Home Improvement Projects

When M and I started planning on wedding, I was sure that there would be setbacks and snags along the way - and there have been. But planning the wedding was the easy part... figuring out how to join our two lives together has been much more difficult.

I guess I should pause to clarify that I am not referring to the actual marriage, as I know that learning to live together will be a life long proccess. Rather I am referring to how we are going to put all of my stuff with all of his stuff - and still have a house that is livable.

Over the last few months, M and I have paired down our respective collections of things. We then created a list of projects that we wanted to complete on the house - projects that would ease the transition into sharing spaces. And even a few projects that are purely cosmetic ( like painting the kithcen). We have planned, planned and planned these projects. But it is just now, a mere 11 days out, that we are putting the plans into practice.

As I type, my kitchen is a war zone. My Uncle Dewayne has taken over the area as he has stripped two layers of old vinyl wallpaper off, mudded, patched, sanded and resanded the walls. Today he is going to put on the first coat of our new wall color, Tidal Basin Blue . Tomorrow he will put on the 2nd coat and paint all of the trim to coordinate. Hopefully by Thursday, I can get into the room to put it to rights and clean up everything.

The other big project has been determining closet space. M has a lot of clothes, and I have even more. So we knew there was no way we could share the small 6 foot closet in the master bedroom. We had been discussing converting the "sitting room" oustide the master bath into a walk-in closet. And last night M did just that. Hanging more than 8 feet of rod for me to use. I took the time to go thru my wardrobe and pair down to just those items that a) fit, b) looked to be in good condition, and c) that I have worn in the last year. I was able to donate nearly 2 bags full of clothing - and I still used every last inch of those 8 feet. :-)

Tonight M and I will continue working on our project list as we go thru his clothing. We will also be hanging some decorative items. Then this weekend, while M is away on his boys weekend, I have organized a work party to tackle the clean up of our carport and yard. Hopefully by Sunday afternoon, our house will be neat, tidy, and ready for us to make it our home as man and wife!