The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to calendar the Bedford Historic District yesterday. This doesn’t mean it happens automatically. The next step is the public hearing, but judging from all the positive feedback from the multiple meetings over the years, this shouldn’t be an issue.

I’ve been in Bed Stuy about six years now and obviously I’ve seen lots of changes, but this one is pretty substantial as far as the neighborhood getting recognition for being an historic gem.

What’s that? You want me to make a list of changes? Well, ok.

1. More building permits posted. That’s definitely more of a new school thing than old. Glad my own renovation is finished because I’m more of an under the radar DIY kind of gal.

2. Restaurants, bars and wine shops, oh my! Gosh, I remember when Applebees was a big deal because it was supposedly the first sit down restaurant in the hood. There were lines around the block. How far we’ve come.

3. And wine shops! Yeah, I included it in #2. So what? Remember when it was all behind bullet proof glass? Remember that?? Shit, I’m so old that I remember the bullet proof glass liquor stores in my former South Slope neighborhood.

4. Whiteys. Can’t skim over that one. I was the first pale face on the block (granted, it’s a short block). My nickname at the local hardware store was “The White Lady”. I’m no longer special.

5. More dogs. More strollers. More LGBT.

6. Fuckin’ hipsters.

7. Better services. It was sooo difficult to find a pet sitter six years ago. Now the one I used in Park Slope works in this area as does a number of full time dog walkers.

8. The city is paying attention to us. Trees along Fulton. A pedestrian “park” on Fulton and Marcy. Nostrand Avenue is finally going to be repaved!

9. Tourists. Where are all of these European families coming from (and don’t say “Europe”) and why are they here?

10. Cafes. Too many. Ok, so we were all excited to get the first one or two hip coffee houses. Now we have more than enough.

I liked this neighborhood when I first moved here but every time I walk around, I love knowing that I made the right choice.

Howzabout some ideas to spice up those steps? These can be done without rebuilding your whole staircase.

Lovin’ the vintage linoleum stairs but it’s hard to come by real vintage lino these days.

Soda crates! Or choose any kind of crate you can get your hands on. Notice how they just inserted the reclaimed treads in the middle without messing with the bannister?

These are actually porcelain tile. They fooled me. I thought it was stained or faux painted wood. The Italian tiles are awesome but they may be pricey and hard to come by. Nothing wrong with using the real thing. Just sand and stain.

Oy. That seems like a ton of work. Not to worry. Cut the risers and stencil them on a table BEFORE installation. Still a ton of work but at least you won’t break you’re neck.

We visited one of the oldest houses in Brooklyn yesterday. The late 1700′s Lefferts House is located in Prospect Park, but did you know that the original location was six blocks away on Flatbush and Maple? And did you know that the 1783 structure was the second Lefferts home to be built after the original 1687 homestead was burned down during the British invasion of 1776?

It’s all good now. The home was donated to the city back before it was moved and has been a museum ever since. It’s a small house by today’s standards so if you visit, don’t expect a full day trip. Bring the kiddies as the Prospect Park Zoo and Carousel are within spittin’ distance.

Suggested admission is a mere $3 for adults.

Yes Mother, it’s the Psycho house.

Happy Mother’s Day weekend! Let us celebrate by remembering the houses of some of our favorite fictional moms.

The house died with Carrie’s mom.

Mommy Dearest

Grey Gardens. Ok, so Big Edie is not fictional.

And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson

A little outdoor space is better than nothing at all. The good news is that maintenance can’t be that difficult with a postage stamp sized yard.

Vinegar. Sweet Pickins Furniture

Faux Barn Wood. House of Smiths

Burnt Wood. (Don’t do this at home) Urban-Now

Hammer and Stain. Young House Love

Pink bathrooms kick ass. Just look at these lovelies!

The first time I went to check out The Rockaways and look at houses was during the winter. It was a gray, rainy weekday. Miserable. I was totally uninspired and that’s when I started looking upstate.

Well, over the weekend I saw a Rockaway listing that could work for what I want to do and I visited again. This time it was a sunny weekend and people were out. With dogs! And bikes! And frisbees! I walked along the beach and thought….yeah, I could deal with this.

It would mean I can commute from home while I’m working on the house. If I do upstate, I’m up there on my own for the better part of the week.

It would mean I’m not strictly in a second home area (Yeah, I know, people live upstate full time). Buyers who move there can take the A train to work. Granted, it would take them just as long as driving from upstate, but it’s a $2.50 subway ride.

It would mean less taxes.

It would mean I’m not paying thousands for gas to drive up and back while working on the house.

Drawbacks? Well, The Rockaways are still very rundown. The part I can afford, anyway. FYI, I’ll tell you that this is between Beach 86 and 100 Street. It’s totally risky.

Do I like taking risks? Yeah. Kind of.

If you know of any reason I shouldn’t do this, speak up now!!

Adam Yauch has passed from cancer at the young age of 47. This celebrity death hits way too close to home for me. I’ll always remember Adam as that guy in the punk band back in high school. He was a year older than me, one of those hip brownstone neighborhood kids who went to Murrow.

Thanks for the music and activism, Adam.

163A Halsey is up for auction again. It sold for $400k last year with a starting bid of $325k. Obviously, there were multiple bidders. Wonder what happened?

Sean Casey Animal Rescue acquired a 5000 square foot space in Sunset Park over a year ago and it’s finally ready to house homeless pets. The grand opening should be announced in June.

Sean Casey is the go-to guy for pet adoption in central Brooklyn. Check out the hundreds of dogs in Prospect Park during off leash hours on a weekend and ask where these people got their dogs from. Sean Casey is Da Man.

