Great Gizmo and Hallway Remodel

I am aware I am 75 (sometime too aware) and living in a state not known for cerebral excellence, However, Ozark persons have more ingenuity than some Ph.Ds, but I am an immigrant to the Ozarks. So if this gizmo is 'old hat' to some of you modern Desperate Housewives, forgive me for my naive exurbrance.

White Hanger Holder Gizmo

In a previous post I exhibited my remodeled utility room which contains a Fisher and Paykel washer and dryer. These modern conveniences are, of course, located at the opposite end of the house from where clothes, towels, sheets, etc., cleaned and dried, are stored. What else could I expect??? [I remember my ancestors using non-electric washers with hand-cranked wringers, rub boards, double and triple rinsing sinks, outdoor clothes lines and God forbid!, bluing.]

                       White Hanger Holder Gizmo

While shopping for medicine cabinets at a big box store, I came across the solution for my hanging dried clothing on  available door knobs near the utility room, until ready to haul to storage at the opposite end of house. I consider it the answer to my wash day frustration of 32 years of living in this house! It may be the least expensive item I purchased during this remodeling spree.

White Hanger
Holder Gizmo

Its simple name on my receipt was WHITE HANGER HOLDER, 6.99 +tax; I am ecstatic with this new gizmo. I pull out all hanging garments first; place them on hangers, and then hang them on my gizmo so as to avoid wrinkling while I dig around in the dryer sorting piles for folding. When not in use it folds neatly, vertically against the wall. 

SKETCH

Since some of our clothing, especially my husband's winter clothing, is heavy, I advise the gizmo be mounted to a stud, unless your walls are solid wood.


Now to the remodeling of our L-shaped hallway which opens into 3 rooms and a closet with doors. See sketch--not drawn to scale! [I'm not much of a sketcher, either!!!]

Hallway Viewed from Den
to Guest Bathroom with
Guest Bedroom on Left
and Closet on Right. The
wreath is gift from a
friend. The rack/shelf
holds outerwear, hats,
earmuffs, sweaters, etc.
There is a second door-
bell above wreath, since
the front door bell can-
not be heard this far
back in the house.

The hallway is quite small; it is difficult to execute the corner and doors when moving moderate to large items in and out of these rooms which are along the back of the house. I have four photos--maybe you can imagine a L-shaped quite small hallway. Again, I used a wide angle lens and am not particularly interested in interior home photography. However, I do like the looks of what we have renovated.

Hallway Viewed from
Guest Bathroom to Den
with Guest Bedroom
Barely Visible. Shelv-
seen in Den was en-
closed to Give Appear-
ance of being built-in.
The shadow in the low-
er left is door knob of
Guest Bathroom! The
Wall Hanging is a
mounted trout with
4 knobs to hang hats
or outer wear.

The 'L' shape is like the 'L' is lying sideways, resting on the short 'leg.' The first photo shows the view from the den into the short leg and corner of the 'L' which shows the guest bedroom door on the left, a slight glimpse into the guest bathroom and the door of the closet on the right.

The second photo shows the opposite view from the Guest Bathroom, to the Den. You get a glimpse of the shelving in the den we enclosed to give a look of built-in.

The 3rd and 4th views show the long side of the 'L' -- Guest Bedroom to Office, and Office to Guest Bedroom. 

Hallway viewed from Guest
Bedroom to Office with
Guest Bathroom on Left
Office door straight ahead,
and side of Hall Closet
on right. Wall hangings
better viewed in 1st two
photos.

The Master Bathroom is near finished; I have to line drawers and we have drawer organizers for 4 of the six drawers, a slider basket behind one door and a plain basket behind the door where plumbing takes up most of space.

The Guest Bathroom is awaiting a bath wall cabinet. 

Hallway viewed from Office
to Guest Bedroom. I turned
on Flash and you can see
why I dislike built-in flash--
FLASH BURN.

The Den, daily dining/living area is finished, except it is where all the stuff removed from other areas is deposited on tables, floor, counters, etc. further my lift chair where I live when not standing upright is being reupholstered.

