We have to Make a Decision….

We should be done by the time we head south in early December. We have to make a once-a-round to make sure we are ready for our final inspections. There are a few small jobs that we’ll get done but our focus is now on the family Christmas celebration we are hosting for the first time in 14 years. Needless to say we are more than a little anxious, we’re having 19 people sitting for dinner and we have not done anything like this in a long time.

One of those small jobs is to pick up and assemble another cabinet for the mud room. Originally we were building a walk in closet for coats and boots and something to accommodate laundry supplies. On one of our several trips around Ikea to complete our kitchen, we found a cabinet that will do the job and is much easier than building something. It came in 3 heavy boxes – and awkward too without handles. We were a bit apprehensive about putting it together, how will we be able to carry it assembled and manoeuvre it though the house, it was too big to put it together in the mud room. We winged it as usual, assembled it in the great room and then put it on a blanket and dragged it down the hall to the mud room. A few tips here and a swivel there and we had it in place and put the doors on. Such a small, simple task took us most of the day!

Because of the sink in the island, we have a vent pipe running up the inside of a wall and Barb has designed a cabinet to cover it up as well as giving it functionality. We started installing the pieces – this is our own design and built from scratch – so we could finish the baseboards in the kitchen. Barb is just about tired of painting trim so I don’t want to delay so long that I have to do the painting. We get the main pieces fastened in but we are running out of time so once the baseboards are cut, nailed and filled and painted, we decide to tackle the large sliding door separating the great room from the study.

We picked up the sliding doors, fastened them together with steel straps on the top and bottom and then attached the barn door track hardware to the six foot door. Getting the track in place was an interesting chain of events. The track is 12 feet long that had to be thread into a 3 inch slot where the door will slide into. One of us had to go high while the other went low to manoeuvre it into place so we could fasten it to the wall and hang the door. It all went well but not without some doubt – you remember my error when I built the rough stud opening for the bedroom door – well, we were both wondering if I made the same mistakes with a small opening for this large door. Well, this went together just like I had planned it except, I did not account for the bolt heads protruding from the door hardware so much and we could not get them into the 3 inch slot in the wall! So, off to Lowes one more time to find something what will do the same job with a more flush finish. Success, we found some furniture bolts that will work perfectly and now the door works and looks fantastic!

While shopping for the door solution, we picked up sliding closet doors for the study and got them installed too. We are just zipping along, preparing for the final building and electrical inspections. As some of you know, we bought this little ‘hobby’ as an investment, Just a little something that we could flip maybe or rent. Barb & I have been kicking the decision around most of the summer but more intensively in the later stages of the re-build as the house is coming together. Neither one of us really wanted to give up the full timing RV lifestyle so we thought we could easily come to terms with the sell or rent decision. Once we could see how cute this little place was, we started talking about maybe moving in and commuting to our winter home in LA. But one day we were sitting back in the great room in our lawn chairs having a little happy hour and looking over the kitchen and our accomplishments. A little discussion around what we want to do while we admired our handy work. Barb plainly stated how much she loved her kitchen – the words just hung out there and soon we were laughing and saying that our decision has been made.

Terri and Mark dropped off the travelling Christmas boxes that contain the ‘family’ dishes and ‘the tree’. We set about decorating the tree but there doesn’t seem to be enough ornaments but that is always fixable and it was. Now we’re pretty much ready for the family Christmas celebration in our new home. We even had our first snowfall to get us more in the mood – not telling you what mood.

Until next time, we hope all is good where you are….