The house has a hollow, empty appearance and a slight echo without furniture in the living, family and dining rooms. It was all moved out yesterday in two truckloads; one destined for the consignment store and the other for storage until our repainting and recarpeting is completed. It was a long day and, although I didn’t do much of the heavy lifting, I was beat.
And I was as nervous as a cat the whole time as I watched the movers lug our heavy brass curio cabinets down the stairs from the landing, dismantle our piano and flip it on its side (terrifying!), and dolly our heavy furniture across the uneven walkway and into their truck.
In the midst of movers coming and going, our tile contractor came to measure the entry for new marble; turns out I’ll only need 400sf of 16-inch tiles instead of the 500sf we’d originally estimated. I called the supplier and gave him the revised quantity… and my credit card number (Ouch!)
And the upholstery company that re-covered our dining room chairs delivered the window seat cushion they’d made. It had been a little short when they brought it out the first time so I’d sent it back. This time it seems to fit perfectly. (Sigh of relief!)
The three young guys that will be dismantling our exercise machine came by around 6:30 last night to give me an estimate on the job. They’ll dismantle the machine and move the parts, along with some other exercise equipment, to our storage locker, then return and reassemble it all in the gym after the renovation (Ouch again!) They’ve been somewhat unreliable about keeping appointments and returning phone calls but promised to be here Saturday morning at 8 sharp. (Pending sigh of relief.)
It felt good to be closer to a state of readiness — the demolition is now scheduled to begin Wednesday instead of Monday — but I was exhausted last night and, after a wonderful dinner (bless Dawn’s heart), fell off to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Of course, we’re still not entirely ready for demolition. There’s still a lot of “stuff” to be boxed and hauled to the storage locker and various charities. It’s amazing how much we accumulate and hate to part with even after realizing it no longer fits or we no linger use it. So we’ll be taking this opportunity to purge.
But, as my cousin Mike advised, we’re keeping our eyes on the prize; our “house” is becoming our “home.”