The Big Room Project

Messed

Small room.  Big project.

This time I'm taking it to the wall.  A junk room/office spring clean in January.  Everything but the two largest pieces of furniture will be moved out so I can dust and clean the carpet thoroughly corner to corner wall to wall.

The picture to the right opened the photo essay I did after the false start of this project fizzled last weekend when I was unable to complete it between the time Mom left Friday afternoon and the time she returned Sunday evening.  When my sister left to pick her up I had to rush all the stuff I'd moved into Mom's bedroom back into this room with little thinking about it.  Then I was stuck with the result until Mom left again this weekend.
But because this time she didn't leave until Friday evening and because this time she will be at my brother's for 8 to 10 days while my sister recovers from oral surgery, I didn't start work until late today.

Shelved

Before I could even start on the room project I had to deal with an urgent situation after I'd casually reached out and pushed against the books at the end of this row atop the boxes on top of the bookshelf beside my side of the bed and they started tumbling like dominoes into my arms.

Apparently their weight over the last ten months had weakened the cardboard.  I'd noticed they were leaning away from the wall a bit last fall.

Luckily I'd found a perfect board for the solution while moving things out of Mom's office last weekend.  It was one of two left over from the wood flooring installed in the kitchen and dining room several years before Dad died.  They are about four feet long and six inches wide.

While getting this board in place I realized that I'd need to use the other one on the row of books, including an encyclopedia set, that sits atop the boxes acting as shelves for my Britanica Great Books set in Mom's office.  Even tho those boxes were sturdier and I'd kept the bottom nested inside the lid to strengthen them further, I'd noticed the middle sections dipping last summer and solved it then by laying a book atop the books inside the boxes to prop up the center.

But before I can do that I'll have to get the stuff I piled between that shelf and the doorway last Sunday moved out so I can reach the whole line of books and pull them all down.

Chaired

In the bedroom the board extended beyond the end of the second box by about six inches.  That was enough room to place my small Ott Lamp which I wouldn't be needing in the office once I'd gotten the large one set up in there.  Part of the motivation for this edition of the room rearrange was to make a spot for the large heavy base of the new Tattoo Ott desk lamp I'd gotten for Christmas.

Once I had the idea I couldn't let it go so I revised my plan to set the green bookshelf I'd had in my closet for shoes across the arms of the lavender chair which had for months been supporting a stack of large boxes containing sweaters and slacks.

The chair had been useless for sitting for ages as the seat had lost its stuffing so sitting in it caused the front board to cut off circulation at the top of the thighs.  But I thought maybe the big cushion I'd used when sitting on the mini-tramp last summer might work.  I went through a bit of gymnastics to get to that pillow on the back wall behind the mini-tramp in order to try it out.  It worked so I took the time to rearrange the things on that wall..

I put Mom's small bedside dresser in the place of the chair which also solved the problem of making it easier for her to get her sweaters out of it.  And once I unbury the green shelf I'll put it on that dresser.

Surfaced

Here I've finally got everything off the card table and the antique wooden table.  Next step is to move the latter to the front of the room and lift the card table off the two stacks of boxes rather than try to slide them out.

The plan this time that is so different from all the times before is to take down that card table and keep it folded except when needed for a project that needs to spread out.  Projects with compact start and finish times.  This will give me more floor space and elbow room.

Floored

This was taken standing in front of the card table and shows the front quarter of the room to the right of the door.  The Great Books set and the Encyclopedias on top are peeking from behind my accessories station.  I have a different plan for these that will, I hope give me easy access to the books again.

Stacked

Showing here is the end of the row of boxes on Mom's side of the bed.  Flush with the door casing it reaches all the way to the head of the bed high as my nose.

Boxed

And here's the view from the foot of the bed on  my side looking diagonally across.

Where am I going to sleep?