Getting the Place Put Together
I wasn't sure whether to use the exercise or the housework icon for this post. Life's been a bit of both lately.
The contractor left our key when he finished up on Friday. Work is 99% done. The dining room still needs to be painted, but we have to get all the stuff that has been stacked there out of it first. After that's done the painting will be completed and our house will be our own again for a while.
It's too bad about the first contractor. We should have had enough money to completely finish the home renovation. I know I tend to belabor that, but it's hard to let it go. I hope I never see that man again. I might be tempted to do damage to his person and I'd probably be the one that got in trouble if that occurred.
Once this is over the house is ever so close to being completely finished. We ran out of funds before getting to the upstairs carpeting and the two upstairs bathrooms but those are the only things left to do. The carpeting really needs to be replaced. I think it's as old as the house (1970). The previous owner was a single man who only used part of the house on a regular basis. I guess he either liked his space or was planning to marry and never did. Anyway, that extended the life of the carpeting but it's finally wearing out.
I haven't really taken any pictures yet. As I said, stuff is stacked everywhere waiting to be placed in its new home or else shown the door. :-) I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but nightwolfwriter and I always try to take advantage of situations like this in order to get rid of some of some of the "household plaque" that builds up. I found things in my desk drawers alone that made me stop and think, "Wait...what? Why is this here?"
Re-organizing the kitchen has been a challenge. Hauling everything up and down stairs has been bad enough, but the new cabinet and drawer orientation is ever so slightly different from the way it was before. The new cabinets are also not quite as deep as the old ones. That and the lighter wood gives the illusion of more space in the kitchen, but things aren't fitting the way they did before. This idea I had of simply putting things back where they were before isn't coming to pass, but it is an interesting logic problem.
The new library is nice, I must say. We have a room downstairs where the fireplace is that's very long and narrow that we've never really known what to do with. We tried furniture when we first moved in and the desks have been living in there for the last few years, but I really wanted a way to enjoy the space, especially the fireplace. The idea of making the room a library was one of my better ones, I must say. Shelves now line most of the available wall space. My daughter's desk is still in the library along with the vitrine I blogged about when we bought them a few years back. The desk is against one wall and the vitrine and an armchair similar to this one are in front of the fireplace. (They don't have my exact chair since I bought it a couple of years ago.) When I unearth my glider rocker it will go in there as well, and possibly a floor lamp. I don't know about that last one since the furniture is out in the middle of the room instead of tucked against a wall. I don't want to leave booby traps (lamp cords) laying around if you know what I mean. :-)
Right now I'm in the new office space in the basement. I don't think I'm going to work at least for the morning. I just feel a little off so maybe I can make it in later. I've been extraordinarily tired here lately. This hauling of stuff is more activity than I'm used to, and I've been staying up a little later than is probably wise since I've had to start getting up at 5:00 am with school starting. I can see the end of this, though, so that's encouraging.
Think I'll take a nap now so I can get to work for a while later. :-)
The contractor left our key when he finished up on Friday. Work is 99% done. The dining room still needs to be painted, but we have to get all the stuff that has been stacked there out of it first. After that's done the painting will be completed and our house will be our own again for a while.
It's too bad about the first contractor. We should have had enough money to completely finish the home renovation. I know I tend to belabor that, but it's hard to let it go. I hope I never see that man again. I might be tempted to do damage to his person and I'd probably be the one that got in trouble if that occurred.
Once this is over the house is ever so close to being completely finished. We ran out of funds before getting to the upstairs carpeting and the two upstairs bathrooms but those are the only things left to do. The carpeting really needs to be replaced. I think it's as old as the house (1970). The previous owner was a single man who only used part of the house on a regular basis. I guess he either liked his space or was planning to marry and never did. Anyway, that extended the life of the carpeting but it's finally wearing out.
I haven't really taken any pictures yet. As I said, stuff is stacked everywhere waiting to be placed in its new home or else shown the door. :-) I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but nightwolfwriter and I always try to take advantage of situations like this in order to get rid of some of some of the "household plaque" that builds up. I found things in my desk drawers alone that made me stop and think, "Wait...what? Why is this here?"
Re-organizing the kitchen has been a challenge. Hauling everything up and down stairs has been bad enough, but the new cabinet and drawer orientation is ever so slightly different from the way it was before. The new cabinets are also not quite as deep as the old ones. That and the lighter wood gives the illusion of more space in the kitchen, but things aren't fitting the way they did before. This idea I had of simply putting things back where they were before isn't coming to pass, but it is an interesting logic problem.
The new library is nice, I must say. We have a room downstairs where the fireplace is that's very long and narrow that we've never really known what to do with. We tried furniture when we first moved in and the desks have been living in there for the last few years, but I really wanted a way to enjoy the space, especially the fireplace. The idea of making the room a library was one of my better ones, I must say. Shelves now line most of the available wall space. My daughter's desk is still in the library along with the vitrine I blogged about when we bought them a few years back. The desk is against one wall and the vitrine and an armchair similar to this one are in front of the fireplace. (They don't have my exact chair since I bought it a couple of years ago.) When I unearth my glider rocker it will go in there as well, and possibly a floor lamp. I don't know about that last one since the furniture is out in the middle of the room instead of tucked against a wall. I don't want to leave booby traps (lamp cords) laying around if you know what I mean. :-)
Right now I'm in the new office space in the basement. I don't think I'm going to work at least for the morning. I just feel a little off so maybe I can make it in later. I've been extraordinarily tired here lately. This hauling of stuff is more activity than I'm used to, and I've been staying up a little later than is probably wise since I've had to start getting up at 5:00 am with school starting. I can see the end of this, though, so that's encouraging.
Think I'll take a nap now so I can get to work for a while later. :-)