In over my head

Well, we’re not exactly remodeling, but….

In order to get the house ready to sell, we’ve got to fix up the kitchen. This means paint, door and floor:

Paint: we had a nice faux finish on the walls, kind of a Tuscany deep-orange-sunset color (or so I’m told, I’m partially color blind). We’ve had it for years, but while faux finishes are good for living in, they’re bad for selling. So – it goes white. Off-white according to the label on the paint can. Here’s the problem though: we’ve been in that house for more than 16 years. In all that time, the kitchen has been the collection point for *stuff*. Then we get more *stuff* to organize and store the other *stuff* creating less room in the kitchen which is where the *stuff* naturally gravitates. The washer and dryer are in the kitchen too, so there’s laundry room *stuff* mixed in with the food preparation *stuff*. Getting to the walls is not an easy matter. In fact, I shoved the stuff into the center of the room in order to work on two walls at a time. I got three done. I have one wall and the ceiling left, and I ran out of paint. The *stuff* is still in the center of the room.

Door: we’ve been wanting to get rid of the arcadia door for some time, and though it seems stupid to put in a new door when we’re gonna sell, the fact is we don’t have a lot of choice. The arcadia door’s wheels are so worn out they actually have a straight edge and the house is so old (35 years), there are no replacement parts for it anymore. Can’t sell a house when one of the two ways INTO the house won’t open. The track on which the wheel runs is shot too, so we’d have to replace it even if we wanted to stick with another sliding door from hell, but … why?

Floor: Ok, I will admit to having dome something stupid, but in my own defense, I was told that this OK to do. I put peel-and-stick tile down on top of peal-and-stick tile. NEVER do this – trust me. The rest of the house is wood floor (wood laminate), so I need to bring it into the kitchen too. See the entry about *stuff*.

Then too, Chelsea is cleaning and painting the insides of the cabinets. Joy. So the *stuff* that was there is now everywhere else.

Yes, we’re still planning on a large Thanksgiving.

(help!)