Well, so much for 50s! Now we're expecting a winter storm. Guess I'll try to organize something inside here! :)

Lol, even though your strike through, bold and italicized didn't show up like it should, I still read it in a classic Christine voice!

Christine, your optimism is infectious in a wonderful way! Thank you.

Space in my home...I'm making a plan as I type. The mind....that's actually tougher for me. Lately GW is my distraction from my mind. I feel guilty cuz I have been on the Internet more in the last week then in the last year!

My excuse is I am recouping physically, but also emotionally. I must say I am feeling way better. Dare I say, motivated?

I plan on starting Monday though. Haha! Maybe tomorrow I will move out of my recliner.

So far as physical space goes, moving from a 1990s house with loads of closet space to a (larger!) 1950s house with minimal closets can make you go from feeling neat and minimal to just short of a hoarder. We have a pretty good donate area already going that we really need to document and take to Goodwill.

There is no space in the mind, but at the same time there is nothing happening. I have a list of things that need to be done but no motivation to actually go out and do any of them. Movement on anything, even just getting up into the attic space to see how things are built above some walls we would like to move would be nice. Or coming to an agreement on what materials we will use to rebuild the master bathroom - I'd take that too. At least I'm already on the right site to try and find pictures.

long time no see. This is cal_quail. My life got super-hectic just about the time that the GW/H switch happened. I had both accounts and can't seem to get the GW account to work, so here I am.

I FINALLY (sort of) painted the rest of the green in my kitchen. I was bound and determined to do it yesterday (having gone through three vacations and not facing it). I couldn't find the spackle, so I just painted what was there. There was a line where the old laminate 4" backsplash hit the brick outer wall and there was a line of layers paint that the granite guys ground down to paint but there were also some holes to fill in. They're still holes, now they're green holes. The other main areas to paint were the edge of the wall by the ceiling where there were cabinets but no counters when I initially painted. And around some of the inside of the windows (that probably doesn't make sense.) Besides the holes from in the old backsplash area there are a few other holes where things were hanging and their not, etc. But It feels more finished. The door frames and an interior door still need to be painted and maybe the exterior door...

The doors that were ordered LAST February were finally installed. The patio door and kitchen door were installed the Saturday of MLK weekend. The patio one, replacing an existing single light door, is done/good. The kitchen door, after having given them colors July 31, was painted wrong. The outside color is inside and the inside color is outside. So I have a white door in the breezeway and a turquoise door in the kitchen. Haven't figured out what I want to do about that yet. I don't hate the turquoise in the kitchen. But it would mean choosing a backsplash with that in mind. And we're not doing that anytime soon, so I can decide all that later. But, I finally have glass in that door and it's awesome being able to see out to the breezeway.

That of course meant I had to do a bit of clean up out there. I still have an island o'crap in the front yard (garden miscellany). I wanted to plant out the planter in the breezeway, but since we'll still (hopefully somewhat soon, ahem) paint the house, I didn't want to plant stuff in the ground. So I moved a bunch of colorful pots there and have been planting them out with succulents.

The front door and sidelight was installed a couple weeks ago. Overall, I'm really happy with it. There are a few things that, yet again, I'm not sure what I'll do about. The story with the front door is that we didn't like any of the glass options from the door mfgr so we had them get it without and get inserts made from the place they were having the sidelights made. They're all just plain frosted/opaque glass. However, DH noticed that the ones in the door don't quite fit right and you see some of the metal frame that makes them double pain (is that the right spelling?) and some of the adhesive. On the one hand, with as much as we've paid, I think they should re-do it. On the other, I really never want to deal with them again. As it is they owe us a refund for changing to less expensive glass than in the original plan and for the paint debacle on the kitchen door. I'm not going to hold my breath, but it'd be nice if they would (long story about why they were paid in full a long time ago...we ALL know better than to do that but...yeah.)

In the midst of this my oldest/first dog has had vision issues. He went blind the Sunday of MLK weekend. It was literally all of a sudden that afternoon. Saturday the door guys were there and friends were over, fine. Sun am FIL came over, fine. Then all of a sudden later that afternoon he was just standing there with dilated pupils looking very confused. The short version they know it's not his eyes, and they know it's not tumors, but they don't know what it is in his brain. With meds it (mostly) came back, tapered off meds and it left, increased meds and it's back. But then went to a neurologist who thinks it's lymphoma (but the other two who read the MRI didn't) so we did one round of chemo and it doesn't seem any better than with just steroids, so we're not doing any more chemo. He's fine and I'm just tapering down the prednisone on my own. I'll go back to our regular vet soon and see what he thinks going forward. So between neurologist, oncologist, ophthalmologist etc., that's why the backsplash, house painting etc. are still on hold.

