Home Improvements (Den/Library)

 

Den remodel—note the old heater vent being disassembled

next to the closet on the right

 

Now that Tim and I are retired, we've decided to reorganize and de-clutter the house, room by room. First up: our guestroom/den, where guests were invited to sleep on our semi-comfortable queen-sized sofa bed. This is also the room that houses my Arthurian fiction* collection, which I've collected for 40 years. Numbering now around 1000 volumes, the collection reached critical mass several years ago with books piled up all over the den in no particular order. It was driving the librarian in me crazy. So I suggested removing the sofa bed—which was taking valuable wall-space—and buying more bookshelves. After all, in the nearly 20 years we've lived here, only a handful of people had ever spent the night. Tim agreed: my books, which are with us 24/7, won-out over the occasional family member or friend, who might want to sleep-over. We would turn the guestroom into a full-blown library.

 

Not mold, but 70 years of various paint coats on the ceiling, 

including dark green

 

 Removing the old paint coats, now on the floor (yikes!)

 

The den was also in desperate need of repainting. In the house's 70-year history, its rooms had been painted countless times. So many times, in fact, that big pieces of the latest ceiling coat had chipped and fallen off, revealing multiple layers of pink and dark green paint. We decided to hire professionals to remove the former coats and repaint the entire room. While there, they also dismantled an old wall-heater we were always too scared to use. Thus making room for even more books, should the need arise.

 

No more wall-heater

 

IKEA furniture in boxes

 

Tim building the new loveseat, while our cat Jack

supervises

 

Taking a break

 

Covering the loveseat cushions—no wonder IKEA 

furniture is so inexpensive—and, yes, that's Jack 

supervising once again

 

While the painters worked, we took a field trip to the Burbank IKEA to look for shelves and a possible loveseat. I had estimated the need for two 6-foot shelves: one for my book overflow and one for my Disney collectibles, which were strewn all over the house. After spending Christmas night shelving all the books in a nice, neat order (finally!), there still wasn't room for seven books (ack!!) and so back we went to IKEA on December 26. Now, after a month, our new library/den is our favorite room in the house. Next project: the nightmare that I call my office!

 Our wonderful new library!

More books

 

Disney collectibles

 

*Arthurian fiction: novels and short stories that are set in Camelot and/or feature characters and/or themes from the Arthurian legend.

January 2010

Happy New Year!






Although we’ve done some fun stuff this month--including taking an exclusive members-only tour of the Grammy Museum’s small but fabulous “Elvis at 21” exhibit with renowned photographer Alfred Wertheimer (the exhibit is a must-see for early Elvis fans)--the new year has pretty much been spent finishing up the garage project. We painted inside and out, plus bought a great neon Coca-Cola clock as a centerpiece for what I’m now calling our “garage clubhouse” (cue Tim to roll his eyes). But then the rains came, squashing all desire to complete what little cleaning and organizing still remains. I hope to post photos of the finished project by mid-February.










Rain, rain, go away:

Just when I was going to gloat about wildflowers blooming while the rest of the country sits under two feet of snow, our weather turned cold and nasty, forcing us indoors. Because, of course, when it rains in L.A. it doesn’t just rain, it pours, often causing damage of biblical proportions--or, at least, that’s what the local media would have us believe. Our own street usually turns into a small lake, while the otherwise benign Ballona “creek,” which runs at the end of our block, becomes a raging, frothing river. For a week, I’ve been cooped-up inside, leaving the house for only the most important essentials: food and the one-cent frame sale at Aaron Bros. Art Mart! Our two toasty cats have become our favorite indoor accessories.

Here’s hoping February is a lot more sunny and productive . . .

Garage Remodel (pt. 2)

The workers are now gone and the remodel done. Now all we have to do is move everything into our wonderful new cabinets and paint inside and out. Thanks to Garage Envy and Mark's Windows for doing such a terrific job!



















More photos in a couple of weeks when it's all done!

Garage Remodel (pt. 1)

We love our 1400 sq. ft. house, but after almost 13 years living here, we’ve pretty much reached critical mass on space. The simple act of buying a new set of towels can send me into a frenzy of reorganization as I endlessly cope with inadequate cabinets and closets. Plus our office, where I spend most of the day (I work at home), is a disaster area with books and files piled all over the floor. Desperate, I began seeking a solution. I didn’t have to look very far.

Like many people, our garage has slowly become a dumping ground for every nonessential thing in our lives: old furniture that’s too good to donate to Goodwill; mementoes from deceased family members; leftover tiles and linoleum from our kitchen remodel four years ago; boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments (I swear they’re like rabbits, reproducing on their own every year between January and November); and, of course, my extensive collection of mint-in-box action figures from several Star Trek movies and TV series (!).

To make matters worse, the original homeowners had divided the garage into two sections by building a wall down the middle. On the left was space enough for one small car (ha!); on the right, a dark, musty workbench for tools, gardening implements and countless breeds of spiders. In other words, lots of wasted — but precious — space. So we held a big yard sale and called Garage Envy for a remodeling estimate. Three weeks later, we’re in the midst of converting our useless old garage into what we hope will be an attractive den/storage area. See for yourself . . .


















The view from our new garage window. Stay tuned for more . . .