We are still in limbo as to moving this lift chair, a table and accessory cart to the office. It would make the Den look neater, and clutter up the office which is not otherwise used anymore as I cannot sit at a desk for any period of time due to arthritic and severe osteoporosis of back.

The biggest improvement in the Den is the shelving creatively enclosed to look like it is built in.

Since only the Master Bathroom, Kitchen, and Living/Formal Dining areas are all that is left inside the house, I may get around to giving you a grand tour. The Kitchen was completly renovated about 5 years ago--cabinets, fixtures, appliances and an island with electricity added.

The other rooms were all given new paneling, painted ceilings, new carpet, but not quite as changed as what we just finished, at least not in looks.

By the time I finish the interior photography, maybe I will have a penchant for it...don't bet the bank on it.

PHOTOS: by NITWIT1 unless otherwise attributed

Utility Room Remodel and Spring



Dark Pink (Near Magenta) Red Bud Tree Planted After 2009 Ice Storm

A few weeks ago I promised to post photos of our remodeling projects.

But first I had to add a splash of spring, my darker, almost magenta, Redbud is in full bloom. This tree was planted after the 2009 great ice storm.

If you remember, I also said I was not an interior photographer and thus you will soon agree.

I met such an interior photographer a decade or two ago at a workshop.  Her work made every room look beautiful to nearly surreal. I was amazed.

A room to me is to be lived in, essentially functional, not a showroom for others to envy, but never have I salivated to have my house on the front cover of HOUSE BEAUTIFUL either.

Further, I chose to use a wide angle lens mostly without flash. Wide angle lens at 28mm will have some distortion in the photo seen in straight lines which appear bent, curved or less than perpendicular to a comparable line in the photograph. There are lens which correct this aberration but I am not inclined to purchase one when this is not my particular interest.

Utility Room Viewed From Kitchen
Through Vertical Door."

Appliance Side (unchanged)
viewed from Kitchen

The completed room is vicariously known as a the washroom, laundry, recycling (plastic bags, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, aluminum cans), feed-dog, freezer, fishing rods and keys room, so I suppose its best name would be utility room!!!

SO I present our utility room which is off the kitchen, a hallway type room leading out the back door, which has a dog door flap, to the back yard.

We kept one side of the room with washer, dryer, freezer and hot water closet as was previously  remodeled because I upgraded the doors of the shoddy manufactured housing cabinets with nice doors, and made additional storage above the hot water heater. With this remodel we used light oak "bead" board everywhere else.

Left Side Utility Room Viewed From
Kitchen - Really Busy Side With
Various Recycling, Keys And Fishing
Racks, Newspaper Recycling in Brown
Brown Sack, Key and Fishing Rod Rack,

I know the room looks discombobulated but we truly do and have all the previously mentioned activities in this small area, lending a cluttered look. These photos are as good as it ever gets!

Utility Room Viewed from Kitchen To
Back Door and Dog Door

Now another peep at

springtime at the abode

of Nitwit1, Luckie, husband.

We renovated this flower

bed last year in the overhaul

of our front yard. An older

light fuchsia Redbud was

planted years earlier. We

added the darker Redbud,

whiskey barrels, moved

some yucca around, etc.

The leaves of Naked Ladies

are along our lot line and

planted a number of years

ago.

Utiliity Room Viewed from Back Door
Toward Kitchen Vertical "Door"

PHOTOS: BY NITWIT1 UNLESS OTHERWISE ATTRIBUTED. 

As can see Spring has sprung in the newly renovated bed which I nicknamed the Nandina Bed as all the whisky barrelshave Nandinas started in them. I have several more shoots that appeared from where moved these plants.The back of my Dallas Cowboy is seen. Miraculously the diseased Dogwood is also struggling to bloom. Note Naked Ladies along lot line.