Last big thing...MIL did her kitchen. Completely. Start to finish in less than two weeks. 13 days to be exact. C.R.A.Z.Y. Her priorities and choices are not mine, but it looks nice and it was done in thirteen freakin' days! To get back the large portion of my life that I gave up for my kitchen, I might have been okay with her kitchen.....nah.

This is the first day I've poked around here. I'll read back through a couple threads to see what's up.

I'm itching to get started on my bathroom project. I was supposed to order the tile yesterday but had a monsoon and roads were flooded so that will have to wait until next week. I went to HD and bought tools and safety gear for ripping out the old tub surround and tile floor so I'm ready. I now need to wait. Wait to find out if family is coming for Easter (if they are, I need to wait until after they leave to start.) Wait to see when or if friends can help with the demo. Wait to see when my friend the plumber can fit me in. In the meantime I'm watching a lot of bathroom renovation videos on YouTube!

Funny that the topic is making space and that's what we have spent the past few days doing. I can't remember if I mentioned, but we got our flooring in, it is currently sitting in our garage.

In order to put it in we need to first remove the carpet and, before we do that, we are going to scrape all the popcorn off of the ceilings and paint them.

In order to do THAT, we needed to clean up, organize,etc the breezeway, utility room, living room, basement, and all the other spaces where things were relocated to when we started the remodel in 2013.

One of those steps, the one I tackled today, was somewhat cathartic for me. I have every single baby toy and piece of clothing for every single one of my kids.

No, I'm not a hoarder. We knew we weren't done having kids so when a child would outgrow their toys, clothes or shoes, they would be packed up for the next baby.

Thankfully we had tons of storage available. Also thankfully, our youngest turned 2 last month and we have decided, after 4 kids, that we are indeed finished.

Today I went through 3 large boxes of clothes and shoes and sorted them into a consign pile and a donate pile.

I still have SEVERAL boxes to go through but it feels nice to finally slough off some of the old and make space!!

Schick- the house and your brother...I hope you are getting counseling as well if necessary. That is a lot of grief and heartache in such a short time.

Cal_quail- nice to see you pop up! Holy cow your MIL got that done fast!! Must say I'm jealous! So sorry to hear about the pup, hope they can figure out what's wrong and fix it.

Christina- I just love the internet, don't you? Its so nice that we have easy access to videos and tutorials to help us figure out how to do things!

Hi, I thought I would jump in today although I have been enjoying your busy- ness for 41 weeks. I love the vibrancy you all bring to the forum. It is so amazing - real people doing real things.

I live in Maryland not too far from Christine F. A "let's refresh the upstairs with paint and refinish floors" has creeped into an almost whole house refresh. I took the opportunity to clean out. Since retiring -going on two years - I have been streamlining the wardrobe, but I found more to donate. It was also time to let go of the mother of the bride and bridesmaid's dresses which were taking up closet space. These will go to a bridal charity. Stuff that belonged to the kids has been brought over to their houses. It was tug at my heartstrings time, but I donated first daughter's childhood bedroom set and some other pieces of furniture to a charity -salvage organization in Baltimore called Second Chance. I love the feeling of space, freshness, and organization brewing in my house.

I just took down a glass front cabinet that will be part of my credenza. I've been fitting cabinets for this for years. I am going to fill all the old nail/screw holes and ... going to paint it. I can't decide if I must call this "starting a new project" or just moving forward with an old one.

See [envision wheels turning I my head like a Steampunk drawing]....

If I take down these 3 glass cabinets, (2nd Chance and Community Forklift cabs) I can get to the bottom ones. (The Cabinet Joint.com base drawers.) The drawer cabinets need their drawer glides installed properly. Then I can actually use the drawers in this puppy.

If I move those bottom cabinets, I can consider laying a kitchen floor. Plywood just isn't my look anymore. If I lay the floor, I can install this credenza arrangement permanently. This means I can make the butcher block countertop I picture for this. I want to stain dark pieces to go with the light maple, and make a checkerboard. You know, like those MILLION DOLLAR butcherblock pieces they make us pay a MILLION DOLLARS for? Yes, one of those.

So... making space to put things back how they should be.
Making space by putting in flooring vs. having it stacked in the mudroom. (Pine or oak? Which do you think?)
Making space by installing the drawer boxes.
Making space by actually putting things [italicized] IN [/end] the cabinets.

Did I tell you I stripped the glass cab doors for a more antique/fitted look? They are Gaw-geous. Painting the beaded inset (of course) carcasses will complete this look I love.

At this very moment, making space by procrastinating.

These posts remind me that I really need to de-clutter. I've already got rid of a lot of stuff but there's more to be done. I also need to do something about the very inefficient storage systems in my closets. Too much stuff and poorly planned storage spaces are not helping. It also doesn't help that I have no basement and no attic. I pay for off site storage but I really want to get rid of that expense.

I have only a rather small space-making to report. I replaced all the hangers in my closet with those skinny flocked ones. I did get rid of a number of things as well, and used a clear plastic 18 gal. storage tote, standing on end, to stack folded sweaters in.

