Slowly but surely, this room is going to get there…
February 8, 2004, 3:26 AM
So I’m nearly done with the cleaning phase of the job. I have three more areas to deal with. The bookshelf, the filing cabinet, and the videotape wall. All three areas, by the way, involve furniture that will not be reappearing when the job is done. And most of the stuff in these areas is crap anyway.
Also, my Metro map is officially on its way. In my new remodeled room, above the couch will be an authentic Metro subway map from 1996, an overrun from when they printed maps for the opening of Franconia-Springfield. I’m getting it framed at Picture Parts, a custom-framing shop in Charlottesville that does good work at a nice little price. Since these Metro maps are definitely NOT normal poster dimensions.
Then after that comes the demolition phase, when all the walls get cleared and the nail-holes filled. That will look really weird. But once we’re all done with that, we’ll paint and rearrange together in phases. And lastly, shampooing the rug, hanging new pictures, and calling it a job well done. Yaaaaaaay…
Still, I’m impressed. Some progress photos will be taken before too long. I’m also going to try to do my room as a worthwhile companion to Mom and Dad’s room, as I go for a slightly darker shade of color than I otherwise would…
Categories: Bedroom remodel
My accomplishment for today, besides those mentioned earlier: The futon is out!
February 1, 2004, 10:06 PM
Yes, the futon is out of here. It’s on its side in Sis’s room across the hall for the time being so that I have room to clean and paint and such. It looks so weird in here without the couch. And it’s soon to get weirder, since the futon’s temporary departure makes room for more cleaning, since it blocked a LOT of stuff.
See, the futon was originally purchased for Potomac Hall. It had no place here, and actually spent the summer of 2002 in storage at Potomac Hall. It still really has no place in this room, and when it needed to go here, I shuffled things around rather quickly to make it fit somewhere. As a result, my recliner got blocked in. Now I can get that loose, and clean around there, and I can also clean around the other side of the couch. I need to take some more pictures just to show the progress of the cleaning alone.
Overarching realization: it’s amazing how much crap accumulates around here. I have some stuff that’s getting straight-up dumped. Other stuff is getting sold. Other stuff is being given away. And what’s left will fill my new “adult” room. I’m excited.
Categories: Bedroom remodel
And the cleaning continues…
January 31, 2004, 12:35 AM
And the cleaning continues. I moved the clutter line about two feet back or so from where it was an hour ago. I unearthed some decor items that were slated to go up in here eventually, or used to be up in my Potomac Hall rooms. I also unearthed a big United States flag that was still in its packaging that I bought at Pentagon City Mall on the day I did The Schumin Web Salutes America II back in 2001, but that I couldn’t hang up at the time due to space constraints plus reach constraints (I couldn’t reach the spot I wanted to put it). I also found a bunch of books that I’d forgotten about, including a Dave Barry book. The books-without-a-home pile is now about two and a half feet tall. They will go on the new bookshelf I’m getting (and getting it at Wally World along with all my other new furnishings).
The goal in this cleaning is not only to clean and get rid of a lot of junk, but also to ultimately reach my futon couch, which is at the far end of the room, next to the windows. This way, there’s a clear space all the way across the room, so that we can move the couch out and into “swing space” (i.e. Sis’s room). Then after I get the couch out, I can clear out the junk along the perimeter (we have only dealt with junk in the middle of the room and along one wall so far, but that’s a lot of junk), and then the un-decorating begins.
Continue reading…Categories: Bedroom remodel
I reclaimed about half the floor space today…
January 28, 2004, 1:17 AM
I reclaimed about half the floor space today, and I am pretty well impressed with myself. Actually, it’s a little less than half the room’s intended floor space, but still, that’s pretty good. I cleared out a CD tower, a bookshelf, a bunch of stuff I’ve not touched in ages, and found a good $2.00 in loose change in the process. Also found a vintage Wal-Mart receipt from Staunton (store #1344) from 1998, when Adam Anderson was manager there, according to the receipt. Changes between then and now is that Matthew Trautwein is now the manager, and they don’t use the old dot-matrix printers for the receipts anymore.
