Thursday Thirteen #69

Last week I posted before pictures and promised after pictures for this week. Well I discovered I don't yet have thirteen after pictures tho I do have plenty of pictures taken during the process. So this week its about the process but I couldn't pare it down to thirteen without loosing something important to the story.

I'm continuing to work on the fine tuning of the room and will continue to take pictures. I hope--I am aiming for having thirteen after pics for next week.

Thirteen Plus Pictures Showing the Process of Our Room Makeover

These first four pictures were taken Friday morning January 4th before dawn and show the room from various angles after I'd removed as much as possible out of the room and dusted and vacuumed. This shows what I have to work with in terms of space.




The next four show the process of putting together the bench for elevating the bookshelves above the level of the bed.

I am quite proud of this concept. It was mine.



As promised in an earlier post this week the explanation for the Froot Loops box: My specifications for the bench was for a 12 inch wide plank. Ed mistakenly bought a 10x2 inch plank. I didn't discover this until after Ed left for work that morning. One of the bookshelves required 12 inches but the other one would be OK with 10 so I went ahead and started putting it together. I had it ready for the bookshelf and was about to bring it in when I realized that I needed to make sure there was room for that 12 inch plank on the left side of the 'bench' and that meant making sure the edge next to the bed was 12 inches from the wall its entire length.

The only measuring device I had was that retractable one that Merlin just can't leave alone. The problem with it is that it is floppy and I had to hold on to each end of the measured length to be sure of accuracy. This wouldn't work for multiple measurements along an eight foot plank. I needed something not floppy. Like a ruler. But I couldn't find one.

After wasting twenty minutes looking for a ruler I started measuring everything in sight: books, cardboard, boxes etc. The first thing that measured exactly 12 inches on one side was that Froot Loops box. So there you have it.

Above, I've placed one of my pride and joys into the bookshelf: My Great Books set. In my archives in the spring of 2005 is the story of the miraculous acquisition of this set which replaces the one we lost.

It was the replacement of this set of books that made it possible for me to start thinking about returning to work on my Fruits of the Spirit storyworld. It is the Syntopicon (a topic index to 3 millenia of western literature) that is the essential thing for the research stage of these stories. I've discussed this elsewhere so I won't go further here.

One of the things I am most pleased with about this room makeover is that I've found a way to put the whole set within arms reach of my writing station and prevent if from being blocked by clutter other than blankets. This is going to be so helpful as I proceed deeper into the storyworld that I reengaged with intensity due to the 70 Days Challenge first round last July.

Above is a picture of the green shelves atop the entertainment center. This was taken about 10AM Friday morning. At that point I had to stop working on the room because I needed that 12 inch plank to proceed. I tried to take a nap since I had been awake over 24 hours but I couldn't stop thinking about the project and I was still awake when Ed got home about 5. He went after Subway sandwiches for our dinner and brought back the right sized plank with him. But we both agreed that we were too tired to proceed with the work on the room that night.

So it wasn't until Saturday afternoon that the next picture was taken. We didn't start working on the room again until then because we went out for breakfast and then to Wal-Mart to pick up organizing aides.

You can see that I continue to make changes. I've decided to move half the Great Books set to the other bookshelf to make that bottom shelf available for both of our public library fiction since that is where Ed does most of his reading in the winter so they should be more convenient for him.

Below you see the tower of drawers we bought for our HABA. (Health and Beauty Aides) It fits nicely on the end of the bench without blocking the TV.

Below shows the three large tubs we bought for Ed's clothes. They fit just right up there on top of the green shelves and it is fitting that space be Ed's since I can barely reach the top of the green shelves anyway. Ed is nearly a foot taller than me.

The next three pictures were taken early Sunday afternoon. I was still relaxed and being thoughtful about moving things in and placing them. But not long after these were taken Ed's folks returned unexpectedly. At 4:30 Sunday afternoon instead of late Monday or sometime on Tuesday. News of a storm about to drop snow on the passes changed their plans.

Our stuff was still scattered all over the house so Ed started bringing things as fast as he could, leaving them on the bed for me to stick wherever I could find a spot. No more time for thoughtfulness and no more time for pictures. This is why I still have so many sorting projects left to do and why I don't have enough after pictures.


Below is a picture of Merlin on the duffel which is on the bottom shelf of the entertainment center. This holds my sweaters and sweats and winter scarves and similar things. This picture was actually taken last June as a before picture of that makeover. The duffel was moved at that time to atop the green shelf which stood in front of the closet. A picture I posted in last week's TT shows how that worked out for us. The duffel ended up piled to the height of my eyes with clothes that couldn't be easily put away in the closet. And then those that couldn't be easily put away in the duffel.

The duffel is now back on this shelf tho it is wrapped in a blanket to keep dust cat fur off it. Merlin likes it for a bed when the TV is off.

Below are two pictures showing my effort to create a mobile workstation out of our luggage carrier and cardboard boxes. I put this together Friday evening and told Ed that I hoped to find something sturdier than cardboard to use for the shelves.

Ed found a better concept for the mobile workstation: this small utility cart. Also in view here is the three drawer tower we bought for my sewing.

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