t be that expensive either.

Another option would be to cut a BIG section of the tile out and lay down a carpet pattern.

Like this – only new and in much better shape…

Actually, this is much more like it.

Carpet would work as well, although it does mean extra work when cleaning…

What do you think?

Paint is a small miracle waiting to happen, one coat makes it cleaner, two coats give it personality and three coats do the trick for a full update to old furniture.

Here’s an old folding wood chair that my dad brought home from his travels.  When I first saw it I contemplated staining it back to its original luster but then …

Before

Painting this chair gave it a totally different character.  Instead of  looking traditional the chair took on a whole new life.   Once again I used my new favorite color, Benjamin Moore “bahama blue”…  I can even imagine sitting under a palm tree on a tropical Island.

After

An then the spirit moved me to sew a custom cushion…

With or without the cushion this chair is one comfortable piece of furniture that I would not do without.

Junktion is another store in Jaffa that left me in awe of what can be done with all sorts of stuff instead of throwing it out. Their philosophy that there is enough stuff in the world and that you can create with what already exists is one that I share. The designers at Junktion take what you thought of as JUNK and create something completely out of the ordinary. They like to take things out of context and I am seriously wowed by their designs.

One of the first things that fascinated me was this bar stool made out of bicycle parts. They make several variations of it:

Another is this stand with bin tops which you can use to put plants on, or even as a kind of side table next to the sofa to put coffee on, the remote control, newspapers and other bits and bobs.

A personal favorite of mine, this drawer stand:

This suitcase medicine cabinet is SO great! They put a mirror on the front!

The freezer shelf is another one of my personal favorites, mainly because when I was at Uni, I found an old abandoned fridge and used the bottom part as shelves in my bedroom, but their version is better. I just leaned mine against the wall.

What I love about their stuff is that it’s so polished and looks so professional. I often find furniture made of junk can be a bit grotty, but Junktion’s designs are far from it.

Love this door table!

And these gas clocks are just amazing!!

It just opens up my mind to see stuff like this. Pushes different buttons, ones I never knew existed and they’re going pop, pop, pop all over the place.

How about these tap towel rails? There goes another button, pop!

They make all sorts of other interesting things from plumbing that you just have to see in order to believe. I wish I could show you more, but it was tough for me to limit myself to these 10 items and not take over the entire blog.

Here’s another solution for storing towels, for people who eat olives in bulk, you can make a whole wall of these as shelving.

There’s just one more thing I have to show you and that’s this bench made from old wooden shutters:

Can’t wait to go and visit them, I hope that you will go too. Their store is at the corner of Hagra street and Rosh Pina, in Jaffa.

Shana Tova everyone! May this year be filled with creative crafting and great ideas.

I was looking through some photos I took on past European trips when I came across some beautiful examples of balconies. I think that the balcony (or mirpesset as it’s called in Israel) can be such a decorative feature on a building.

One of my favourite cities to date is Barcelona. Here one can see many examples of early twentieth century and Modernism architecture.

Although controversial, the Catalan Antonio Gaudi was one of the more ingenious architects of all time. Here is his building:  Casa Batllo.

The balconies are made of Montjuic stone and cast iron railings. They remind me of masks and yawning mouths held up by bones. The whole facade is so organic that you can almost feel it moving.

In Casa Mila he has the exterior wall undulate to create an opening for a balcony here and an enclosed area there for a bay window. Again a very organic feeling. I really like them both. You can’t see it from my photo but the iron railings were sculptural forms resembling spiders webs.

Here is an example of a Tel-Aviv building where the architect must have been a fan of Gaudi as well. The first photo shows the front facade, the second the rear and the third is the front door. It was designed in 1989 by Leon Geneva. I think he did quite well.

Next door to Casa Batllo is Casa Ametller built in the modernisme style by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. I like the asymmetrical play. I think the two different balconies are indicative of the various functions that the chocolatier owner designed for his home. Among other things he wanted it to hold his photographic studio and glass collection.

Here I loved the classic Romeo and Juliet balcony designed by one of Gaudi’s collaberators in Park Guell.

In terms of creative balconies in Budapest, doesn’t fair too badly:

I love the patterns of squares, circles and rectangles to create simple but timeless art. There are even integrated flower boxes.

Beautiful Art Nouveau railings.

Another Romeo and Juliet on a corner. Pretty, even though it’s still being renovated.

Tel-Aviv also has some beautiful balconies.

All images except for Tel-Aviv copyright Judy Weiss. All rights reserved.