Three weeks to the day after my wipeout on our sidewalk, from which I am finally recovering, Dan misjudged the width of the temporary stoop outside the back door and injured his foot, ankle and leg in a fall. (He’s doing better 24 hours later.) We’re now three for three for construction-related injuries and apparently have to watch Saoirse closely to avoid wave two. (Cross your fingers for us!)
Our renovation has basically been on hold for the past three weeks and likely will continue this week as well. The initial problem, the poor original measurements, meant that we have to wait for two new cabinets to be delivered and our project manager has no idea when they might arrive nor when they can be installed. Without the cabinets or installed counters, which are at least on order, the tiler can’t install the kitchen tile, which is extensive. He could have been working on the new bathroom tile, but he wasn’t available when the project manager planned and is on vacation this week. Of course, these things happen in construction, so we’re still within with contracted time, but it’s hard to watch the potential beauty and functionality remain tool-covered dust gatherers.
But both the mudroom, at 6’7.5” x 6” and the 3/4 bath, at 4’x6’.75, are pretty small. We found some great handmade furniture for the mudroom that we can’t wait to show you! (We can’t, because the space is dominated by the cabinet installer’s tools and likely will be there for a while.) And because the small spaces do not allow a ton of storage, we have been rethinking how we use the room next to the dining room (and right around the corner from the mudroom) that Dan and a previous owner had used as an office.
In the meantime, we are entirely rethinking how we are using our rooms in light of the fact that when construction begins in the master bathroom, our new 3/4 bathroom and kitchen will be our central living (and bathing) area. As I noted before, we ripped out our jury-rigged* mudroom bench and shelves at the last minute because they were poorly engineered and were basically dust magnets that were difficult to clean. When the 3/4 bath is finished, it will be our main bathroom for months. That means the mudroom, through which we will enter the bathroom, must be super cleanable and have storage for not just outerwear, but what we might need in the shower.
That office is, after living here for 8.5 years trying to find solutions for many issues, has become a mish-mash of unusability—except to Dan. Dan is not a fan of change, but all I can see is an old, debris-covered desk; a hand-me-down shelf from Dan’s dad that is covered in dust, unused books, and a huge—and unused—television antenna; and a futon—purchased to enable a sleeping area for our Sibfest 7 years ago—that Saoirse chewed on at will while Dan focused on work. Oh, and there is a huge dog kennel in the room that Saoirse loves.
This room could qualify as a bedroom because it has a closet. As I’ve explored before, it could have been originally thought to be a maid’s bedroom, but we do not think Glenn and Agda had live-in help. That suggests that Agda used the room close to the kitchen as a morning room—essentially an office and greeting room for (wealthy) women in the early 20th Century. The question is what is the best use for us now and in the near future? We really need closet space!
First, because the 3/4 bath will be our primary bathing space for about six months while I’m teaching college, this room needs to be a space where we can store things like linens and accoutrements for cleaning ourselves and facilitate getting dressed and ready to leave. At the same time, the room’s proximity to the kitchen and dining room means that it should be a useful space for relaxing with a cup of coffee, doing some computing (like Zoom office hours I have at least once a week), and hopefully a welcoming space for guests.
At the same time, I rarely use my office on the second floor of the house since I finished my master’s degree. Instead, most of my teaching prep and grading is done online (typically on the laptop I bring to school). The office on the second floor—used by the previous owners as a nursery—is a smaller room, but has a bigger desk and more shelf space that can accommodate Dan’s stuff. So my old office will become Dan’s and Dan’s office will become a modern morning room. We have ordered hand-made Craftsmen furniture for the space (actually less expensive than retail!), but I will use our fold-up plastic table for a temporary desk because, if we have a good number of guests, that table could be used to stage dishes and tableware in addition to the kitchen counters.
We also used the down time to clean out and reorganize two closets by the front door. I so wish we had done this sooner. As children of Depression survivors, we had TOO MUCH STUFF hopefully of value to Goodwill.
Hopefully at this time next week, we can update you on some photo-worthy progress!
* There is lots of debate whether makeshift of poor construction should be “Jury-rigged” or “Jerry-rigged.” I tend to use “jury-rigged” to mean makeshift rather than poor, but here’s a way to think of it: https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/vs/jury-rigged-vs-jerry-rigged-correct-spelling
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