Half Classic Six

It has been a while since I have had regular postings and updates on HC6, but rest assured, I am still here. The realities of holding down full time employment while renovating your home are challenging enough, but when you factor in a 50%+ increase in work load due to external circumstances, it shifts life to a less than balanced state and makes getting anything done on the apartment all the more challenging. A classic case of work-life out of balance or as I prefer, unbalance.

Some folks can work all day and then come home and work all evening on their home projects…. Not me. As an introvert, I have never been able to get much done on weeknights, even when work-life is much more balanced. After spending the day at the office interacting in meetings, conference calls, and such, along with weeknight activities, I am often wiped from all of the interactions. When I get home, I just need to decompress. Which usually involves spending the evening reading news and articles on the web as well as exploring new ideas for the apartment. The last thing I want to do is come home and start working on the apartment, making a mess, getting sweaty, and then having to scramble to clean up before bed. It is however, this need to decompress which drives my passion for making my home a place of respite from the world.

This leaves me with weekends. Beginning last January, I spent every single weekend for five months (with only one exception) focused on getting the kitchen done. By the end of June, we finally had a somewhat functional kitchen, and I took a couple of weeks off, and went on our annual week in Provincetown in July. That helped a bit, but once we were back home, my aspirations of getting things wrapped up by early October became just that, aspirations. I lost my willingness to devote every weekend to the renovation. Finally, I took a week in September and managed to get started on the other side of the room.

But beyond what I posted a full month ago, not much has happened. The recent increase in work and related stress has slowed me down and worn me out to the point that if I can even spend three or four hours working on the apartment over the weekend, I have to consider that progress. Some weekends have had zero progress because of other priorities. So, while I realize these are truly first world problems… It is nonetheless frustrating, and it is my reality. That said, this is also my blog and I will update as I see fit (and have time). Since I don’t really have a lot to reveal, I thought perhaps I should go over a few small wins that Y and I have accomplished this past few months.

The bathroom ceiling before, during, and after repairs. The before was this way for the past 8 months. We are so glad repairs are finally finished.

Bathroom:
In my last post, I wrote about our bathroom being a hot mess at the moment and us waiting for the ceiling to be repaired before we can do anything to it. Well, I am thrilled to say that, as of this past week, our bathroom ceiling has been repaired with new plaster and primed leaving me a clean palette to begin our makeover. I have also shifted my thinking on the colors just a bit (as the result of my evenings surfing the web for ideas). We are still working out the details, but I can tell you that the color green is being introduced into the mix.

Progress on phase II is slow, but there is progress. The base almost complete! After nine months of microwaving oatmeal in the hallway, we can finally microwave in the kitchen.

Kitchen:
Very little has happened in the kitchen in the past six weeks. I posted a shot of our base cabinet installed in the corner, and unfortunately other than putting the microwave into the base cabinet, not much else has happened other than I finished the doors this past week and got started on painting the upper cabinet pieces. I also did a big color switch-a-roo, but that’s for another post.

This bedroom in Drawing Room Blue (Farrow and Ball – No 253) is a big inspiration for what we want to achieve in our bedroom. More to be revealed.

Bedroom:
My last post, Beyond the Kitchen – Unfinished Rooms Part 1, focused on the bathroom. Part two focuses on the bedroom. I wrote out my outline for the second part of the series in late August, but haven’t gotten around to editing and posting it (because…. Work). I still plan to do it, and hope to do it soon, but suffice to say that in short; I have been formulating my plans for the bedroom for more than two years. My post will go into the details, but I thought it would be fun to reveal one of the elements early.

The newly acquired wall sconces for the bedroom from West Elm. So thankful for their periodic sales. [Source: West Elm]