 The manufactured home in the background is condemned, but a old federal lien is holding up demolition. It is a definite health hazard with black mold, a tree through the roof, water rot inside, wild animals living inside and out. Its age is such there is a good possibility of asbestos in its structure. The mayor also found evidence of humans using the place for parties, mostly likely illegal drugs.

A FEW SNAPSHOTS

Just to let you know I am still around, kicking my heels, raisin' a little cane, opining and stirring up the pots, etc.,  I am posting a few photos I have had so little time to do.

The remodeling jobs are winding down, but there is cleanup and then I have to get my hanging pots going outdoors.  Since I am drinking decaf now, I don't have enough same size coffee cans for my usual steps, so I will have to come up with another idea.

All the CUTIES (clementines or madarin oranges or  a cross, depending on who you ask) photos are straight out of the camera and were really an interesting study of light coming in a kitchen window.

Two pieces were lying on the counter and the light fascinated me when I viewed different angles. So the only thing that moved in the multiple photos is me and the camera. I think there is a subtle mood change in a couple of them.

The forsythia is the first to open in my yard. There were 4 in one day.

Daffodils In Yucca

I've had daffodils for a month.

The moon photo is a poor representation of what I saw. I am going to have to read up on taking full moons. I think it involves a tripod and long exposure

When I first saw the moon it was at a dangerous Flippin AR intersection. It was barely peeking over the horizon; its color was darker then the clementines, nearly red. I have never seen a moon so colorful. By the time I got home it had risen and much of the color diminished.

Full Moon 03/09/2012

PHOTOS: NitWit1 unless otherwise attributed.








CLEMENTINES (CUTIES):
STRAIGHT OUT OF CAMERA (lLight and camera perspective study)

This comes close to being my favorite, but would have
preferred the label been facing camera, and left
Cutie not chopped off.

The light shining or reflecting through the two Cuties
obliterated the bottom of the second Cutie. WEIRD!

NOT AWOL.

NO, I am not AWOL. We are renovating 5 rooms of our double-wide mauufactured home. I am designated decorator. I have to clean and put the rooms back together and position hardware like towel racks, paintings, photos, shelves. YUCK.

We have an excellent carpenter who needed work, and is looking for a full-time job. Hope we finish before he finds one, but if he does, as well as his wife, we are OK about it. She is my housekeeper.

Cleaning is endurable because some days I have a housekeeper to help. But have you ever put up towel bars, especially two, that have to be side by side, and have to be level across the wall of a manufactured home which has nothing level, nothing square, and nothing on the vertical ?

I finished two towel bars yesterday. By the time I finished the second one, I had said most of the "sailor cussing" I have not yet eliminated from my vocabulary. I still have two pieces in same bathroom, one of which has to be centered and leveled above the previously installed two bars. The other is a round towel circle for hand towels.

The toilet tissue holder took 3 hours. It had to also be leveled. between the bath vanity and the toilet in this very small bathroom. I was sore for 3 days from all the contortuous configurations my body was forced to be in, to install this sucker level and secure.

I have another bathroom to do. Then I like backplates on my cabinet/vanitiy/cupboards/drawers to prevent wearing finish off the units.

Well, backplates seem to be old-fashioned and not carried in the big box stores anymore, so I am having to resort to INTERNET where there is plenty in all sorts of design. So that hardware is on hold; usually adding a backplate requires a longer screw--no use putting it up twice!

We are replacing an old wallpaper remodel with beadboard in 5 areas: two bathrooms, a small hallway, the casual dining/den and washroom.

Only the washroom is nearly completion. I haven't found a satisfactory hook to hang one clothes basket. The washroom is also where we store what we recycle, the large garbage can and feed Luckie, besides the freezer, washer, and hot water heater closet. This room retained some of its color but we added some bead board. The hardware remains the same. It has been cleaned, too.

The hallway lacks 1-2 hangings -- not difficult.

The casual dining/den lacks deep cleaning and a few wall hangings. This is a big room with lots of shelving, etc.

The master bath has only just began; it requires some plumbing movement and, if possible, may be the most difficult room.

But I am reading when I have a moment or two.