To Do--Done!
Since my parents built their house themselves, they are extraordinarily handy. My dad and I (believe it or not, I actually did help) insulated the attic on Black Friday. We climbed up there, and I rolled out the big pink fiberglass sheets to him, and he spread them with a tool of his own devising--a 12-foot-plus long T-shaped stick with several prongs. Although I had feared the job might take a day and a half, we were finished by 11 a.m., leaving time for my dad to prune some trees and me to bundle the branches, and then for us to take down a really hideous hex sign that was hanging sideways from one of the highest points on the outside of the house.
It is nice to get things done--it's a great feeling because with some projects, once they're done, you know that it's a permanent improvement in your living situation. It feels like such an accomplishment to know that you'll never have to look at that 80s wallpaper again, and that now every time you look around at the walls of where you live, you see the shade you selected yourself. I know it sounds cheesy to say it, but it feels really good when the house bears your imprint and you've gotten to make it into a place where you are always happy to be.
Since I moved in, I've tried to do one major project at each vacation or spare couple of weekends:
2005
September: Install new kitchen countertop (my dad did this one).
October (fall break): Take down filthy lace curtains and old rods. Strip living room wallpaper.
December (break, before Christmas): Paint living room. Hem new curtains. Hang new rods.
2006
January (break, after Christmas): Paint kitchen.
March (spring break): Refinish kitchen cabinets. Finish a dresser.
June: Strip hideous, aggressively flowered wallpaper overgrowing the entry and stairway.
August: Paint entryway sky-blue. Tear out disgusting once-green carpet from entryway.
Currently, I am working on removing the carpet from the stairs and refinishing the stairs and entry floor. Then I get to tackle my bedroom, where the walls and ceiling alike are painted a cave-like color Joan famously called "baby-poop brown." I can't wait until the whole house feels reclaimed from its temporary hideous tackiness and restored to its colonial simplicity. With each step, it breathes a little sigh of relief. :)
It is nice to get things done--it's a great feeling because with some projects, once they're done, you know that it's a permanent improvement in your living situation. It feels like such an accomplishment to know that you'll never have to look at that 80s wallpaper again, and that now every time you look around at the walls of where you live, you see the shade you selected yourself. I know it sounds cheesy to say it, but it feels really good when the house bears your imprint and you've gotten to make it into a place where you are always happy to be.
Since I moved in, I've tried to do one major project at each vacation or spare couple of weekends:
2005
September: Install new kitchen countertop (my dad did this one).
October (fall break): Take down filthy lace curtains and old rods. Strip living room wallpaper.
December (break, before Christmas): Paint living room. Hem new curtains. Hang new rods.
2006
January (break, after Christmas): Paint kitchen.
March (spring break): Refinish kitchen cabinets. Finish a dresser.
June: Strip hideous, aggressively flowered wallpaper overgrowing the entry and stairway.
August: Paint entryway sky-blue. Tear out disgusting once-green carpet from entryway.
Currently, I am working on removing the carpet from the stairs and refinishing the stairs and entry floor. Then I get to tackle my bedroom, where the walls and ceiling alike are painted a cave-like color Joan famously called "baby-poop brown." I can't wait until the whole house feels reclaimed from its temporary hideous tackiness and restored to its colonial simplicity. With each step, it breathes a little sigh of relief. :)
posted by Tara | 7:33 PM
2 Comments:
Who on earth lived there before? Horrifying. Sounds like you've made gigantic strides.
Wow! Good job! Post a few pictures when it is all prettied up.
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