working on the house

I put a new front screen door on with the help of my brother who actually added two inches to both the top and bottom because I have insanely long doors.  It's working out pretty well, but I need to order new screens as I don't care for the shape of the screen border on the one I have for it.  This makes me feel persnickety - but it's not very often I insist on spending extra money so something can be just how I like it.  I'm pretty thrifty and usually if a thing works and sorta fits in I use it.  This is how I ended up with mismatched cabinets in the kitchen all painted white.  I like them, they're all at differing heights and each one has a good use.

I want to remodel the bathroom.  I know I'll have to hire plumbers and electricians and carpenters and tilers.  I want to hire a general contractor and just write a check and come home to a new enlarged bathroom but I'm thrifty and coordinating people is something I'm sorta great at.  So there will be permits and a full gutting and a wall coming down a reinforcement of the floor to hold an iron and enamel vintage claw footed tub filled with water and I know the project is going to be over budget by 30%. I haven't saved up enough and financing it scares me. I have enough for a new car or a bathroom but not both.  In the mean time the current bathroom and the current (paid for) car are just fine, so I'm just in stasis wishing for a washer and dryer in my bathroom.

I still haven't painted a single wall in my house.  They're all white.  I just can't commit and I have so much artwork and chotchkies, that if the wall was any darker you'd feel like you were living in a little hollowed out portion of a hoard of books and art and music and toys and art supplies.That's not really the case... well just before big art show deadline it can be, but I can't stand clutter and so it's opposed to what I'm trying for.  I went to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright - Laurent House here in town last week and got all bummed out about my very full clutter place. In an effort to be uncluttered, I haven't much in my own bedroom, but how this really translates is my room looks like a college student lives here.  A mattress on the floor, a dresser, a pile of books next to the bed and clothes flung in all directions. I should at the least get my own nest in order for good sleepings. Maybe after Fall Art Scene, I'll paint a wall.

Frank Lloyd Wright - Laurent House

Here's What I'm Gonna Do

Something about the weather has put us all in the mood to turn our house on end. Ella said to Dan "I like when we move the furniture and the house feels fresh." Dan agreed that he'd been thinking of doing some rearranging, he wants to shift the living room area towards my computer. I'd been thinking of it too mostly because I want to be able to watch TV (Project Runway) and chat bout it at the same time. However, the big project will be finally bringing the library up from the basement. We have 5 of 17 book shelves installed in the upstairs library and have been telling ourselves we'd buy new shelves before moving the rest of the books upstairs. (Yes, we eat books around here.)

I say enough is enough the cases won't ever all match and we aren't buying new ones, I can think of 30 things we need to spend money on more, like heat and groceries, and nobody ever notices the shelves once the magnificence of all the books are back in them and let's just move the books already before they rot in the basement. So I will commence to taking things off the shelves and dusting them off and then dragging the shelves up the stairs and screwing them to the floor and wall and then carrying the books back up and re-shelving them (in no particular order) for the next week. There, now I've said it and I've blogged it and I'm committed to doing it and if anyone wants to help, just swing on by this week and I'll put you to work.