poplar road

Richard's desk and filing cabinet haven't been moved in yet, because thanks to the sale of the trailer, we're going to get the electrical upgrade done sooner than we thought. The corner of wall to the left of my desk is going to need to be opened up when that happens (in March) so no point bringing in more stuff. I'll have to move my desk etc. out of the way, and we'll repaint those two walls before we put it back – a pain, but we thought it would be September before we did the upgrade. We've decided it has to be done before we install the new heating system this summer. (And of course the heating system has to be completed – involving moving chimney, tanks and ducts upstairs and down – not to mention the plumbing, wiring, and cabling, before the insulation and drywall goes up in the basement. Good thing the upstairs guest room is ready for visitors because the downstairs is going to be a long, drawn-out, expensive project.)

In the meantime I get to enjoy the view and the light, and I finally have my books close at hand. Did I mention I found my missing box of books and other things? That space in the bookshelf below isn't for missing stuff, it's for the next volume in a series I'm reading by George R R Martin – he's a little behind schedule on book four. I know the feeling. I'm kind of glad we've got to take the basement project slowly when this upstairs stuff is done; it will free up some writing time.

Also installed in here this weekend were new overhead lights to replace the ugly brass spots. Just the cheap domes like the ones in the hallway, but twice the light I had before – though I only need them once the sun goes down. Those blinds can't come soon enough, for me and probably for my plants' sake as well. That fig (fondly referred to as the "frickin' ficus") doesn't like direct sun. West sun is fine in winter but I'll have to move it elsewhere come spring. The other plants on the fireplace will get more than enough light from the north window.

Correction! I dug out Richard's compass: the street is south (not southwest) of us, and my desk faces west to the river, not north. So our house faces directly south, with the main living areas on the west side. I'm suddenly glad I didn't paint this room white! And glad we bought that portable air conditioner, because when summer weather hits 40 degrees Celcius and the sun is beating down on the glass it's going to get hot.

Below is the west-facing family room window, which I've included to show off our new lights to either side. These match the dining room chandelier, but with the back third cut off so it fits against the wall. One of the chandelier globes appears on the right edge of the shot. We also bought a torchiere with three brightness settings that works with a flourescent bulb – you can see it beside the couch in the right-hand image. Notice the wall of the hallway: I spent most of Friday getting it primed and putting on a first coat of "fossil stone", a greenish grey. Richard's choice, not mine, though I don't mind it in daylight. We have to replace the hall lights, a hodge-podge of old fluorescents, with the whiter variety, because the existing ones turn the grey walls a horrific neon green. I got the last coat on yesterday afternoon and can see it will look quite nice once the white doors and trim go on. Richard ordered stair, bedroom, bathroom and closet doors on Saturday, as well as replacement glass for the dining room French doors.

We ordered those doors from the place that made my office French door; we'll sure never custom order doors from HD again. Here, after two months' wait, is the proper new front door, with zinc, not brass, in the window, and a few less obvious scratches on the primer. Richard refused it initially because it was also scratched; but not as badly as the original, and HD's supplier will not guarantee unblemished product because they assume the customer will paint it. Who paints their front door? But we had to accept it, not worth waiting even longer. Richard even managed to control his temper one last time, to find nickel screws to match the hinges. The dolt at the doors desk had the nerve to ask him why on earth he'd want nickel-coloured screws instead of the brass ones? The guy is lucky their CSR had calmed Richard down before he got there. When you've heard "it'll be in next Thursday" every week for two months, even something as simple as the right colour screws can send you off the deep end. I'm so glad that's over with.

That was Friday. On Saturday morning, I walked down the street to buy eggs, and Richard finished work on the vent in the office floor. When I came back we hung the front door, and then I cracked open a can of tinted purple primer. What you see here is the second primer coat in the bedroom. I didn't get the final colour on until after Richard left yesterday, so no photos of that until it's all done (which is probably a good thing, it will look best when the bed's back in there and the moldings are on for contrast). This looks almost pastel, but the final colour is called "dark aubergine", close to eggplant but more red than blue. The first coat of it looks ghastly, and it's so dark that by the time I was done in the hallway at 4 pm yesterday, I didn't have enough daylight to be able to ensure a good second coat. With luck and enough light three coats should do it. I think that's what I'll be doing on Wednesday. Evenings are out of the question. Still to do is a lot of white on insides of two closets, plus the doors and trim.

While I was priming, Richard disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door... Not what you think! He finally installed the chrome shower curtain rod, two towel racks and a ring, and discovered that the box of parts for a hook behind the door is missing pieces. He also switched the wooden toilet seat lid for a white one, which looks much better. Now we just need to install the magnets on the mirrored vanity doors and we're done. Until we rip it up completely when the master bedroom reno gets going (next year?). That's how it goes.

Richard's final project before making dinner was the stairwell light. The bulb burned out just after we moved in, making the steep staircase gloomy and treacherous. Thankfully, my sister and brother-in-law donated a chandelier from their new place that happens to match our white & silver décor perfectly, and with three bulbs in that, the stairs are almost too bright. I didn't like watching Richard balance on a plank supported by a footstool and a borrowed ladder; actually painting the stairwell ceiling and walls is going to be a project from hell. Putting that off for another day was an easy decision!

I've got lots of painting to do over the next few weeks. When the new doors arrive we'll buy trim for hallway and bedroom and that will finish off the upstairs projects for now. Oh, and we'll have to set up the new bed Richard got at Costco on Friday in the spare room. Dagny, looks like you're not sleeping in the barn after all! There are a few other little things we can do, but our schedules are busy with work and a couple of trips to Vancouver, and the electrical upgrade will eat up our remaining reno funds, so don't expect a "Playing House, Part VII" for quite some time.

One final shot just for fun… The aubergine room started out pale pink when we moved in. Under that was a bright teal blue, and under that was greenish yellow. Under that, was this wallpaper. Amazing the history you find when you take moldings off of windows…