Tag: furniture

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The Great Book Case Shuffle of 2010

Christine

I completed nearly every task in my 34 step plan this weekend. Mostly on Friday, very little each on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Oli was pretty good about staying out of the way for the most part. Except when I had the camera or the vacuum out. For the camera, he poses. For the vacuum, he chases and barks. It is a game.

I won’t go through it all because, well, that’s boring, and I already bored you with the plan. I started fairly early Friday morning and mostly I followed it, but I did hit a snafu midway through, adjusted my plan, and got through most of the list by bedtime Friday night.

the dining room stacked with stuff waiting to go back on its shelves; Oliver looks on at the activity

I dusted and vacuumed and washed nearly every surface in my living room this weekend, getting to corners and nooks and crannies that can’t normally be reached. A good thorough spring cleaning- in the middle of July.

The big bookcase I moved from Oli’s room, now in its new spot in the living room. When I had all the shelves out, I thought maybe I could slide it out of its spot to clean. As it turned out, it was quite easy to slide. I popped the feet onto those furniture moving sliders and carefully pushed it straight through the dining room. It is heavy, but manageable.

Also, I knew mom had asked Bill to come over around 6:00 to measure for some new windows (more on that later). So, I got some L-braces at the hardware store and Bill kindly helped me level the book case and install the L-braces.
my big shelf, finally in a good spot, braced to the wall, and loaded with books
my extensive collection of (no less than 26) bungalow-specific books

Oliver posing in the empty spot where the big bookcase had been

This is to be my new “pantry” area, with storage for small appliances that I don’t want cluttering the kitchen counter. Even though I measured, and measured, and measured, I still came up 4″ too short here. As you can see, I miscalculated. The wide shelving unit was to be flanked by the two shelving towers. That didn’t work out. Here is where the plan adjusting came in.
I ended up leaving the record tower where it was, but I emptied, dusted and cleaned the corner, shelf and contents, then gave it a quarter turn. The wall actually looked too empty there anyway, so I think it all worked out for the best.
I guess I did everything on the list, except I’m still working on the last item- finding homes for the clutter. That’s kind of never ending. I do have a small stack of old cassette and vhs tapes in the dining room. Not sure what to do with them yet. I loathe to stick anything else in the back bedroom because that is going to soon need clearing too.
I’ll take some more pictures of the whole living room now that it is finished. Quick! before it gets dirty again.
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My 34 Point Plan

Christine

I have a lot of furniture I want to move around. I’ve been itching to move things for a while now.

The shuffling part comes in because there is no empty spot at the moment. Currently there is a piece of furniture in every place that I want a different piece of furniture. Make senses? If it does, don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll loose you soon.

So here it is, my grand plan, in 34 steps:

1. Organize embroidery supplies.

2. Empty shelving unit that holds art books, stack books in dining room.

3. Dis-assemble art book shelving unit, set pieces aside, in dining room.

4. Clean empty spot.

5. Move crescent table and green chair to entry, temporarily.

6. Empty embroidery cabinet.

7. Carefully move embroidery cabinet to empty spot.

8. Re-fill embroidery cabinet.

9. Clean second empty spot.

10. Move Oliver’s toys and chair aside.

11. Empty shelving unit in Oli’s room.

12. Move dining room furniture aside, clearing path.

13. Get big guys to move big shelving unit to second empty spot.

14. Secure big shelving unit to wall using L-brackets.

15. Load genealogy materials and art books onto lower shelves.

16. Clean empty spot in Oliver’s room.

17. Re-assemble first shelving unit in third empty spot.

18. Empty shelving unit in dining room.

19. Dis-assemble wide shelving unit.

20. Re-assemble wide shelving unit in third empty spot.

21. Reload wide shelving unit with stuff recently removed.

22. Carry all record albums from living room to Oli’s room, re-loading first shelving unit.

23. Dis-assemble album shelving unit.

24. Re-assemble third shelving unit in Oliver’s room.

25. Clean last empty spot.

26. Use baskets from Oliver’s room to stow small stuff on large shelving unit in living room.

27. Move cookbooks to big shelving unit.

28. Stow large counter top appliances on new shelves in Oli’s room.

29. Use baskets to stow extra non-perishables on new shelves.

30. Move green chair back.

31. Move crescent table to dining room, beside china closet.

32. Move peacock chair to dining room.

33. Vacuum everywhere.

34. Find homes for any clutter left behind.

It sounds like a lot, but I think I can knock it out in one solid day, if I stick with it. Of course that will depend on the availability of a guy to help move the giant bookcase. It doesn’t have to go far, just straight out Oli’s double doors, straight through the dining room, thought the double doors to the living room. Nothing to lift only 1/4 turn through the whole move. But it is mega heavy. I will also need someone who can install the L-brackets with minimal damage to the plaster.

