First 9 of '09

The first nine days of my New Year have come and gone without a glich. Nine good hours seems miraculous to me, compared to the last eight months of '08, so to be blessed with nine days of plain ol' good things brings me a serene joy that I am very thankful for.

I worked on the remodel alone today. I have finished painting the walls upstairs and am now transforming the main floor. The verdict on the paint color and tile is unanimous. "Love it," all declare. The previous "color scheme" was eggshell and bright white. The lack of contrast between the two left the rental looking cold and dingy, allowing the unique character and charm to become lost in its blankness. The new color "pops" the white trim and wood floors, while providing a warm backdrop for the mahogany crown molding on the lower level. Below is a brief description of the photos in the order they appear:

1. Staircase- the left half of the photo shows a view of the staircase against the new paint color, the right provides a new vs. old perspective. (The blue line is painter's tape.)

2. Dining area- this photo is entirely "before." The walls are eggshell, and the trim bright white. The hardware on the door is covered in paint.

3. Doorknob and plate- this photo is an up close "after" of the doorknob and plates. If you refer to the previous post with photographs, you can see the difference this attention to detail makes. The plates were dusted with a light coat of Rustoleum "Dark Bronze" spraypaint to cover splatters of wall paint from a previous, and very careless paint job. The knobs were placed in the magical crockpot to allow paint splatters to be easily wiped away and return the knobs to an "old yet new" glory.

4. Hallway Built-in- this photograph shows the hallway built-in that provides storage convenient to the bedrooms and bathroom. This feature was easily overlooked when the nearly identical shades of white were competing. The hardware was removed and given the crockpot treatment to remove an unthinkable number of layers of paint. Right now, the built-in serves well as a desk/tool/coffee mug holder, but will be refurbished with paint and hardware. By the way, that's one of my coveted MiGo coffee mugs I spoke of. It is now the LAST one I have. What's the lesson? Never count on a man being respectable enough to return your fancy thermal coffee mugs. Give him styrofoam and show him the door. (wink)

5. Upstairs hallway- this somewhat blurry photo is of the hallway outside of the bathroom door. You can barely sneak a peek of the new bathroom tile. Featured is my perch for the last five days... a paint-covered ladder.

So that's your inside view to my salvation. Working on this beautiful old apartment has allowed me to have a creative outlet, and given me a legitimate reason to be tired. Instead of last year's curse of "chronic napping*," I feel awake when I wake up, and tired when I go to bed. I'm almost normal again. I suspected all I needed to straighten things up was a sense of purpose and some sort of work schedule, and so far, this suspicion has proven to be true.

I collected two holding deposits today, both from very nice women. It is now up the property owner and application analysis to decide who actually gets the place. I was impressed with both potential tenants, and would personally have a tough time deciding. The verdict is expected Monday at 5:00 p.m.

I'll be forgoing a day off this weekend. My own house has become a bit of a mess while I've been sprucing up this rental. I now have clean and dirty piles of laundry, a behavior not normally condoned or practiced. But, it's a small, temporary sacrifice for the rewards of working hard and personally transforming an "oldie but a goodie" of a place.