Homebodies

We've been spending a lot of time at home due to Covid, and appreciating all the more any enhancements we're making to our living space. Generally, the home improvement business is booming and it's hard to find and book contractors for smaller jobs like ours. 

Our projects started in the spring, but with various mix-ups and contractor availability, final deliveries and installations are being made this week. Phase Two of our reno will be almost complete, except for painting in the home office and main floor hallway. No changes to footprint, just some door and window upgrades, new hardwood floors, resurfacing lumpy walls in the home office, and upgrading storage for our music/art/yoga loft studio.

Lots of progress happened this week but it's not quite done, not quite yet.

Monday: The last of the carpets was cleaned and delivered after a lengthy delay... not sure if it was forgotten in some factory corner, but now the dining room rug looks like new. The close pile and pattern have held up well for 25+ years. Gleaming hardwood under the table was quite nice but so is having the rug back in its place. A repair caused about 7" to be removed from width, which actually fits in more nicely with the room. 

Tuesday-Friday: Home office mural and skim coat done! Originally this was to be tearing out the old plasterboard and installing insulation, which would also get rid of the visible folds and indentations in the wall. When I heard the old window frames would also need to be replaced, I modified the scope to a good skim coat with wallpaper overtop instead. Wallpaper led to murals, and the mural led to Van Gogh's Almond Blossoms. The vibrant colours are energizing, and a unique background for all those virtual meetings. More to do before the home office is complete, including final painting, getting the books back in their shelves, and finding a comfy reading chair and lamp. Very happy with the way the mural turned out.

Wednesday: Wall unit installed upstairs in 'loft' after picturing the transition back in May. The install will need a few touchups, including longer side doors next to the rad and replacing a cracked shelf. They'll be back in two weeks. I'm already finding the doors a bit of a pain when it comes to accessing my yoga gear, but this is a definite improvement as far as organizing space and increasing storage. 

Friday: The third wrong door was delivered today, so not installed, because when it finally arrived it had the wrong glass. I think the contractor was hoping we'd take it anyway, but we specifically ordered that pattern because it reminded us of Frank Lloyd Wright. Although not quite right, quite yet, this new front door is one of my favourite improvements because it lets in so much more light and totally opens up the space in our tiny foyer. After a few months wait, the first door that was delivered was the wrong panel design, and we had to wait 4 more weeks for the next door. When it finally arrived, it opened on the wrong side but we had it installed anyway. We've lived the righthand opening for awhile but the proper welcome will provide guests to a view of the living room instead of the radiator wall. Hopefully the right door (with the lefthand opening) will be delivered and done before the cold sets in, but we'll have to wait to see when the factory can deliver. 

Putting everything back in place is an opportunity to get better organized!