Musings on a Small Life

[S]He works hard for the money So hard for it, honey [S]He works hard for the money So you better treat [her] him right I'm not sure if I mean Nicki or Chuck (Robin's husband)! Both!     Robin and Chuck came up yesterday, and Chuck very kindly took down my old, ugly ceiling fan and replaced it with the one I purchased on sale when my aunt was visiting last month. Of course Nicki had to get in on the action and make sure Chuck was doing everything properly!       It was a two (sometimes three) person plus one cat job. Finicky to install, but when all was said and done, I have a new ceiling fan, simple and modern in design. (The blades are white, even though they look grey in the snapshot.) We made a Value Village run after lunch and dropped off the old fan for donation, so it's well and truly gone from my space and life now. Yay! (I hated the dangling cords to operate it and the yellow/brassy metal colour too. Shades of the 1980s!) ...

Derry: Are you calling me a sow's ear?! No, baby bear, I'm not. I'm referring to this house! Friends Robin and Chuck came up today for several hours, and once again I have to thank Chuck in particular for doing his best to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." This time he installed my bathroom vanity doors, purchased at Home Depot in the spring and sitting on my spare room floor since early June. He did a great job and they're nice doors for inexpensive (albeit custom order) MDF ones. They're heavy and smooth and close beautifully, unlike the old 30+ year old creaky, stiff doors that had been there before. They do, however, emphasize how crappy the base cabinet and old laminate counter top are. I'm not keen to have the cabinet itself ripped out and replaced, especially now, but at some point I'll have the old sink and counter top done. Even so, nothing can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse! I also have to th...

I took one of my bathroom vanity doors to Home Depot yesterday and ordered two custom doors via Renuit . It'll be 4 to 5 weeks before they come in. Too bad my doors weren't a standard size, I could have bought replacement ones off the shelf. I ordered this "7000 Series" style, below, but in the white lacquer, middle option, top row. There must be some trick to getting doors back on and hanging straight, though, as I couldn't manage it. My old door is crooked now, but after fussing with it for far too long, I gave up and put my energies into doing a second coat on the bathroom trim Chuck had installed last weekend . I'll have to consult a YouTube video on getting doors back on properly. As for the trim, this quick snapshot is blurry, but you still can see how great it looks (IMO). I love it! I thought it looked terrific last weekend, unpainted, but wow, two coats of trim paint makes it look fantastic . (Or that could be because I'm so used to...

I had seen pics online of an easy and inexpensive way to perk up old bookcases (the Target or Ikea kind) with some fabric, poster board and double-sided tape, so today I made it my mission to find material on sale for my own two Target bookcases. (I'm not committed to keeping them, I'm waiting to see how I'll arrange the living space once the sofa gets here.) New fabric = a spot for a tussle!           All I did was measure, cut and tape the poster board to fit the back of the two bookcases, then use double-sided tape to attach the fabric to the poster board and then more tape to attach the poster board to the existing back of the bookcase. You don't want to look too closely, though, as it's not a perfect fit, and in fact the second one is every so slightly too long for the back, so is bunched up a bit. Way to go, Kim. LOL. That's okay, by using the poster boards, I can just just pull them off and have the original backings again. ...

D, the floor guy, was here all day, doing the entry and kitchen vinyl plus the stairs. None of the HGTV programs I watch ever shows the real mess and chaos involved, or mentions the hours of clean-up afterward. Here's the reality of having your stairs carpeted and vinyl floor put down. *** The mess and chaos when you live in a small space and have to clear things out of your entry, plus move your stove (and fridge). BTW, I'm really glad I'm down to the sub-floor on the main level -- no worry about doing damage to flooring.      Prepping the old floor.  Jeepers, look at the carpet fibres! This might be worse than Christmas tree needles. :-) The vinyl done in the entry way.  The sides of the stairs now done; very finicky work!  Did I mention the mess and chaos?  Another view of the entry.  The carpet tacks are on.   Now the underlay is on (below). I had gone for the mid-level (of three grades) of...