For the last 2 weeks I’ve
concentrated all my efforts and energy into our master bath room/laundry room
makeover because we realized it was the area that needed the least attention and
able to be checked off the list fastest.
1. That gives me
the feeling that I’ve actually made some visible and measurable progress and
inspires me to press on.
2. It brings
comfort and security to my wife.
3. It makes us both
feel more at home and a little less in a construction
zone.
It all began with
painting the shelves in the laundry room and closets so we could start using
them. Next was the installation of the new vinyl tile flooring, followed by
changing out the vanity countertop along with the beautiful vessel sink and
vessel faucet. Despite the popularity of these items in the magazines and on
the home improvement shows, the how-to’s and necessary hardware are hard to come
by. That step was a real mind-bender as it took two days and six trips to the
plumbing store. Getting that done felt really good.
Then yesterday I
proceeded to build and install additional shelving to fill in the gap between
the countertop and the existing closet. These will be quite handy. While I was
on a roll, I built a multi-function wall mount table top for folding laundry,
sewing, etc. Today was a really fun day of creative building and improvising.
I took the original mirror to a glass shop to have it cut down to size to fit
in a really nice decorative picture frame. Then I built a custom size
wall-mounted / drop down ironing board, complete with pad and
cover.
Tomorrow I’ll
start repairing some wall cracks and redo some of the tape and bedding, as well
as feather out the crow foot texturing. Then the finishing touches on the
painting will wrap it up. Yee haw! That will equate to a whopping 10% of the
overall interior work to be done, but it will spell
PROGRESS.
Life in the Village
Since this
adventure began during the holidays, I’ve been called upon by five different men
inquiring about my piles of old A/C equipment that was ripped out; cast iron
tubs and sinks ripped out; and old galvanized and cast iron plumbing pipes.
They each have been very polite to say they collect scrap metal to take to the
recycling place for a little extra income. It felt good to help these
self-motivated men out - but they really helped me out in return by removing
those ugly piles of junk. After all, I am the new neighbor on the block and I
don’t want the front yard to look like a war zone.
Last week some
friends took on the task of putting the chain saw to those over-grown trees that
were leaning against the house and on the verge of causing damage. The result
of course is that now I have two huge piles of branches and limbs in the front
yard again. I didn’t know when I’d come around to having the time to load them
in the trailer and haul them off. But today, another man knocked on the door
asking if he could do that for me for a very reasonable cost. Like the others,
his regular job was slow and he needed to make a few extra dollars. Boy . . .
was I glad to oblige because that would have taken me a whole day and probably
three plus trips to the landfill.
I have said
several times lately that “It takes a village to remodel a house.” Thus far
there has been a bunch of people who’ve helped me. To mention each one by name
would be like sort of like rolling the credits after a movie. J
No comments:
Post a Comment