Getting my own house in order

Now that I’m getting toward the end of my burnout, it’s time to remember that the to do list before having the floors sanded is getting tantalizingly short. And none of it is going to cost me much! That’s important right now.

I basically have to spray paint the radiators and furniture that I’m doing for my parents. Then there are the doors that I have to strip, stain, and varnish. And I’ll strip my railing, get some woodwork up, and hang the bathroom door. That’s about it! Now the bed is back in the green bedroom. And it turns out I do like the green. Either the color changed or it just looks different when it’s up in the whole room. But I swear, there was something I didn’t like about it before. It glows in bright light just like I wanted it to, but is also soothing when the light is dimmer. Which is good for a bedroom, right?

Then the doors and radiators are all in the front bedroom now, where I can start stripping them. (Only one radiator needs DIY stripping.) This will be tedious but it’s almost done. I might cut corners by sending one of those giant doors out and by leaving the sliding closet doors unstripped on the back sides.

Then I have a list of chores for my plumber to do to make up for the fact that I patched the walls. He says next Wednesday, so it looks like I have one more weekend without a fully working bathroom. But with the holidays and my frusturation I haven’t been staying there much anyway.

• I want these broken parts replaced and my sink reinstalled. After getting finding the source of the leak, I went through a little bit of dysfunction. I used the bathroom sink, forgetting that the drain wasn’t hooked up. Then I realized what I did and hooked it up. Then I realized water dribbled behind the cabinet, so I pulled the cabinet out and snapped the drain.

• Then there’s the shower handle. It wouldn’t stay attached. I was gonna fix this myself but it’s not my job anymore.
• And there are the toilet bolts. I think they were brass plated because they got rusty after just a few months. I specified solid brass this time around.
• Then I want the manifold mounted to the wall, but not with a family heirloom. I want everything except the kitchen sink hooked up and labeled correctly. More important, I want the pipes that aren’t working disconnected. I’m terrified of my own plumbing now. When this first went in it was exciting and wonderful and inspired envy from my dad.

Here’s what the bathroom looks like now. Once again it’s dirty, everything is out of place, and the water is shut off. But Wednesday (the 15th) my plumber is coming and fixing it!

So, we’ll see if I get back into the swing of things now. Hopefully something fun to show by the end of the weekend.