Tag: home projects

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Detours Writing Life

A post full of happy things

The world is a burning roller coaster from hell, but there are bitty bright spots, and today I’m choosing to share those bits instead of ranting about the deadly, ignorant, hateful bullshit splattered all over my social media walls.

Fair warning, full disclaimer and all, these are personal happies. If that makes me a self-absorbed, entitled, privileged, self-righteous asshole of a human being, welp, your exit is just a click away. Buh-BYE. Side note: one of my new Quarantine Social Media Self-Care routines is muting strangers & friends alike who post name-tagged complaint memes. And walking out of real-life conversations where such “jokes” are made. #FirstNameProblems

Okay, I accidentally digressed into a wee, prickly rant, but look. Those shit memes leave me wounded & defensive. Today I refuse to apologize for feeling joy. Wallowing in sadness, guilt, or anger won’t help anyone, and I will NOT post about what I do for others because it feels performative and uncomfortable. Just quietly doing kind or generous things is much easier.

ANYway. Here’s the joy part. AND PICTURES. If I did this right, the most current pic of an area will be on top, with a series of progress shots & then remarks below.

nearly done!
before…
Demolition zone!
Lights! Doors! window frames!

First, the first-impression zone. It is wholly transformed. I can’t wait to sit under those windows in sunshine, summer & winter.  Light. Air. Room to move. Level. Floor. There will be plants.

paint & floor so pretty
better than before
All tidy & lit now!

Next, the area we’re calling the Whatnot room. No for-sure plans for it yet. Might become a nook for Spouseman’s painting desk & minis, might be where the chest freezer goes, might be BOTH, because there’s room! Hiding in that back right corner will be a sweet little half-bath with its own window. Which will be privacy frosted, yes.  It isn’t there yet, but it will be soon. Happy, happy anticipation.

getting to beautiful
Demo in progress
things are happening
So close now.
Almost a media zone now
this is why there’s no demolition pic of that area
looking back at the new built-ins

Lookit this gaming room. Is looking POSH, yes? Scroll down for the view from the other side. The TV stand is gonna look SWEET in that nook, and the built-ins have lights at the top.  

Almost a media zone now
this is why there’s no demolition pic of that area
looking back at the new built-ins

What’s gonna go on those shelves? Dunno. Booze, maybe?  Maybe Legos on the left side with the shallower shelves. No decision yet. Still in the pleasant pondering stages.

cluttered, but bright & usable!
the electricals corner before

Lastly: I have a washing machine again!!! Words cannot express my relief at being able to do laundry without leaving the house again. Except those words did, I suppose.

Oh! wait. One more last pic. The first floor bathroom had to be ripped open to gut all the 88-year-old nasty, corroded iron drains & galvanized pipe. Which meant only one bathroom in the house, upstairs. And then Spouseman started working from home full time, too, and…yeah.

But now it’s all back together & repainted. Good-bye, dirty-gold walls (technically olive bronze, but…uh…) hello, Antique Blush (aka a whiter shade of pale or whatever.)

Today, the last bit of cabinet & mirror go back up, or so I’m told. What I know for sure is the “Stay Home Stay Safe” life has been much easier since the sink and toilet went in. Big yay.

So. Um. That’s that!

It’s been a wacky couple of weeks. I’ve gotten plenty of Things done, but not posts or sharable fiction because, well it’s hard to concentrate on those when much of the worst-case research material I’ve collected for literally decades is coming true all around me in real time. But!  I’ve changed up my media blocking so I stop surfing from site to site for fresh statistics to fret over, and I hope to tackle Actual Writing again soon.

Until later, all!

 

Categories
Detours Writing Life

Look, walls n such! (an update)

A disclaimer: Spouseman & I are NOT doing this renovation ourselves.
This amazing work is being done by a wide array of highly-trained & fully licensed, bonded & insured professionals. We recommend every one of the companies involved so far, especially the Plan-Design-Build firm who’s wrangling them all for this project.

(Our home improvement skills begin with knowing where shut-offs & breakers are, kludging repairs via Duck tape, screws, & mending plates,  rough carpentry, and so on–with an occasional foray into “unplug it & plug it in again, flip the switches, check the connections, change the batteries.”)