The space created was more than I expected, and I get a silly little thrill when I can actually slide a hanger an inch or two.

I currently have all my clean laundry on the bed in the (future) guest room. It's clean, but it's in there. The good thing is that my laundry room, where my closet and shelves are, is becoming very empty. I will have the opportunity to cull all kinds of clothing.

I'm going to apply my friend's declaration about my front yard and building materials.
"If you haven't used/worn it in 6 months, move it back to the barn/Goodwill." i.e. applying that outside advice to my inside space.

Plus, unless I get married and divorced again, I probably will never be a size 1 thru 4 again. Time to give those clothes to this urchin at work.

Wow Christine, you sure were productive this weekend. I just made vats of soup to combat the cold and cabin fever!

My plan is still to forge on with the kitchen remodel. For this we need to clear out the bedroom behind the kitchen that we dumped all the random things into when we moved. This'll be the cabinet building and appliance staging room and contractor mess containment room for a while. Gotta make the space for all the new kitchen stuff!

I was good earlier this year and cleared out 5+ bags of clothes and shoes to donate so there's a little more space in the close which hopefully will take a long time to fill up!

Itching to get outside and garden a little. Praying that the 150+ tulips that my dear husband put in in the fall when my back went out will make their way up. Have no idea what I will do with the blank slate sloped front yard. It's shaded by a huge oak tree so not too many options, but I really need something pretty there for curb appeal and to keep the mulch from falling into the street.

Oh and really looking forward to the front path being extended - i can't take another year of walking over muddy grass to get from driveway to front door! I suppose that's space, space for my feet!

Nothing done at home recently. Last week DH and I took a group of Boy Scouts to "musher camp" - three days of dog sledding in the north woods of Minnesota. Last week was spent gathering up the gear we needed to spend our days in temps ranging from -16°F to 25°F.

Traveling at the speed of dog:

Here I am with Belle, one of the dogs on my team. She was so sweet!

One day we went to the Canadian border, about 6 miles each way. The last 2 miles we were breaking our own trail across the lake - it was hard work, but worth the effort! Funny that there's a sign saying "Welcome to Canada" in the middle of nowhere. It looks an awful lot like Minnesota.

Pretty much decided to go ahead with the bathroom since no one is giving me an answer regarding coming to stay. If they come and the guest bath is torn out we'll just have to deal. I did some detailed measurements to try and figure out tile layout. The tile I chose is from British Ceramic Tile. It's metric. Why do I always make these things difficult for myself?

Christina, check out www.Wolframalpha.com. It's a conversion site that does things seemingly in language I can understand. It adds fractions, converts decimals, does metric to inches, etc. I forgot where I found this, but I've found it invaluable!

I'm reclaiming old and new spaces by unpacking the zillions of things we've had to pack away during construction. As each closet or room is claimed, and I can unpack things, then that gives me access to the boxes behind the boxes . . . and I can unpack more and sort/donate/give away more . . . Today, I unpacked three large art crates/boxes of my mom's paintings and other wall art. Tomorrow, I'll do some more . . . Hanging art is great, because it gets the hoard out of the taking-up-space zone and simply hangs it on the wall, which takes up no space that would otherwise be utilized. So, I'm focusing on hanging art for a few days. :)

Thanks for the Wolfram rec, I've used that site in the past but forgot all about it!

Bought my kitchen a present:

I really need to get my basement sorted out. To do that, I have to scan a bunch artwork/schoolwork that the boys have done. That is a huge task. I should have been doing it this winter, but well, you know, Netflix was calling my name. LOL. Once I get that started, I can empty out a dresser that is falling apart and get rid of that. I can sort out the school supplies and such properly and get rid of some other stuff I don't need to be dragging around for years.

I think I'll buy a couple of Ikea bookcases with doors on the bottom and then I can properly put stuff onto a bookshelf in the spare room down there. When I get that spare room cleaned out, I'll move all the flooring I plan on installing in the basement into that room. When I had the floors done upstairs, they were on clearance and once it was gone, it was gone, so I bought enough to have the upstairs and downstairs match.

I have purchased the sink cabinet and mirror cabinet for my future bathroom reno. I need to price check the tile I like at Home Depot and if it's the same as a local shop, then I'll support the local shop. I want a 24" square tile for the floor and I might have to get that in the US. I'll have to see if we're near a tile place on Sunday when my son is there for soccer. I know the faucets I want but I'm undecided on the bathtub. I don't want to spend $700 on the one I like that is ultra plain. I saw one that is pretty plain and nice. It's $100 cheaper in the US. I'll have to figure exchange and taxes to see what is more worth my while. I'll check flyers too as this is the time of year they have all the home improvement sales. Once I have all that, I'll call the contractor and get an estimate and time frame.

I didn't really answer the question. It seems I'm filling up the house not clearing it out. LOL