A lighter shade of white

I now know what my next job will be: creating names for Behr paints at Home Depot. I’m in the midst of choosing the wall and trim color for the upcoming painting extravaganza. It turns out that there are a lot of whites when it comes to interior pain. Who knew?

I spent last week feeling confident about Crisp Linen. Not only was a clean and simple white (not all are), but it had a killer name. This morning, however, I put it next to my sofa and it looks a bit, em, harsh. Too white. No one wants to live in a room that reminds them of snow. In fact, if I’m going for the whole beach theme, then I really want to avoid that. We get enough of the real stuff up here, no need to be reminded of it when we’re indoors, right?

Now the color of choice is Eggshell Cream with Swan Wing trim. I might be loving this because it reminds me of an Egg Cream–which though I’ve never had, I kind of feel like I have because isn’t that what Harriet the Spy loved? There’s something about those two words together that gives me immense satisfaction. There’s the curve of the egg–both hard and soft–and the cool velvet liquid of cream. Who wouldn’t love that? And Swan Wing? C’mon. Yeats would be proud.

Any birthdays coming up?

Treasures of yore

Reasons to love Albany: #1

The trash men pick up anything. Anything! Mattresses, old bikes, fans, drywall, sofas…
Or so I’ve been told.  I spent a half hour last night (pre-yoga) lugging trash bags and carpet rolls to the front curb.  I’m thinking I’ll need to divvy up the spoils over a couple of weeks–I don’t want the trash men to instantly hate me.  So, it is with a blind faith in their generous trash pick-up policy that I write this post. If it’s still out there, will someone call me?

On a different topic altogether: A few of you have told me that my comments feature is f-ed up and that you can’t leave a comment. Can I just say how happy that made me? Not the inability part– (clearly we’re up against the edges of my tech skill.  Sorry about that. I’ll consult with the right people and see what I can do)–but that people wanted to leave a comment. That is so sweet.

And here I thought that I was writing into the great void!

Lesson learned

Okay, so I’m now getting a better understanding of how the world of tradesmen/women work. I’d carefully scheduled the plumber for one week and the floor guys for the next. But then the plumber gets a late start, hits cement in the bathroom floor, needs time to sort out his confusion. This morning at 8:15 a van pulled up in front of my house and out spilled three guys in knee pads and ear plugs. Within seconds they had swarmed the house, tossed extension cords out the second-story window, and were wielding large machine sanders. Sure the plumber can work with us, they said. As long as he has some earplugs!

Tony, my man, you’re out of luck. And–in the meantime–I’m out a second floor bathroom.

Who needs carpeting?

The man is in town and we’re making huge progress on home demolition. Here are some recent pics:  

Homeowner, homemaker

Yup. That’s me! I’m now the proud owner of a cute little house that needs some lovin’. I already found some treasures in there that deserve documentation, so stay tuned.  I was successful at downloading a photo once, so I’m sure I’ll be able to manage it again…

20 Hour countdown…

It’s about as official as it can get without a key.  I met Nancy, my realtor, for the final walk-through today and all looks good (as in all the appliances are still there). The closing is scheduled for noon tomorrow, I’ve got my bank check, and all my paperwork has cleared.  I may have experienced my first homeowner moment! While I was waiting for Nancy, I started ripping out the snaky vine weed that was choking “my” peonies. And boy, did that feel good! My weed, my peony, my driveway, my house.

Which will soon mean my work gloves, my lawnmower, and my mortgage.

Visual Evidence

Still in Ohio

I’m here in my home-away-from-home in Ohio, but I’m thinking about my soon-to-be new home in NY!  The closing is finally scheduled and everything is in order (fingers crossed). If all goes according to plan, I’ll be ripping down window treatments by 3:00 Thursday afternoon.  PL is coming down at the end of the week to help me strip wallpaper and rip up the seafoam green carpeting. I’m hoping that we can do all of that in 2 days.  It will be a marathon of bad taste. Anyone care to join us? Hahaha…