Remodel Hell - One More Sleepless Night

I couldn't sleep tonight, so I figured I'd get up and blog my worries. Chase the demons away by writing them down, if possible.

I was driving to Emeryville on Friday morning to buy two ceiling lights for the demolition zone when I received a call on my cell phone from Ernie. "Can you write this down?" he said. Of course not, I replied. I'm driving. So I called him back when I reached Expo territory. I'm to see some guy at AAA Drapery about ordering the carpet for the new rooms. Unforunately, I couldn't get to it that day as I had an already-arranged lunch date with Aaron, plus a movie and dinner date with friend Bruce. So that's on my Monday list.

New carpet has to go into three rooms. Two of those rooms are in the demolition zone, so that's not a problem. Ernie believes we'll be all finished with construction by next Friday, only one week away. (There will still be the matter of the shower door to be installed, but I'll talk about that later.) It's the third room that's the problem. The third room is the living room, where all the bedroom furniture is piled. As you recall, that's where I'm sleeping these days.

So I must be excited, that must be what's keeping me awake, right? No. It's the logistics of moving furniture while carpet is being laid. How to move, where to move a large mattress, frame, headboard, dresser and end table, plus one large leather chair, plus 20 or so boxes that's sitting in the living room?

Aaron suggested I delay the carpet installation of the living room for one day so that he and brother Jim can move it all into the newly remodeled bedroom after carpet is put down in there. Then they can move what remains (basically the chair) back from the bedroom into the living room once it's done. I'll ask if that's possible.

Another thing to consider is that I'm going away to L.A. for three days, from Friday to Sunday, for that weekend. When I come back, I'll be moving right into get-ready-for-carpet mode.

Also, there's the matter of moving the heavy desk from my current office to my new, smaller office. It's been suggested by several smart people that I get rid of this desk and get something smaller, something more suitable for this newly revised room. But I love this Stanley desk with the blonde wood. I bought it just for the new house. It will be a pain to move, 'cause it was a pain to put in here. And the tall, massive bookcase sitting beside it matches. So I want to keep them both, if at all possible. Aaron thinks it won't be that much of a problem to move it -- I guess we'll see.

So that's what's keeping me awake. Oh, there's also the matter of the shower door for the new bathroom. Ernie called with the news earlier that morning -- the shower door will be have to be custom-made because of the unique dimensions of the shower stall, to the tune of $1700. Ouch!! However, when I asked how much a regular shower door would cost for the stall, the answer was only a few hundred dollars less. So I'm going with the rail-less door. It'll be gorgeous, simply gorgeous. Also, it'll take longer. They can't install until the end of December, two full weeks after construction is completely done. It'll be the last thing done, and the individual company will work with me to make arrangments for the install. I can live with that.

Oh, and on another change note, Glenn called me into the room after I got through talking with Ernie the first time (about the shower door) and said, "I think you'll want to look at this." The pueblo white paint I had ordered for the walls of the two remodeled rooms wasn't white at all -- it was a dismal looking off-white that tended toward yellow. Ick. I love that Glenn knew I wouldn't be happy with it, and called my attention to it before painting all the walls. So they'll take the paint cans back, get a refund, and try to get something a little more white, something closer to what the primer looks like. "I love the primer!" I said to Glenn and Jose, and they looked at me like, "Lady, it's the primer. You can't have that." I'm sure they can find a white that's closer to that color, though.

I think there will be a few more sleepless nights before all this is done. The next week will be a flurry of activity as the new bathroom begins to really look like a bathroom. That part is very exciting.