I think I actually filled up an entire garbage can out behind the house with junk that I got rid of. And that’s only the beginning.
Another interesting thing is the kind of imprints you find on the rug. Furniture that’s been sitting in the same place for years like that CD tower and bookshelf really left some imprints. Flat carpet, if you can imagine that. But even more recent stuff really left some imprints that need to be worked out of the rug. I figure that’s a job for vacuums and carpet shampooers to fix, both of which I’m taking across the carpet in here before I’m finished.
Categories: Bedroom remodel
And now we really start cleaning!
January 27, 2004, 1:34 PM
On this lovely very-snowy-and-still-snowing day, which I also have off from work, I am cleaning my room, getting ready to do a little remodeling. I’m working inwards. Start at the door, and work towards the windows. I’ve already taken “before” photos some time last week. Now to get to work, so that the job can be completed…
And this snow is also incentive to do some work, as they still haven’t plowed our road.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Winter weather
Two days, and I’m beat…
January 23, 2004, 12:38 AM
Well, as I probably already mentioned, we’re open. Yaaaaay. No more stocking shelves for me.
And guess what! People love our store! It gives me a nice warm feeling to hear that, and also when I see people buying the stuff that I put up on the shelves.
Meanwhile, I think I already said that I took “before” photos of my room in preparation for the big remodel. So how much progress have I made so far? Amazingly, very little. All my work so far has consisted of is going through a single bookshelf of kiddie books that I haven’t touched in ages and taking out maybe three books that I want to keep. The rest can be donated somewhere. And I’m getting rid of the shelf. So I can just give the books on the shelf all to Mom and she’ll handle it.
My next day off from Wal-Mart is Tuesday. My goal for that day is to put a major dent in the cleaning on this room. Because right now, despite having gone through a shelf, it doesn’t look like I’ve done anything.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Walmart
This is going to be like Trading Spaces without the other family. We have a horrid-looking sloppy room about to be remade into a totally new look.
December 24, 2003, 12:20 AM
I said this to my friend Chris today as I discussed how I’m redecorating around here. It’s kind of like bringing a little Potomac Hall to my room at home, as I’m reviving the color scheme from my Junior Year room.
I’m also going to do a Life and Times photo set about the whole thing, since it really will be quite a change. It will probably take a few weeks to do (the job, not the photo set), but it will look great when it’s done.
And my sister’s room will be used for swing space in the interim. This means I have time to get everything ready like plans and such, plus making the requisite purchases of paint, carpet shampoo (we have the shampooer), and the new lighting, since I have to wait until she goes back to Tech before I can begin using her room for swing space.
Still, there you go. My room is the perfect “before” room like Trading Spaces would have. Ugly paint, weird decorative elements, and altogether looking like a well-intentioned-but-well-past-its-time decor job. This room SO needs a makeover.
Categories: Bedroom remodel
Giving the gift of cash…
December 22, 2003, 1:36 AM
And another thing… what has Christmas come to in our house? For me, at least, Christmas is really all about cash. Actually, reverse gifts to be more specific. I’m going shopping for my own gifts this year, getting them wrapped, and then getting reimbursed for them by the gift-giver. My parents don’t know specifically what they ended up getting me for Christmas, but I’ve taken it upon myself to act surprised nonetheless when I unwrap the gift that they bought me (by way of me).
Then my sister already knew what I wanted, that being a long-sleeved shirt from Wal-Mart. So since I work there, she said I can go get my gift and provide a receipt. I went and bought the shirt. And I’m still getting it gift-wrapped, though more on principle than anything else.
Speaking of gift-wrapping, when I bought my gift from Mom and Dad in Roanoke on Thursday and then had it gift wrapped at Valley View Mall and asked for a receipt, I got some very strange looks from the people working the gift-wrap station when I said I needed a receipt for the wrapping. The girl who was taking care of me said, “It’s cash-only,” to which I replied, “I still need a receipt.” They produced a receipt.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Christmas, Family, Shopping