We finally put everything away in the bathroom… mostly. But other than constantly navigating around the litter box, there is much more room in there now.
We still need to: hang towel bars (that is what still has no home – all our towels), change the outlet covers, patch and paint over huge holes from previous users, recaulk the sink and shower/tub.
The boxes and boxes of books were exploded this weekend. All over the living space until there no space to just be. The mess created an even larger mess in the bedroom (who knows why). It was a true fiasco. It took some doing, but we finally have them all arranged in official Fiallen Form: by color, then by size within color. Even the books covered by the photos maintain this order.
Now we are just hoping that when we explode the remaining boxes of books in the bedroom we have enough shelf space for all of them to stay in the bedroom. The bedroom needs a lot (a lot a lot) of work. The front room, on the other hand, is basically done! We have to hang blinds, do some minor patch and paint from past tenants and hang our photos and art (which we have to do in all rooms!). I would probably be remiss if I didn’t include “cord management” which is Josh’s specialty. That still needs to happen too.
One fun thing we learned at the end of last week: the rain and wind storm on Thursday night/Friday morning let us know that our apartment leaks. But only in crazy storms. Because it has rained a lot this summer, but this is the first time it has leaked. Our skylight leaks on to our stairwell carpet. And then, after we had already started catching that, a huge puddle appeared on our new sideboard/mini bar/liquor cabinet with no wet ceiling above it. But it is just to the side of the skylight, so the wind must have caused a flexing in the skylight and flow of water aimed at the cabinet for a burst. It was crazy. Plus the framing above one of our bedroom windows was leaking. But our landlady was awesome and had a guy come check on it, and he his here today in the nice weather to fix the roof! AND he is going to fix the roof above our nasty looking beam and then repair the beam for us too! (One less thing on the to-do list for us then!)
Last week the oven liner we ordered arrived. We used it to line our clean, but still gross, oven drawer so we could store our nice pots and pans in there. It took a couple of the liners, but now we feel good about storing our stuff down there. There’s no pictures, because that would be boring. But here is a picture of the burner covers which arrived on Friday. That gives us a little more flat space to work on in the kitchen.
We finally cooked in the kitchen last night. I was afraid to use the oven without the oven liner (we had it lined with plastic bubble wrap until the liner arrived – I didn’t want to cook with that in there). We actually only used the stove top, but that in and of itself proves I put the burner coils back in right, I guess, when I replaced the drip pans. And the burner covers were a godsend for having more space to work. The second picture is supposed to be proof of last night’s stove top usage for sauteing onions and browning potatoes, carrots, garlic cloves and such. (We’re having a red wine roast tonight.) I know some don’t think I cook. And maybe the slow cooker doesn’t count. You can decide for yourself. BUT the second picture does allow me to point out Becky’s Venetian glass wine stopper she gave us, in use, and Thadd’s lovely house warming gift of champagne and champagne glasses on the pass through. (Just ignore the dirty dishes in the sink and the messy bedroom in view.)
Still on the list of things to do: eradicate rat poison from under fridge, clean the fridge, organize food shelves (right now things are thrown in), get a spice rack and recaulk the counter.
This weekend we made our new liquor cabinet that Jeannette has wanted for a long time. The reviews said it was difficult to put together and they weren’t lying. It wasn’t a matter of following the 10 page book of directions, but figuring out how to make your own directions when the book didn’t work. It was a crazy long night. We started loading it up today (note: our skylight is a little bright in some of the pictures).
We moved the bikes and bike rack to the back stair to make room for the cabinet. We also managed to finish the kitchen and the eating area today (even managed to eat at the table today). We have to leave a stool and cardboard contraption blocking the bottom of the fridge from kitty paws. It’s like astro turf made of rodent poison under the fridge – which also attracts & kills kitties. So that’s another project for another day: moving the fridge and performing a strategic eradication of poison.
Another remaining project for the kitchen is to hang a spice rack on the wall by the sink (removing the massive spice clutter from the microwave). Jeannette still needs to recaulk the countertop too, maybe next weekend when Josh hangs blinds.
Enjoy the photos. We’ll take non-phone camera photos soon.
It’s really starting to feel like home! (And Jeannette LOVES her cabinet!)
