Our unpacking is moving along quite nicely. Our sixty plus boxes are down to a manageable dozen. The contents of most will be housed in Ruth’s new craft area. Final arrangements for the installation of our craft room cabinetry takes place tomorrow.
We ordered four new chairs last October. Two go in the family room and two in the living. The family room chairs arrived on May 1st and the others won’t arrive until the first of June. That’s how backed up the furniture world is. With that in mind, we ordered four dining room chairs, two bedroom nightstands, a headboard and four bookcases online. The final piece of the puzzle arrives tomorrow. Most of the items need to be assembled, but at least we received them in a timely fashion. Two to three days – tops.
Ruth loves the selection process. I’m only interested in comfort. She focuses on style. She consults me on a regular basis, but most of the final decisions come from her. She has an uncanny knack for visualizing what goes with what.
Some of our do-it-yourself projects have gone more smoothly than others. I hung two shelf brackets, and a heavy duty dowel rod for hanging clothes, in the laundry room last Sunday. It took three hours and thirty minutes with three trips to the hardware store. I still have to add the shelf. I spent so much time in the store during my last visit, I knew were most items were located, so I assisted others with their purchase. I was so helpful the owner offered me a job. I declined.
I’ve learned a couple things during our settling in process. I discovered early in life the importance of WD-40 and duct tape. I subscribed to the mantra that if it can’t be fixed with one of these two, it can’t be fixed. I’ve added velcro to my list of home improvement staples. It works great!
Ruth has a table she used as a side table in one of our former bedrooms . It’s a beautiful piece of polished reclaimed wood that may have been the top of a Pirate’s chest in a former life. She recycled a metal base from an old aquarium. The top rested on the base without being securely attached. The arrangement worked well in our old house, because the lamp she displayed on the table was heavy enough to hold it securely in place. She decided to repurpose the table by using it as a laundry folding table in our new laundry room. Securing the table top with a set of wood screws was an option, but this required drilling holes in the metal frame, so I explored other solutions. In the end, I placed a two inch piece of self-sticking velcro on the four corners of the metal base, and did the same to the underside of the wooden top. I pressed the two together. That top’s not going anywhere. Velcro is now an official staple in my handyman toolbox.
My second epiphany is the importance of “statement pieces”. A statement piece is usually an interesting, attractive or relatively eye-catching piece that draws your attention. It’s not necessarily bright or colorful, but it is normally bold and unique. The statement piece is the thing people notice first when they enter a room.
We have three and a half bathrooms in our new home. Ruth determined three of them have large wall spaces suitable for a statement piece. Other than the entrances to the casinos in Vegas, it’s the first time I heard of such a thing . Vegas has statement pieces everywhere. We’re going to have them in at least two of our bathrooms. The first is a sixty by forty eight inch water scene. I’ll be doing the triple S in decorative ecstasy.
One final note. After assembling four dining chairs, two five shelf book cases, one laundry table, rolling out two large area rugs, and hanging the laundry room shelf, I only have one extra screw and two random nuts. I call that a good day.