I thought yesterday would not be a moving day and I’m not counting it, but I can’t get away from the project. After my car inspection I visited a friend out in the South Hills and on my way home I just happened to pass another Home Depot. Walking through the lighting section I was stopped by a young man who was pushing cabinet refacing for kitchens. It was something I never thought about, so I agreed to have a consultant come to see me. That was the third appointment for today.

I began the day with Brian, who came with floor samples from Costco. He measured and wrote endless quotes and was still writing when Bill arrived from the company that spray paints metal. He drew pictures of the kitchen cabinet configurations, didn’t measure, and promised to call with a quote. Brian finally finished writing and we walked over to his truck to look at samples. He also promised to call with quotes. I’ve been asking for a quote for the floors in the  kitchen and small bedroom and a separate quote for the living room, which I am still pondering (doing, that is).

I’ve been told the carpet is new, but there is a strange odor in the room that I never noticed the first three times we were in the apartment. It only appeared after the apartment was emptied. It doesn’t seem to be in any of the other rooms. I opened windows all over trying to air it out.That’s another reason to change the flooring.

Right on schedule at three o’clock Mike from Home Depot Refacing Dept. showed up. He told me all about refacing and then measured all the cabinets and countertops. At the end he gave me a firm quote on the entire kitchen job. There are only two problems: the green color inside the cabinets would still be there, and the cost, while very reasonable, is all the money I want to spend at this time. While I understand the importance of a good kitchen it is not something I really care about at this time. All I really need is a microwave, a toaster oven and a refrigerator. So this remains to be seen.

My new light fixtures for the dining room showed up today. I think I will like them. Ed called and he will come tomorrow and begin work on fixtures and some other things.

Back to the apartment this morning with more stuff. Then I spoke with Bill, the maintenance man and Ralph, the garage man, getting more information about the building and the apartment. Went to a nearby carpet and flooring store. They have wonderful things but everything is more money than I want to spend. Bill gave me the name of a company that spray paints metal cabinets. I will be meeting with them on Wednesday morning, along with another floor installation company. Tomorrow will not be a moving day. The car is going in for the yearly inspection and then I’m going to visit a friend who has also just moved.

Yesterday when I bought the floor lamp I also bought 2 orchids. Home Depot sells them so cheaply I couldn’t resist. This morning I brought them to the apartment and they are enjoying the wonderful north light. I went with a carful of stuff: framed pictures, the new floor lamp, a few other things. I drove into the garage and introduced myself to the attendant, who brought a cart and helped put the stuff into it. I plan to do this with all the stuff I’d rather not pack for the movers. I have an awful lot of framed pictures. That will be the story for most of these 40 days.

I put the lamp together and put it in bedroom 2. I haven’t decided where to store all the framed pics. Some will go on the walls, some will be stored. I have not decided which closet won’t get painted. Each time I return I find more things I want to do.

Back to the before pictures. The hallway leads to the two bedrooms and the bathroom. The large bedroom is at the far end. It’s been painted a dark green. The carpet is relatively new and I will probably just clean it and leave it in place. The dark green walls suck up all the light, so they will go.

There is a wonderful, large fitted closet. This is just a peek at it. I’m sure all my clothes and shoes will fit nicely.

The second bedroom needs lots of work. A large desk takes up most of one wall (left) and is supposedly built in. It has to be removed. There is no carpet under it, so the carpet will have to be changed (needed anyway), and the entire room, including the closet, needs painting.

This is the other view of the room. I don’t know where the pink came from on the wall, which had a bed up against it. Maybe it’s the white paint wearing off. There are four bookcases against the left wall. I will probably move two of them into the other bedroom; maybe get rid of two of them. At least I know I’ll be able to house all of my books.

This is where I will work. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but I want it to be pleasant.

I never photographed the bathroom. Next time.

The kitchen needs a new oven, possibly a new dishwasher. The cabinets are metal; I think one of the old St. Charles kitchens. it was originally aqua, or I think they called it avocado.

My cabinets were sprayed white outside, but nothing was done inside, as you can see. The outside needs to be redone and I’d like to have the inside done. The built in oven looks like it had a fire inside. I’m thinking about removing it and replacing it and the cooktop with an ordinary range. Some of the cabinets will be sacrificed; not a problem for me.

The other wall has a newer cabinet that may have been used as a place to sit and eat. I have a nice butcher block table that may replace it. The door at the center of the picture is a large pantry. Since I do very little cooking this will become another storage room.