Since being snowbirds means living in two places, I figured I would occasionally post nesting-type stuff about life in our little pink house in Tucson, Arizona.

In many ways the two cities and the two homes couldn’t seem more different. But it’s just as fun to think about what is the same. Both Madison and Tucson are small cities with vibrant downtowns and a strong University presence. In both homes you can see some of the philosophies we do our best to embrace: live smaller, buy less stuff, and when possible, surround yourself with unique and meaningful things. And we generally don’t like the idea of “trading up,” especially when it means getting rid of something perfectly functional.

I have a desk I bought on clearance at Pier1 back when we lived in Tempe, and while I like the size and shape and the thick glass top, the finish was feeling cheesy. So I had it powder coated by a guy I found on Craigslist, and I am loving the result.

The before shot shows the desk in my home office in our condo in Tempe. The after picture shows it in its current role in our bedroom where it is occasionally used as a desk but more often serves the purpose of a console table. So now it gets to be prettier after being powder coated in Columbia coating 6004 Green Blue (I know you were patiently awaiting that detail!), and it gets to be less cluttered since I no longer need to store all that office stuff at home.

The chair is one of a pair that was given to us by Andrew’s dad. Like our house in Madison, our house in Tucson is filled with a lot of family heirlooms. The result is mostly vintage, definitely eclectic. And now one of the “big box store” pieces in our house is one-of-a-kind, and that feels pretty cool.

And here is some gratuitous cat footage:

You might remember this from a post I made last summer:

It was a previous owner’s attempt to create some storage in the open space over the staircase. The execution was a little rough, but the bigger problem was that the floor here (which is the ceiling over the staircase) was too low in relationship to the stairs (and that distance got even smaller when we had the new up-to-code staircase built), so tall people hit their heads. So we demolished the closet:

We removed about two feet of floor (basically the area indicated by that utility bar you see above-right), and we had this custom cabinet built:

And we stained it Classic Grey by Minwax.

It provides a little perch as well as some storage. Below the seat is simply open space to make room for tall people walking up these stairs. And by tall I just mean “not short.”

(The last photo was photoshopped to remove some glare from the window; that’s why it looks a little hazy in the middle.)

We also had the rough paneling in the stairway replaced with solid wood paneling, grooved to match what is already upstairs:

Eventually we will redo the wavy, uber-textured walls and ceilings upstairs with more of this paneling and fresh drywall.

It’s pretty amazing that we were able to maximize on the small space intended only for attic access, and do it without having to remove either of the two adjacent windows—both the built-in shelf/seat and the bottom few steps of the staircase end up filling in space directly below a window:

We like the way this whole project turned out, and truth be told, all these little quirks just make the house feel more “ours.” Maybe you know the feeling. As Donna put it, “you know every square inch of that place.” And I haven’t even told you the half of the quirks! Thanks for checking in on our little house.

Andrew and I both downloaded an HDR camera app for our phones.

Peter from Fabricio’s Upholstery dropped off our two items today, and I’m really happy with them so I thought I’d share.

A new cushion for Grandma Marion’s glider rocker via my Godmother Kris:

A whole new look for the classic Lane recliner we picked up from Craigslist:

Though we’re taking time out every now and again to spend time with family and enjoy the beautiful, mild Wisconsin weather:

and eat amazing local food:

(Try the poutine at A Pig in a Fur Coat!)

We’re also managing to get a lot done:

(Take a look at the staircase as we left it last summer.)

We’ve been back in Madison for five days and we’ve hit the ground running. Here are some highlights.

A new, hotel-free mode of cross-country travel (if you remember anything about our adventure last year, you’ll probably agree that this is an improvement):

A stop in Red Cloud, Nebraska, home to Willa Cather:

The first Father’s day I’ve spent with my family in eons:

A new friendship:

And some progress on the house:

We still can’t believe how fortunate we were to be instantly welcomed into a little community of historic home lovers with a do-it-yourself mentality. I already indirectly mentioned our amazing neighbor Donna–she’s the one who snapped a photo of us in front of our house on our last day in town. You’d have to meet Donna to truly get what a generous, warm person she is. If you visit us in Madison, you’ll be sure to get an introduction–maybe over a delicious Roman Candle Pizza.

But this post is more about Donna the Fearless Hands-on Home Restorer. Her house is one of four identical 1920s bungalows all in a row, and unlike ours, hers has been restored almost exactly to its original glory. She has two fat binders full of photos showing the state it was in when she found it and saw through to its potential, as well as photos capturing the various states it was in while she restored it in her “no stone unturned” fashion. These are really fun to look through, and for Andrew and me they were extremely helpful for understanding which parts of our house were original and which changes could and should be undone. If it weren’t for Donna’s house, we wouldn’t have known that solid hardwood floors lived underneath the linoleum kitchen tiles.

Donna is active on the historical preservation scene in Madison, and in 2010 she won an award from the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation. Click the thumbnail in the very middle of the row to see Donna’s house from the outside. Her exposed, repaired, and beautifully painted wood clapboard siding especially gives us something to aspire to.

I also want to tell you about Dan, a member of Donna’s warm community of friends, family, and associates. Dan has a background as a structural engineer, and has undertaken numerous home projects himself. He was kind enough to come by and give us some advice about how to make structurally sound some of the changes that were made to our house over the years. His advice was invaluable.

While talking to Dan, we learned that he bought and restored a huge historic boarding school from his hometown in Minnesota. He and Donna had some stories to share about vacations out there–the town of Angora and Lake Vermillion both sound beautiful. The Teacherage (this was a new term to me!) is available as a vacation rental. And you can see photos of and learn about Alango School–the philosophy behind this huge project, the history of the school–at alangoschool.com.

You may have heard something about Midwesterners being the nicest, most generous, most genuine people on the planet. It’s all true! And in Madison, Wisconsin, especially, they are also usually up to something really interesting.

Here’s a place I already miss being. Looking out from the reading room, also known as Chanticleer. From here you get an honest view of how much is left to be done (adding more molding, repairing the blank spots in the wood flooring where a partial wall used to be, removing that huge unruly soffit next to the unfinished staircase…) but you also get a feel for how cozy and complete it will eventually be. And if you ask Paisley, this place is already home.