Home Improvement

A while back, my horoscope advised me to take action to make a place that I call home more comfortable. I was a little confused by that--was it a mental or physical place? My actual abode or a certain state of mind? No matter. As usual I interpreted the message the way that suits me, and took that as a sign that our goal of sprucing up chez Axcock this summer was coming at an auspicious time.

M and I have been doing a lot of looking and talking over the past few weeks about the improvements, and yesterday we did some walking. We came home from Home Depot with a new door with a nice big window in it to let in more light and about five more paint swatches. We want to paint the door before Bob, our handyman neighbor who will be doing a lot of the work with us, hangs it next Sunday. Which means we needed to pick a paint color soon. The whole issue of what order to do things in has been very eye-opening--all of the countertop people recommended we put the floor in last, which makes sense. And we need to get the range and dishwasher in and before we can put the countertops in. But we have to paint the kitchen before the countertop go in so the back splashes will look neater…

So when we got home, we cleared some furniture from a wall and started spreading on the paint swatches. I'm so glad we took the time to do that. The living room is looking pretty funny now, patched with pinkish, tan-ish, and yellowish shades of white (the vast array of "whites" is mind boggling), but we settled on a color--"Magnolia Blossom" which is bright but still warm. We're only intending to paint the kitchen, living room, and hall, but this process makes me want to tackle the bedroom and TV room too. We'll see if that motivation survives, since that chore wouldn't come til the very end.

We also looked at area rugs at a department store that's going out of business, and it occurred to me that we'll need to shell out quite a bit to scatter carpets over the new flooring. Yikes. We were all set to pull the trigger on a new range at Sears, but when we got there, it just didn't feel right after all, so that hunt continues. While at Home Depot, we did see a dishwasher that we both liked, so we'll hopefully buy that today when we go back for the door paint.

While in the paint department at Home Depot, we were given a flyer by one of the roving salesmen outlining a county program that apparently was set up to disburse stimulus money, part of that campaign promise to create green jobs and encourage energy efficiency. We need to find out more, and it's certainly not something we could take on this year, but apparently it's a way to finance property improvements like double-paned windows, solar panels, tankless water heaters, and the like. Something to thing about.

The other big decision we took yesterday was the granite for the countertop. We're going a little bold, a light gray-white veined with waves of pale green and little sparkly flecks. Of course, that decision depends on the estimate, which we hope to get in the next day or two.

One heartening part of this process, aside from the growing realization that many downright ugly and worn parts of our home will soon be replaced by much lovelier parts, is that M and I have pretty much been able to agree easily on things. So far. A less heartening aspect--I think I've been able to dive into this large undertaking because I'm unwilling to ponder the full amount of just how much time and energy (not to mention cash) this project will actually consume. But now that realization is beginning to dawn…I'm looking at our walls with fresh eyes, for instance, and I see that we have a lot of cleaning and repairs to do before the painting part even begins. I think I'll adopt "It will be worth it" as my new mantra.

In other happy news, this Friday will be an interesting day: after a schmancy mixer at John Ash with other members of the Sonoma County Bar Association in the evening, M will spend the night at a doctors office doing a sleep study! Apnea begone!