On The Homefront

Like many Saturdays, today has mainly been about getting things done around the house.  Along with stowing groceries and starting the laundry, I took the time to water everything outside on account of how hot it has been.  I even watered the bigger trees, because if the summer is half as hot and dry as it feels like it is planning to be, I figured it would be a good idea to fortify everything against it as much as I can.  So the planter box got some water, the fig got some water, the redbuds got some water, the kitty got some water....

Hold on a second....

The real main event of the day, however, is an event that has been in the works for a while.

One thing about having my first real job post Grad School has been coming to grips with the fact that I am no longer a lowly student living in a grad pad.  It was a nice grad pad, really, and perfect for my circumstances at the time, but it was pretty clearly intended for the rental market, and I furnished it on a pretty tight budget.  The few nicer things I had in it were either the furnishings that had been in my room for years growing up, or were pieces my parents had to spare and were kind enough to pass along.  (I don't recall ever thinking such things, but if, at any time, I ever was so foolish as to think that it was "lame" having parents who spent so much time in antique stores, I have long since realized my folly.) 

So, I had a lot of work to do when I moved into my new place.  There were only a couple of things to do to the house itself; one room had previously been a nursery, and was painted ohmigosh PIIIIIIINK, so that had to be fixed, and the back door to the patio was originally a (really ugly, cheap-looking, ill-fitted) set of French doors, so a much nicer sliding door had to be acquired and installed.  Also at the top of the list was a washer and drier set with more than two cycle settings between them.  (The set that sold with the old house were on the simpleminded side.  Their general settings were Harsh and Harsher.  The Washernator and Dryzilla got the job done, but they were not kind to clothes.) 

Once these items were taken care of, however, I was still left with two empty rooms, one half-empty room, and a totally tasteful collection of Walmart Special particle-board furniture that desperately Needed To Die.  This whole process of furnishing my new place has taken quite a while (is it still a "new" place at almost three years?) but after a long journey the place is really looking great.  I picked up a set of office furniture for the first guestroom/home office/den (the ex-nursery), and bought some nice living room furnishings from a colleague who was nearing retirement and looking to downsize (that worked out well for both of us).  Then came the super-classy particleboard entertainment center.  That turned into quite a project.  After all, if I was replacing the furniture, it might be time to think of upgrading the serviceable but now way too small TV that sat on said furniture.  And if I was going to get a really nice TV, it was going to need some sound to go with it....  The people at Best Buy loved me that day.

All this, of course, has been the work of a couple of years (no hurry, right?).  With the Great TV Upgrade, the last piece of particleboard was finally dead, and I felt quite accomplished if I do say so myself.  The one thing really remaining was the dining room--or, more accurately, the space intended to be a dining room but which has gone unused because of a complete lack of dining furniture to dine on.  Well, a little while back on a particularly pleasant Saturday I hopped into the faithful car and took a road trip up to a great little antiques place my Mom and Dad discovered on the route between their place and mine.  They had exactly what I was looking for: there was a cute drop-leaf table with Queen Anne feet which would fold nicely out of the way if/when I need the space for orchestra practices, and a set of really neat chairs with a kind of unique design to their backs. 

The biggest hitch was getting them all back home, since my car--as awesome as it is and all--definitely did not have enough room.  So I had to arrange for shipping, which was not cheap, but it was the only feasible way for me to manage things.  It also meant having to wait for a while until the shipping folks could arrange the pickup.  Well, after all of that, today was Delivery Day, and I can now proudly say I have a proper dining room--and a fully furnished house!

The dining room is a small space, but a nice one.  Here it is "before," ready and waiting:

And finally:

An actual dining room!  The pictures on the wall are hung thanks to my parents, who took time to help put them up before heading home last week.  Only one thing was needed to properly complete the whole ensemble:

There!  Is perfect.

Leo got to spend a little time in "kitty jail" while everything was being brought in, as he apparently thinks he's part of the cast of The Great Escape, making it his mission in life to find a way out the front door.  However, he clearly held no grudge against the new arrivals, finding the table to be an excellent vantage point from which to survey his Vast Domain.  The chairs were also objects of great interest:

Does this mean he gets Fancy Feast....?

So!  It was a very exciting day, and it really feels nice to have finished (more or less) putting together my home.  Now to decide how to celebrate....