GQ: Emmanuelle Chriqui

Entourage actress Emmanuelle Chriqui stars in a GQ video so hot the Malibu police showed up.

Welcome to Weston: New house, new bloggers!

Copyright 2008 Benson Woodworking Co., Inc.

Hi there. I’m Deborah Hood, the producer of This OldHouse, and (maybe surprisingly?) one ofonly two people who works exclusively on this TV show day in and day out. (Thereare many others of course, but they also work on our show Ask ThisOld House.) The other one is our associate producer, Jennifer Wells, andthis year, we’re both going to join in with the homeowners on this blog to giveyou behind-the-scenes scoop on what it takes to pull off these renovationswhile, at the same time, making a national TV show.

So for the first time ever, I am announcing our new projectin cyberspace. Which is fitting, because it is one of the most forward-thinking projects we’ve done inyears. For the 2008-9 broadcastseason, we’re trying something new…

Click through to see what's up for the coming season.

Here I am with Amy (she's the one in the yellow hardhat) on oneof our very first film days, just last week. (Photo by Pete Favat)

We are just days away from startingto build a brand new timberframe house, which is pretty cool in itself. The kick is that 75% of it will bepre-built (that’s right, PREFAB) in a workshop in New Hampshire. It will be a newhouse made to feel like an old barn, and one that’s builtsustainably for the coolest family going: Amy and Pete Favat, andtheir kids, Cian and Juliette.

Keep checking in, because you’ll be hearing from them next.

So let’s see how it goes. I am hoping to send in photos and posts from the road, theoffice, the field, wherever?in order to share some cool stories andinformation that might not make it on the show. But don’t let all of this “new” stuff fool you?atheart, we’re still “old house” people, dedicated to demystifying home renovationand repair, while celebrating good design and quality craftsmanship. It’s just that we couldn’t resist theopportunity to switch it up and build new, and to take you on an exploration ofwhat might be the future of home building. Let’s try it. Stick with us. Here we go…

10 Corso Como

Tim Blanks stops by Milan's epicenter of well-curated style, where Comme meets Kimmel, and says, "I'll take one of everything."

Al Bazar

Lino Ieluzzi. He's not just one of the Sartorialist's favorite subjects. He's also one of Milan's top shopkeepers--and tastemakers.

GQ Verge Girl: Amber Heard

Watch the 21-year-old actress and GQ Verge Girl in this steamy behind-the-scenes video.

Mihara Yasuhiro

And you thought all monsters were alike. As Tokyo-based designer Mihara Yasuhiro illustrates, each has his own distinct personality?and voice.

GQ Verge Girl: Lindsey Kraft

A steamy behind-the-scenes look at the model-turned-actress

Seymour Cassel

The don of indie acting discusses his favorite vice (hint: Polanski's involved, but it's legal... mostly).

Yves Saint Laurent, Fall 2008

In Paris, YSL creative director Stefano Pilati ditched the catwalk and presented his latest collection via a seven-minute film scored by Michel Gaubert and starring UK actor Simon Woods.

GQ Verge Girl: Odette Yustman

A sexy behind-the-scenes look at the 22-year-old actress

GQ: Smart Car Test Drive

GQ test-drives the 2008 Smart fortwo

My beautiful tongue and groove ceiling

The living room ceiling, stripped in an earlier renovation (photo by Katherine Slingluff)

My house is evolving?the drywall is being installed, the porch is almost done and the exterior trim should be completed soon.

My kitchen ceiling is gorgeous. It was initially sinking and bowing from water damage and I guess lack of support beams. We took it out…and discovered mold inside on the wood and thick paint with caked up grease. YUCK!

I wasn't planning to miss those wood beams at all after taking them down. I was initially evisioning the "possibility" of its beauty on my ceiling after I sanded it down, but have no regrets about removing it. (I'm keeping it for use on something else?either cleaning it for my studio, someone else's house, or create scultpure with it :) )

After the tongue and groove ceiling was removed, the ceiling beams were reinforced and balanced, and ripe and ready for some fresh new tongue-and-groove wood. As I am so involved in my house and watching what's going into it as they build it, I happened to see them (the workers?with direction and approval from my contractor!!!) bringing the boards in to install that YUCKY, greasy, lead-painted ceiling back in my house…yes! the nasty one that was taken down and still uncleaned and without any mold remediation. I was in shock!

I put a stop to that right away! My contractor and I NEVER discussedreturning this moldy, greasy, lead-paint old ceiling to my kitchen, and Iwould have never approved of returning mold back to my house. The ceilingwould have to be mold remediated, cleaned and sanded first (my housewas mold remediated?I'll get to that later).

I noted to him and the workers that the ceiling is nasty and moldy, and asked themhow they planned to remove it. They said they would take the paint offafter they installed it. What!?! There's mold on one side and caked upgrease and paint on the other! I couldn't understand how that planwas going to work.

