The kitchen guys have been gone for a week now and we are getting things back to rights. Our cherry floors suffered some damage from the electrician's ladder but he sent us a check for a couple of hundred bucks as a peace offering. All in all we are pleased with the outcome; only the new window and two cabinet doors are left.
We have been painting to keep on schedule; we want everything to look new and spotless when we put the house on the market in mid-February. And bland! Bland seems to be what sells houses, and in this market we want to do everything we can for a quick sale. So we have moved our bedroom furniture into the office and sleep on a mattress on the floor while we change the bedroom from green to champagne (think white.) In the solarium and kitchen the "mulberry wine" has already been transformed to cornsilk and we will leave the rest of the place white.
The draperies are down, and the artwork has been packed for storage and the echoes fill the house. The 'Craigslisters' have decimated our furnishings, only a few big pieces remain. We will offer what remains in our springtime garage sale and what doesn't sell will go to whichever charity is collecting first in the neighborhood.
Honestly, the place looks great. Cooking in the new kitchen on the new range is a joy. We still don't use the (new) dishwasher, a habit we picked up from camping, but it looks great. The new fridge also looks cool (never thought I would like stainless) and the ice-maker is a nice feature. If we weren't so excited about heading to Europe we might decide to stay.
