Mount Laundry.

(photo by Lotus Carroll, click photo for original)

One load at a time – in the washer, in the dryer, put away.

Repeat.

(I have to do it this way, because if I get everything clean before I get anything put away, then I get tired and it all lands on the floor, becoming dirty and messy and then I’m back where I started.)

(Also, at this stage, my definition of “put away” is pretty loose. On a shelf or on a hanger with 15 other things = “put away” – This is not a time to get bogged down in details, peeps.)

My shoes? Totally in a pile in the closet, but they are IN THE CLOSET! #MoralVictory!

Next up is the bedding.

How about you? What’s your laundry situation looking like today?

Tell me. If you were starting from scratch with homekeeping, where would you start?

(photo by Lotus Carroll, click photo for original)

It morphed into a bedroom with a paint job (Sherwin Williams paint, some patience with some paint tape, and learning that measuring for stripes after a vicodin and while pissed at the best friend/not the boyfriend isn’t always a first try success.) Window coverings from JCPenney and are on every window in the house.

It further morphed into me putting down the entire hardwood floor with a little assistance from my 4 year old partner in crime.

And I will now work on cleaning my closet while singing I am Woman Hear me ROAR.

Now that I’m determined to make a home, I’m back on the plan. With some modifications.

1. I cleaned my sink. Because I like a clean sink.

2. I tossed some crap in the trash from the kitchen. Because I don’t like crap. I do have a junk drawer.

3. I organized the cabinets (Half of my cabinets are empty so this was easier than usual.)

4. I cleaned the counters and the front of the cabinets.

5. I swept the cat hair puffs off the floor.

6. I threw out old food.

To this

I am picturing how this kitchen will come together. White cabinets, laminate floors, the antique wood table from my family – with all the extra leaves in it, to make room for the family and the heathens’ friends.

I see cabinets and drawers not overflowing with stuff I don’t need. I have this ideal of not bringing anything into the house I don’t love.

I yanked out the pantry I didn’t like (too deep, shelves were already warped, took up more room than I was happy with) and instantly opened the feel of the kitchen. Someday there will be a built in butcher block desk area to match my someday butcher block countertops.

I see this workplace as taking the place of an entire office room. Taking advantage of a corner of my world in this smaller home.

I see a pantry cabinet full of ingredients to help nourish us and keep us healthy. Or more to the point, get us healthy again. The dude and I are trending toward truly fat, I’d rather cook for us, but man things in wrappers covered in cheese are yummy.

I could work on this kitchen forever, but I already have the sense of when this first stage will be “done”, when I find my “enough” and will have the heart of this smaller home beating and ready to let me branch out into the rooms.

She lived 97 years. She was a walking ad for Oil of Olay. (If the Olay people would like to hook me up, that would be fantastic. Just sayin’)

Grandma and Grandpa owned a funeral home and lived in the apartment above it. When they retired they moved all the way across the street into a house. The only time any of us had ever been back in there was for Grandpa’s funeral in 1991.

My cousin arranged for us to be able to go back into that original home the house before Grandma’s funeral. Everything was smaller than we remembered, but it was the kitchen that brought the most memories.

In the corner was where Grandpa kept the “medicine” he gave us before bed at night. (aka one piece of candy corn). The countertop is where the noodles were rolled out, the TINY stove cooked the giant pots of noodles and mashed potatoes. Nothing decorative or fancy or pretty cabinet pulls. The women washed and dried all the dishes in there (hey, all the men were on the roof in the snow and wind adjusting the TV antenna, the kitchen was at least warm.) The smoke detector was on the outside of that wall – and when it went off, dinner was done.

We stood together looking in that tiny space, I remembered the warm security of a home full of yummy smells, crammed with toys, overflowing with people and joy and love.

Whether or not those times were ACTUALLY perfect isn’t the point, the memories are definitely perfect.

That kitchen was teeny and full of love. The bar is set high for my own little smaller home.

(looks kinda like a person throwing their hands in the air to party eh?)

I know the general idea of fixing it

• scrape/flake off the paint and drywall tape that has bubbled off the wall
• some kind of joint compound to fill any gaps
• sand it smooth

This post about drywall repair mentions drywall tape. I dunno. I’ll have to ask my experts and see what they say.

I thought about carpet for about 30 seconds. Then Alex spilled syrup and orange juice and popcorn all over the floor and I thought about how lovely it would be to not have to spend my life scrubbing stickiness out of carpet and decided I wanted more wood. (That’s what she said.)

The nasty lineoleum and carpet has to go.

The Dude recommended laminate and I scoffed at him. I’ve had some laminate before and hated it. I could see the rough surface of fake wood and the seams around each plank. No way was I spending money on that.

I went to the local big box store to look at wood. Came home and said, “Uh, the stuff I liked the best was laminate.” Tasty, tasty words I got to eat.

(Tecsun Mocha Teak $3.34/sqft)

Time to start trying to price beat!