The Great Cleanup Turns into Transformation

Does this look like our living room? Well, it doesn't look like the living room we had but it's what we've got now!

We had some very generous-hearted friends come by tonight and help us out. We moved a lot of stuff, and then after they left, Troy, Isaac and I got crackin! (As the old egg commercials used to say.)

A piece of what the old living room looked like:

And the shelves:

"The shelves" indeed. Full of tools and almost random supplies. It's what a lot of people focused on when they visited us. They couldn't believe I could live with those shelves. In my living room.

I told them I just thought of them as bookshelves. That I ignored them.

But wow, when they were moved into the shop tonight, what a big room we had again!! After some serious cleanup (our plaster ceiling does like to fall), we moved some furniture around. The same corner now houses our TV, etc. (Mary, you'll be glad to hear we purged the Xbox and all accouterments and the VCR.)

We discovered that the rabbit at one time made a snack of the TV power cord. Troy declared we couldn't plug it in. I looked joyful and asked if that meant we got to get a new TV now!! Troy got out the black tape and after applying it, said "Now we can plug it in." It's not the solution I was looking for.

But we're getting a new TV anyway. (We did not run out tonight to buy it however tempting it was...probably tomorrow.)

The woodstove corner even looked quite bare:

I've simply stored all the things necessary in winter behind the stove itself. They certainly take up a lot less room that way.

And another look at the furniture setup:

The couch is away from the wall and we actually have access to all the windows. What a relief!! (Bad news: I can now see how much the windows need to be washed. Good news: I can reach them to wash!! Better news: my mom is coming Friday and will probably wash them for me!! ;-)

Before we even started on the living room, I tacked the foyer. We had emptied the right shelf of stuff that belonged in the shop, and then I rearranged the "sporting goods" (such that we have), and would you look at that--there's actually a floor under those shelves!

We also rehabilitated the chairs. They're pretty sturdy but it took a lot of scrubbing by Isaac to make them usable again. It'll be nice to have a place to sit for putting on/removing shoes. Plus the extra seating for company, of course.

Phew, all for now! Time for bed.