Not A Lot To Report This Weekend

I have had quite a busy weekend, but there is very little to report.

I can feel that the winter is coming on. Not because it is cold or anything, actually, it is rather nice outside. I checked the thermometer and reset it before coming upstairs tonight and the high today on my deck was 75-degrees. When I rolled out of bed on yesterday morning, I knew that I had lots to do and only a couple days to do it so I got an early start.

I started with two major projects on my to-do list and about half-a-dozen little things. I am happy to report that I am mostly finished. Both the big jobs are done and there are only a couple of the minor ones left to do.

So, what has kept me out of the lovely weekend outside?

Well, my first big project was to start a major fall cleaning. Yesterday morning, I opened every window, and cleaned them inside and out, removed the window screens, cleaned them and replaced them. I even got out the Carpet Shampooer and cleaned the upstairs carpets. Today's big project was to re-design the utility room.

Anyone who has been to my place (or heard tales of it) knows it is pretty compact. This is a plus when it is time for my Spring and Fall cleaning and a big minus when it is time to try and figure out where everything should be placed. The utility room/laundry room/pantry was a prime example of what I mean by this.

A square room just under seven feet on a side, the room sits just beyond the kitchen. The HVAC and water heater take-up the eastern third of the room and the washer/dryer took up the western third. The end of the room furthest from the door had a bookcase with all my cookbooks on it, and there were some dark cabinets over the laundry machines.

That's what I started with. The problem was that it was dark, cluttered and had a claustrophobic feel. The first thing I did was empty the room and rip out the cabinets. I then stacked the dryer on the top of the washer (the machines were designed to be stacked, but the cabinets prevented me from doing it) and pushed them to the far wall. The book case of Cookbooks moved to the western wall (in front of the dryer duct) and a set of open white shelves went up against the walk behind and above it.

Although I now have about the same amount of shelf space, all of it is usable. The room feels a lot bigger as you walk into it. The best enhancement I made to the room is the simplest one and the one I like the best.

I installed brackets at the top of the room just either side of the door and hung a closet rod between them. I now have some place to hang clothing straight out of the drier so that I do not have to carry them all over the house looking for a place to lay them and hang them up!

I made a couple trips to Goodwill today to drop off some old clothing I no longer wear as well as some stuff that had been cluttering my utility room. Miscellaneous kitchen stuff that I never use. All-in-all a very productive day.

I hope that your day was productive!

Don Bergquist - 23-October-2005 - Lakewood, Colorado