Friday, August 22, 2008

apartment detox, first report



progress has been made, my friends. this week, i have managed to rest some and get some significant projects around my apartment resolved. my new motto is: get rid of the stupid. i am looking at home projects with new eyes. if i haven't done anything with it in over six months, i have to either a) finish it, or b) get rid of it.

early in the week i finished a project that had been taking up space and sucking energy in my living room for two years. it feels so, so good to complete it! above is a photo of the piece finished. looks simple, i know. i had this concept after picking up these four cool 1950's door panels at a local salvage place. i would stain the wood dark to match my couch and suspend them from the ceiling to create an "entryway" in my apartment. it's always bothered me that my ground floor apartment, which opens up right onto the street (ok, four steps down) has no sense of transition from public to private space. the living & dining are all one big 14 x 22 ft room, so when someone comes to the door, boom! there is your life for all to see.

despite telling part of my life story on the internet, i am really quite a private person.

well, finally the light bulb went off on this project. i could skip staining the wood (i have several colors of wood in the room anyway) and just by getting a few hinge pins, the existing hinges would connect the panels into sets of two. wow, i was on a roll. a few brass straps screwed the two sets together in the middle and suddenly, like magic, i had a screen with ends that folded in and stood up by itself! immediately, the room became more cozy and each time i came in the front door, i smiled with the pleasure of seeing that screen.

finished is better than perfect. it's a stretch for me to embrace this, but it's also making me much, much happier. detoxing is wonderful for the spirit.

i then moved on to my office and a long day was spent at ikea, measuring and plotting. that is a story for another day, when i have fabulous "before" and "after" pictures to show.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've a tough row to hoe. My wife went through breast cancer at 35. She also had uterine cancer, not sure how old. We just celebrated 42 years. I'm sure she would raise her fist in the air to you as a sign of encouragement. Fight the fight and finish the course. Found your blog using Pink Martini. It's one of our favorites.

Jomon said...

"Finished is better than perfect"... I think I need this tattooed to something constantly visible.

August 2009 said...

Hi Tay, Oh Tay, I finally found where to post here. Ha! It is me Kaloni, from www.breastcancer.org I have to say you have a lovely website. I am in the process of learning how to blog with Eblogger. It is confusing at that! I was wondering did you use the regular Eblogger or Eblogger Beta? I am trying to figure out how to put graphics on there? How did you do your turnips on your frontpage? They are so cute. I have to say you are very creative and blessed with a gift. I see it here. I will catch up on my reading here, and post again soon sweetie.

God Bless,

Love,
Kaloni

Maryam in Marrakesh said...

oh yay, Tay! This looks amazingly good and I can't believe you did it yourself..........you crafty little wonder:) I also like those splashes of pink in your living room.

Looking forward to seeing the office detox.