It is done.
Feb. 9th, 2016 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neadodsThe renovations I started 7 years ago on my house are complete. Oh, there are things to do still, but the big list of This Must Change has been checked off. In that time I stopped going to conventions that had been a large part of my life (to put the time and money towards housework), the house was robbed, I got out of (and back into) debt* and the scope of the project, like any project, grew.
Still, it is done. The one thing remaining on the original list is "rehang art" and I was going to do that this weekend. After going through said art and deciding what I still want on my walls, because I've decided that I'm very proud of some of my own photos and it's time to print and hang them too.
I'm still adjusting to how my life has changed with decluttered rooms and new systems. So far, the four biggest changes in my life are:
1) Floors are much easier to clean. I loathed that boring beige carpet from the moment I first set foot in the house in a showing. It was rolled up and removed years ago, and the wood underneath it refinished. (I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the underflooring that got sanded and polished, but it looks okay.) Now it looks better and is easier and faster to clean.
2) I wash my hair in the kitchen sink. A lot. (That was likely TMI.) But the new marble kitchen counter came with an extra-deep sink and an extra-high gooseneck faucet. I'd planned it that way so I could easily wash the turkey roaster, but on nights when it's just too much time and effort to get naked, get wet, get dry, and get dressed, it's terribly convenient to shove my head under the faucet and just deal with the hair.
3) I eat at a table like a grownup for the first time in over a decade. The newly cleared out library has just room enough for a little folding gateleg table. I got it so I could open it up and have little dinner parties, but now that I have it, it's become a convenient workspace... and an actual table to eat at, instead of hunching over the coffee table.**
4) I embraced layering and completely redid my wardrobe. This was, in part, necessity: having "this season's" clothing in my room and "last season's" clothing downstairs became an unworkable concept when the temperature went from 60F to 18F in two weeks. So I got a new closet system and crammed everything within it - summer/transition on the top rod and winter/cold transition on the bottom; under layers to the left and top layers to the right. (Double-hung bright pink hangers provide dividers between things like sleeveless/sleeved and work clothes/running T-shirts) THEN I did the thing where you hang your clothes with the hanger going backwards until you wear it once, so you know what you use and don't use.
Instead of dithering for ages over what goes with what or "where is my x?" I can pull outfits together in a minute. In fact the backwards hung hangers have become a challenge for creating new outfits. I haven't worn the long-sleeved brown top yet! Oh, look, I've got a khaki sweater and blue jeans to go with it. Boom. Done.
I still need to winnow down the crammed clothing***, and there is still stuff in the basement that I have to assess if it gets clothing room. But still. That thing was worth every penny and all the angst it took to put together.
On to the next challenge. But this one doesn't get to override my entire life.
*Not credit card debt; I got a loan to have the roof replaced. As the new roof handled 30 inches of snow admirably, I'm happy I had it done. God willin' and the creek don't rise, it'll be paid back in a little over a year.
**Which still happens if there's something good on TV at the time, but still.
***And rearrange it; I'm considering underlayers on the top and overlayers on the bottom; either way, things are so much more organized!
Still, it is done. The one thing remaining on the original list is "rehang art" and I was going to do that this weekend. After going through said art and deciding what I still want on my walls, because I've decided that I'm very proud of some of my own photos and it's time to print and hang them too.
I'm still adjusting to how my life has changed with decluttered rooms and new systems. So far, the four biggest changes in my life are:
1) Floors are much easier to clean. I loathed that boring beige carpet from the moment I first set foot in the house in a showing. It was rolled up and removed years ago, and the wood underneath it refinished. (I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the underflooring that got sanded and polished, but it looks okay.) Now it looks better and is easier and faster to clean.
2) I wash my hair in the kitchen sink. A lot. (That was likely TMI.) But the new marble kitchen counter came with an extra-deep sink and an extra-high gooseneck faucet. I'd planned it that way so I could easily wash the turkey roaster, but on nights when it's just too much time and effort to get naked, get wet, get dry, and get dressed, it's terribly convenient to shove my head under the faucet and just deal with the hair.
3) I eat at a table like a grownup for the first time in over a decade. The newly cleared out library has just room enough for a little folding gateleg table. I got it so I could open it up and have little dinner parties, but now that I have it, it's become a convenient workspace... and an actual table to eat at, instead of hunching over the coffee table.**
4) I embraced layering and completely redid my wardrobe. This was, in part, necessity: having "this season's" clothing in my room and "last season's" clothing downstairs became an unworkable concept when the temperature went from 60F to 18F in two weeks. So I got a new closet system and crammed everything within it - summer/transition on the top rod and winter/cold transition on the bottom; under layers to the left and top layers to the right. (Double-hung bright pink hangers provide dividers between things like sleeveless/sleeved and work clothes/running T-shirts) THEN I did the thing where you hang your clothes with the hanger going backwards until you wear it once, so you know what you use and don't use.
Instead of dithering for ages over what goes with what or "where is my x?" I can pull outfits together in a minute. In fact the backwards hung hangers have become a challenge for creating new outfits. I haven't worn the long-sleeved brown top yet! Oh, look, I've got a khaki sweater and blue jeans to go with it. Boom. Done.
I still need to winnow down the crammed clothing***, and there is still stuff in the basement that I have to assess if it gets clothing room. But still. That thing was worth every penny and all the angst it took to put together.
On to the next challenge. But this one doesn't get to override my entire life.
*Not credit card debt; I got a loan to have the roof replaced. As the new roof handled 30 inches of snow admirably, I'm happy I had it done. God willin' and the creek don't rise, it'll be paid back in a little over a year.
**Which still happens if there's something good on TV at the time, but still.
***And rearrange it; I'm considering underlayers on the top and overlayers on the bottom; either way, things are so much more organized!
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Date: 2016-02-11 02:23 am (UTC)The backwards hangers are also a challenge to expand my wardrobe choices.
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