I'm just so glad I was there to catch this (anotherreason for good communciation with your contractor and being involvedwith what's going on as they work on your house). Its very important toknow what's going into your house, not just how pretty it'll look inthe outcome.

So Mike, the builder/carpenter foreman, suggested to me that I use thethin beadboard ceiling that they installed under my porch, since Ididn't want the YUCKY mold ceiling going back up. I thought that itwouldn't look right at first (I was set on either replacing my 4"- wide,grooved tongue-and-groove ceiling as it is, or not using wood at alland just drywalling it).

You see, the tongue and groove was a part ofthe original house, and was the same tongue and groove ceiling that wasin my parlor/dining room. I was thinking of consistency with the oldhouse features and maintaining some of this look as I restore my house.Well, in order to do this, we would have to find the old pine and getit milled?which would take a bit of time and $$$…and we needed theceiling up ASAP to continue moving on.

My plan B was to just drywall it. Well, Mike suggested to me again the next morning to go ahead andlet him install the thinner beadboard ceiling. He said he had someleft over from the porch and had installed a ceiling like this inanother house. He assured me that it would look great. I took his wordon it…gave the go ahead…and Mike was right! The ceiling isbeautiful!

I may put a cream glaze wash on it. It would be the color of thewalls (a cream color) and would take out the light, raw pine look onthe ceiling. I don't want to paint on it (I actually love wood and liketo see its grain).

Thanks also to Nancy Robbins, the interior designerand Lyndon Landix, the electrician for helping out with the design andinstallation of the recessed kitchen lights. They layout of the lightsand the tongue-and-groove ceiling are such a complement to one another!

*rashida

GQ Audio Slideshow: NFL Cheerleaders

Hear the Cincinnati Ben-Gals speak for themselves, and see more photos, in this audio slideshow by Lauren Greenfield

Alan Cumming

Every actor needs a proper vice. For Tin Man's Alan Cumming, it's the vodka martini, straight up, with a twist-and a drop or three of innuendo.

Obsessives: RZA

Between the movie roles (American Gangster) and Wu-Tang records, RZA always finds time to fit in a (mostly) friendly game of chess. He doesn't always win, though.

GQ Verge Girl: Malin Akerman

A sexy behind-the-scenes video of Swedish beauty (and Entourage threesome guest) Malin Akerman

Happy 50th Anniversary, GQ

Everyone from Will Ferrell to Lindsay Lohan sends their birthday wishes

Obsessives: Gene Krell

He may be a front-row fixture, but Vogue Japan international fashion director Gene Krell is just as happy hitting the beach in board shorts, in search of the perfect wave.

Opening Ceremony

Tyler Thoreson pays a visit to Humberto Leon and Carol Lim's influential, international-flavored downtown boutique, where?as in other areas?it's U.S. versus the world.

Freemans Sporting Club

From handmade American classics to straight-blade shaves, rustic Americana rules at Taavo Somer?s Lower East Side emporium.

Obsessives: Paul Smith

The designer doesn't just collect stuff--he collects collections. A tour through the British knight's "museum of madness."

Obsessives: Philip Crangi

Ever wonder where old stuff goes when you throw it out? It may well end up in the New York studio of compulsive collector (and noted men's jewelry designer) Philip Crangi.

Obsessives: Russell Simmons

You might think that running the Phat Farm empire and being really into yoga don't quite mix, but you'd be wrong. (Well, mostly wrong, anyway.)

N.Hoolywood

Daisuke Obana, owner of the men's shop with the curiously misspelled name, calls himself "Mister Hollywood." Tim Blanks finds no reason to quibble with the moniker.

United Arrows

As Tim Blanks discovers, a new style amalgam is emerging at Tokyo's famous men's boutique. Call it salaryman meets street.

Number (N)ine

Tim Blanks pays a visit to Takahiro Miyashita's Ebisu emporium, where global Gothic meets the American Wild West.

BAPE Exclusive

Sneakers may be only a part of Nigo's global streetwear empire, but, as Tim Blanks discovers, they're still the main attraction at his Tokyo flagship.

Obsessives: Carlo Brandelli

The creative director of hip Savile Row tailor Kilgour explains his fascination with the mysterious British art of "keepie-uppie"

Goyard

After more than 150 years in
business--selling to everyone from the Duke of Windsor to Karl Lagerfeld--France's most storied luggage
purveyor still has a few tricks
up its sleeve.

Charvet

Hundreds of fabric swatches, up to 18 custom measurements per customer, endless attention to detail--a trip to Charvet is as much about the experience as the shirts.

FALL 2007: PARIS HIGHLIGHTS

Galliano, YSL, Lanvin, Paul Smith, Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, Louis Vuitton, and Dior Homme

Obsessives: Barking Irons

Daniel and Michael Casarella discuss their fascination with the untidy era of New York history that inspires their clothing label.