Sunday Shenanigans

I always say, "Life is choices," and I had to admit that after my experience with ill people last Sunday in church, we decided to skip services today instead of being in a confined space with not-so-healthy people.  Of course, by not being there, we have no idea who was there and how healthy everyone might have been.  We'll try again next week; perhaps everyone will feel better by then.

The day dawned cloudy with a promise of rain (for the next four days, even!), so we wanted to make sure that we got some of our outdoor chores completed before weather headed our way.

Rick wanted to get the guest room closet doors cut off while we could work with the garage door open.  We knew when we ordered the doors that they would be about 3" too long.  He had planned ahead before he retired that he might have to restructure closet doors, so he had made wooden inserts to glue into the hollow cavity that would be left if he had to cut doors.  His planning was absolutely perfect. We put the first door on the work table, and Rick used his new Festool saw on the door.  The cut was exact with no chipping, and the insert was a perfect fit that was both strong and snug. In fact, the insert made the bottom of the door stronger than the way the door originally was structured.  The whole operation went without a hitch. After clamping the glued-in insert in a couple of places, we brought the door back into the house to dry.

We repeated the process with the second door. That door, however, had a cardboard spacer insert glued a little closer to the bottom of the door, so when we cut the bottom off, the insert was in the way.  Rick figured it would "give" when he put the wooden insert in, but the strong glue and sturdy cardboard had other plans.  It would not budge.  Rick tapped the wooden insert in as far as he could get it, and then he took the Festool saw one more time to trim off the excess wood.  Once again, we ended up with a door that is stronger now than it was before.

While we were set up with saws in the garage, we took the time to chop up the woodwork that we had removed from Gladys so we could get it out to the curb for garbage pick-up tomorrow. Since recycling pick-up is on Mondays also, I took the time to cut up all of the accumulated cardboard boxes that had gathered on the back concrete slab.  Somehow we always manage to fill our garbage can and recycling every week.

The guest room door (back) and one of the closet doors
lie on sawhorses while they dry.  Painting doors is a
never-ending job this year.  The results, however, will really
change the look of the house.

We then moved indoors so we could continue with the never-ending chore of painting.  Rick added a second coat to the guest room closet door frame so we can put up the track for the doors tomorrow.  Then he moved on to the doors.  He put on a first coat of paint on the front side of the guest room door and a first coat on one of the giant closet doors.  While he was doing that, I painted the first coat on the door frame to the guest room.

By noon we were both tired of painting and working around the house.  We discussed looking at some of the local shops for some bedroom furniture for the guest room.  We did not have a headboard for the bed, and the "nightstands" in the room actually are living room tables that we have had since 1976. I feel a donation to Habitat for Humanity Restore or to Goodwill in our near future.

Rick checked online and found that even in the supposedly affordable furniture shops, a night stand -- on sale -- would cost us at least $329.00. Seriously? For Taiwan-manufactured MDF and veneer with cheap drawer glides?  We know the "quality" of the furniture in some of  those stores, so we also knew that we would not be comfortable spending $658 plus tax just for two night stands.  We don't have the budget to do that and still afford a headboard for a queen sized bed.

Rick suggested that we looked at Ikea.  While their furniture is not Ethan Allen quality, we know that it is solid wood and engineered well.  It certainly is not premier furniture, but it is affordable and it will more than meet the needs of an occasional guest.  For the fourth day in a row, we found ourselves driving into Tampa.

Our visit to Ikea went well.  We knew what we were looking for, so our stop in the crowded store was brief.  We found that the Hemnes headboard and night stands that we had chosen online were soon to be discontinued, so we are happy that we made the trip while they still had stock left in the warehouse.  We were not sure that we wanted the footboard that went with the headboard, but we had no choice but to pay for and take the whole package. Even in doing that, we still were able to purchase the whole suite for less than $425.00. And like the closet components, the ensemble was engineered and made in Sweden.  Maybe we will have to have a language requirement for our guests...

Once we returned home and hauled in the boxes, we had a brief visit from Steve and Chris to show them the closet, ate a little dinner, and then put together the headboard.  I like that the headboard is not too tall, so it does not block the light from the window to the back yard.  The slats in the headboard also will coordinate with the bead board design of the doors.

We were not sure about adding the footboard, so we called Lindsay who insisted that the footboard made the bed ensemble look complete.  OK.  We'll try it for a while.  We had to struggle a little to get it into place, but the results, I think, are pleasing.  The downside to buying Ikea furniture?  It all comes in flat boxes.  Assembly is not a problem, but once again I have a ton of boxes to deal with.  Perhaps a trip to the recycling center is in order this week since I cannot put any more into our recycling bin.

A completed bed awaits our guests. New night stands soon
will add to the totally white decor in this room.

Fatigue prevented us from putting together the two night stands, and I have an early (7:45 a.m.) doctor's appointment tomorrow.  I already am not pleased with the drawer pulls that come with the night stands, so I may stop at Lowe's after the doctor visit to see what they have that would better suit the room and my tastes.

We continue to slowly put together the inside of Gladys, waiting for the weather to behave so we can get outside to start our work on the painting and repair that Gladys so badly needs. Chris mentioned today that at least we had plenty to do inside to keep us busy while the weather is too cold to paint outside.  She is right.  We have been here 19 days so far, and we have made incredible progress on updating various interior aspects of Gladys.