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Done for Now

Christine

Here is the new tv stand in place.
I finally got brackets for the bookshelves, and moved the second one from the dining room to its permanent location, flanking the tv. Since we don’t have a fireplace in our humble bungalow, the tv goes in that spot. I’ve always felt it would be lovely to have built-ins along that wall, but I can’t afford them. So for now these three pieces will have to stand in.
I have further plans for this room. It involves moving lots of furniture around the house. Also, I’m beginning to dream of a sofa. And a new recliner for Lewis. But that is down the road quite a bit.

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A New Addition to Our Living Room

Christine

We are replacing my very sturdy, but in Lewis’ opinion “ugly” shelves that hold the tv with a new tv stand I found at Just Cabinets. I think I got a good deal, if not a bargain. The regular price was $180, on sale for $120. I wasn’t planning to buy anything right away, we were just right next door, so I made my friend Marc go in with me, just to see what they had available and get sizes and prices. I found the perfect thing, and asked the salesman if they had a picture in a flyer or something. I wanted to check with Lewis first, and measure, although I usually have a good eye for these things.

The salesman said he could make a photocopy of the sale sign on the item, that had a picture, measurements, and sale info. When he came back he said he had good news and bad news. The bad news was the floor model was their last one and they wouldn’t be getting any more. The good news was that his manager said I could have the floor model for $100 if I took it that night.

So I impulsively said yes, I’ll take it. That may have been a line, just to sell something that evening. I’m sure they could have come down even further and made profit, but I’m not much of a haggler, so I’m pleased with my purchase.
Shh, just don’t tell my mom. She doesn’t know I bought something this expensive for myself right before Christmas. I want to put it into place and hopefully she won’t notice for a while. When she does, I’ll be able to say, “that? It has been there for ages.”

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House Tour: Front Bedroom After

Christine

Now here we are, in September of 2008, five years after I bought the house. I need to make tiebacks for the curtains, which are a beautiful shimmery dress fabric, it has this 1940s deco look to it, and just has the loveliest drape. I bought these way back when I worked at Penney’s, and I have them in several colors. I just loved the fabric so much, I snagged them when they went on clearance, packed them away in a bin, and hoped I would have a place to use them someday. It is kind of funny, really. I think I always knew I wanted a house that had multiple windows per room. And this house sure does!
I still need to stain the curtain rod (a someday project), which is pieced together with parts from different places. I snagged the eight-foot pole from the clearance bin at Linens-n-Things. I chose the brackets from Country Curtains because they have a second notch behind the big one, in case I ever want to hang a second layer. And I ordered the pineapple finials from VanDyke’s. They are a pretty close match to the finial on the four-post bed.All of this beautiful furniture came from my Grandma Millie’s house. It is mahogany with a dark finish, and while they are not antiques, they are old. She got most of her furniture in the 40s, when she got married. I think my grandparents must have gone to the store and kitted out the living room, dining room, and bedroom all at once. The pieces are almost interchangeable, all the same wood and color, with similar styling. It certainly makes it easy to move things around. I intend to stick with the dark wood furniture, as you may have noticed from the recent yard sale buying frenzy.
Oliver makes himself comfortable in my bed, but when we get tired of each other, he often settles in his comfy chair by the window.

You may have noticed the elephant theme. You see, while I’m not too wild about the Early American Colonial style, and this furniture is undoubtedly Colonial Revival. Reproductions. I’m trying to give it a little twist, going for a British Colonial feel. Think British India. Hence the elephants. Yeah. It still needs some work.
As for the room itself, the floors refinished beautifully, with few repairs needed, and the chestnut trim was cleaned and hydrated with Formby’s Deep Cleansing Build-Up Remover, followed by Formby’s Lemon Oil Treatment, which I use on all my furniture. Never Pledge, which causes a cloudy build up. Yuck. Always the Formby’s products.