First, the main hall, what you see when you come down the stairs. (Click on any pic in each collection to biggify them as a slideshow)

Here’s the gaming zone:

And some before & mid-project pics from areas that simply weren’t worth snapshots (or didn’t have enough light to photograph) before renovation began.

Midway through the estimated project schedule, we’re only 2 fixes & 2 installations away from having all major goals achieved.

Our main concern was getting the generational hodgepodge of electrical, plumbing, & HVAC systems modernized, redesigned efficiently & brought up to code. Only 1 minor electrical project & HVAC zone damping left. We also wanted a half-bath down there, a (more) level floor, and modern windows that would open. Leveling starts next week!

Then it’s all, “prime, trim, paint, install new fixtures, & make with the pretty.”

… A’course, this means I have to go shopping for a new washing machine & dryer soon. And maybe a new dishwasher. All were near the end/past of their typical operating life when we moved in, and we’d already budgeted their replacement.

Ugh. Am NOT looking forward to that.

I confess I am excited about the new laundry room. It’ll have a light switch, its own window, and all the mod cons.

These are the things that make daily life easier, and those make writing easier.

So many little big things.

For those wondering, my revisions & drafting progress slowed to glacial speeds last week. Wall installation was MUCH more distracting than demolition & roughing-in work. It was curiosity — I hadn’t ever seen plastering done. (Yes, I could go work elsewhere, but I LOVE seeing the progress. Hence the distraction.)

But. ANYway. I did get other things done, and this week should be much better. I have a second alpha reader waiting for Sharp Edge scenes now, & new readers always give my momentum a big push.

Until later!

 

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3. Other Things Detours Writing Life

Old floors made new again

I promised I would post before & after shots of our new-old house’s floors getting sanded & refinished. Below you’ll find a place by place breakdown.

First, the entryway. This was a last-minute addition to the project, once we realized how awful the old tile would look next to the refreshed hardwood. Plus Spouseman has a huge affection for woodwork, and this was the perfect reason to give our new place a lovely custom piece.

The original
the finished entry
down to the sub-floor
working ideas
setting in place
sunshine lighting

Next, the dining room. This area had the largest number of dark, worn spots, between old radiator locations & high traffic zones.

before
Ugh.
Beautiful afters
so many dark spots
so much damage
Like magic, the wood appears
Work in progress
drying.
Bringing out the shine

The den:

Before: dark & scuffed
Beautiful color afters
little by little
repairs in progress
not so dark now…
drying stage
getting its shine on
So pretty.

The hall & guest bedroom:

Before: ew.
After: much brighter.
Not. Shiny.
Shiny.
Poof: nastiness gone.
shining things up
polshing all the old away
Much shiner now.

And the front room. This looked perfectly fine before anything was done. But after? So much lighter & brighter now.

Before: pretty good
All the shiny
Not great.
Getting down to work
Making magic happen
Shiny new corner

And there they are. Rooms. Shiny, empty rooms. Many thanks to Darek, Max, and the rest of the crew from Chicagoland Flooring who did such beautiful work.

Bonus pic of my nest-in-progress up on the second floor:

Closets. Plural. Room for bookcases. Natural light. This is a happy room.

Spouseman and I will continue moving books and other important belongings & buying some new furniture (BOOKCASES!) over next 2 weeks. (Technically, professional movers will be doing the heavy lifting part.)

The rest of the old furniture will move whenever the old house gets under contract or November, whichever comes first. (Really hoping the old house finds a new owner sooner rather than later.)

So. That’s the update. “Complications of Moving House” remains the #1 reason I haven’t been getting much writing done, and that won’t be changing any time soon. Arranging and following up on various work projects, juggling checklists & timelines, and organizing two households has swallowed all my time and energy.

But “not much” writing is better than zero writing, and I’m making slow but real progress. And life will settle down after Dragon Con. I’m really looking forward to a productive, quiet autumn.

Anyway. That’s all the all there is for now. Until later, folks.