Sunday, April 28, 2013

Remodeling, sort of

We are gearing up for my mom's move to Oregon City this weekend. Back in February, we had started making plans with both her and Dad to move here sometime over the summer, but since Dad's timeframe was shortened so much, it will be just Mom coming.

Thank goodness for this sturdy old farmhouse with it's "interesting" floor plan! It seems to stretch and expand with all its old fashioned nooks and crannies. Mom will have her own apartment on the main floor, with easy access to the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Mom's apartment will have a large bedroom / sitting room, a walk-through closet, a full bath, a pantry area, and a kitchenette and dining area. Ikea, here we come!

Last month we had a laminate floor installed in the bedroom / sitting room, and Mark worked all day yesterday on finishing the moldings and trim in the room. It looks so pretty.
 The new laminate floor in Mom's bedroom / sitting room


 Pretty new trim / baseboards
 One of the architectural details we saved when we did the big remodeling job 8 years ago - now it's installed in a corner of Mom's closet.
Mark even made the moldings pretty inside the closet.

And...drum roll...speaking of Ikea, I headed out on a little shopping expedition of my own Friday night. Came home with some...um...heavy boxes full of two or three million little pieces. 

I needed some prettier more efficient storage space for our office "stuff" if it was going to be right there in our dining room, instead of tucked away on the back porch. (Which will soon become Mom's kitchenette and dining area.) While Mark was constructing awesome-looking trims for Mom's apartment, I was playing carpenter with the fun that is Ikea furniture.

 It's not too complicated, right??
 If you just take the directions one step at a time, it's not too hard.
 I actually got a small blister on my right hand from all the screwdriver use.
 And this is the awesome result! I love this pretty cabinet.
 Instead of having "stuff" all over the top of the desk, it's stashed away in the pretty cabinet!
And to replace the desk drawers + rubbermaid drawers + 4-drawer filing cabinet...ta da!!
I built the little 5-drawer cabinet from Ikea, and bought the little filing cabinet at Office Max.
A place for everything and everything in its place.
Makes me happy!

Mark and I will fly to Spokane Thursday morning to help Mom finish packing. Son-in-law Eric will join us on Friday to load the U-Haul truck. My brother will come over from Shelton, WA (near Olympia) on Thursday, too. On Saturday, Mark & Eric will drive the U-Haul back to Oregon City, and Mom and I will drive her car. We have a crew planning to meet us at 7:00 pm to unload Mom into her new home (!!) and then Eric will fly back to Spokane on Sunday morning to get his car and drive home to his sweet family.

I know there will be adjustments to make all around - for Mom as well as for Mark and me - but we are genuinely looking forward to having Mom here. She is sweet, happy company, and we are looking forward to good connections and happy adventures together in the coming months.

8 comments:

Polly @ Pieces by Polly said...

I'm so happy that she's able to come and stay with you. I can't wait to see how her apartment turns out.

The Burns said...

I cant wait to see it all come together: -) it looks good so far :-)

Hillary said...

Looking good! And I'm glad she will be able to be closer to you. Josh and I really love the new cabinet you built! Gotta love IKEA. :)

Dorothy said...

You and Mark are providing a wonderful example of how to invite a relative to live-in permanently and still give that person a sense of their own space and privacy. I look forward to getting to know your Mom so much more in the near future!

Unknown said...

I'm so excited to have Nana be closer, but the twins are even more excited. In talking to Kat, she says they are more excited because they are closer! They have vision of homework help, cooking and reading chapter books with Nana.

I'm a little jealous that she will be settled in before us, but I am very happy that all of the legal things were able to be wrapped up quickly. I think she needs family close , and we sure need her !

Katie Lewis said...

It looks great! I'm excited to see how it looks when it's all finished!

Annemarie said...

I loved reading this post, Kathy. What a gift to both your mom and you that you'll be able to share life together for a while. How kind and open to help make a space all her own in your home. I'm sure this is a sad time for your mom, and what a blessing it must be for her to move in with you and Mark. Sending love and prayers for this transition . . . miss you, friend.

Debi said...

As you know, I just found your blog and it breaks my heart to hear about your Dad's death. Please know that I will be praying for a safe move for your mother and all the people involved in that move. Having your mom close will surely be a blessing to you all.