The original Kensington storefront will remain open for adoptions and the Sunset location will shelter pets as they come in off the street or from kill shelters. The space can comfortably house up to 42 dogs and 50 cats with state of the art kennel cleaning facilities that I wish I had in my own house.

Casey would like to open a shelter like this in every borough and I have no doubt that he’ll make it happen.

Check out the video below. Timmy is up for adoption. TIMMMMAAYYYY!!!!!!!

Via Windsor Terrace Patch

Not being too familiar with Sullivan County, I contacted buyer’s agent Joe Addeo at The Rural Connection to show me around yesterday. What a luxury not having to set up appointments, navigate and drive from house to house!

We saw a bunch of homes that were in pretty decent shape. None of them would have worked for my flip purposes, but it’s definitely a buyer’s market over there. That part of Sullivan County near the Delaware River is beautiful but quiet. Don’t go expecting a scene, man.

Anyway, on to the houses! Find info on all of them here.

The farmhouse pictured above is a steal at $175k. Great piece of property on 5 acres with a pond near Jeffersonville. The house doesn’t need much work at all, which is why it didn’t suit my own purposes. One can just move in and enjoy. I saw some unfinished molding. That was about the extent of the work IMHO.

This lovely cape was in decent shape also. It’s very close to Jeffersonville and the Villa Roma Resort, which is like an Italian version of a Borscht Belt resort. A sausage belt resort, if you will. The house could use some updating or you can overlook the drop ceilings and dated kitchen and just enjoy your summer. Not bad for $139k.

This Cochecton house was pretty sweet for $89k and would have worked for me had the neighboring house not been so close (close by country standards). On the plus side, the neighbors have horses. Unfortunately, that’s a negative when you have dogs. Anyhoo, great bones, good location. Price is unbeatable!

Oh, this was a good one too! Another not-much-to-do house. The exterior looks worse than the interior. I remember that this one had a great kitchen with aluminum cabinets and an old drainboard/sink and the floors were in perfect shape. $139k in Cochecton.

The city girl in me appreciated this one simply because it was within walking distance to civilization. The village of Kauneonga Lake isn’t very big but has 4-5 good restaurants that overlook the lake. This is the perfect retreat for lake lovers, even though the public access is some ways from the house. There’s a hot tub in the back. Who doesn’t like a weekend place with a hot tub? $109,900.

Finally, this lovely Cochecton farm house belongs to my buddy Sal, an antiques dealer in Callicoon. The house is about to hit the market at under $200k. When it does, I’ll let you know all about it…as well as the cool vintage trailers he’s selling. But for now, consider this your head’s up.

Who says a house has to be a neutral color? Check out these examples of colorful homes, some funky and some that would agree with just about anyone’s taste.

Shutter upcycling mania! All found via Pinterest. Please click on images for sources as the Pinterest embed code doesn’t work with this blog. (Is it me?)

You didn’t really think I was going to post 101, did you?

The $200k house challenge is proving to be quite difficult. And you know what else? Buying a property strictly for investment is way harder than finding a place to live. Never in my life did I care so much about what others thought until this property search, because I’ve gotta think about who’s going to buy it versus what I like.

So what do I like? Ok, as usual, I’m posting pictures without links so I’m not advertising homes I might want for myself.

I fell love with the Accord farm house above. In love! Three acres on a corner lot for $125k. The catch? The work it needs is not merely cosmetic. That is fine, but this city girl gets intimidated by wells and septic. Don’t know the first thing about them. In this case, there’s a well located INSIDE the house. Anyone know if that’s a big deal? I called the listing agent to tell her that I may be interested but wanted to know what she knew about that well. She didn’t return my call which bought me some more time to look at homes that needed less work.

This farm house is a case of “If it was for me, I’d grab it.” but a flip? It would probably take the better part of a year for a proper restoration and before I even get in there to do my stuff, the mechanics would need to be worked out.

I’m keeping it in the back of my mind but continuing to look.

Jon, my broker, has done a million successful flips. He keeps telling me that I should be looking for a quick and easy “FLIP” that only needs cosmetics, not a restoration project. I see his point. I do! And I’m trying, but it’s tough to wrap my head around a vinyl sided house….

This vinyl ranch is actually a possibility according the Flip Gospel of Jon. There’s not much to do on it. I can bring back the 1950′s look from the decade it was built. If I get it for the right price, I can make a profit, but not really if I have to pay the $199k asking price.

The location is what I love most. Right between High Falls and Rosendale where some of my favorite restaurants are located. Nuts, right? I’m thinking about what I can eat while working on the house! But in my defense, those areas are desirable for folks who would appreciate my kooky style of renovation. In other words, I don’t have to go conservative.

Just when I thought I had narrowed it down, I ran into a friend on the subway. He mentioned that some of his gay friends have homes in Sullivan County. I’m like “Invest in a gay area? I’m there!” Sooo, I’ll finally be looking at Sullivan County next week after putting it off because I’m just not familiar with the area.

Then this morning another friend forwarded a listing in Brooklyn that might be doable. Brooklyn? That’s where I wanted to do this in the first place. The only reason I’m looking upstate is because I thought I couldn’t afford down here. Yeah, I got into the idea of having a place to go for the summer, but work is work. I can do the 9-5 in Brooklyn and rent a place upstate. Sheeeeet.

I need professional help. Not from a broker and not from a therapist (ok, maybe a therapist). If anyone knows a good psychic, post it in the comments.