Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Hanging out the textiles

For the last few days I have been giving those excessively scented linens exactly what they deserve, which is: fresh air.


I almost don't want to hang wet bathing suits on this clothes dryer because the tea towels look kind of pretty, don't you think?  I hadn't shown you the multi-coloured stripey ones before - they match all my vintage Pyrex just like the yardage I am going to use for kitchen curtains, and I am pretty excited about using them.

The solution for the giant sheet is less elegant:


Rocks, basically.  We couldn't find the old clothesline when we moved sheds (more on that another day.)  I did tell you this was a big sheet I think, but to put it in perspective, that railing is a bit taller than the building code requires, and the fabric hangs down another two feet or so on the other side.

I'm glad I sourced these very special fabrics for the house before I need them, and not just because they'll obviously need a lot of time to acclimatize to my scent-free life.  It's just so lovely to have a visual reminder that our house, once it's move-in ready, will feel like us and capitalize on the things we love.

It's still going to be very small, though.  I feel a bit sad about that because I won't live anywhere else, now, till I am too infirm to climb stairs, and it's unlikely I'll be able to justify big sparsely furnished rooms at that point.  The other day I pored over my mockup of the living room trying to figure out how to fit eight seated people, and it's possible, but tight.  If it's Christmastime and we put a tree there, it'll be seven people max, and anybody else will have to be on the floor, or else sitting at the kitchen table on the other side of the tree: the horror. 

The fault is, of course, the fireplace which eats one entire wall.  Plus maybe the built-in bookcase and TV nook which eats another.  I think the tradeoff is worth it, don't you?  We still have a nice big room in the basement after all.  And we can put a tree there if we have to.  We're very lucky to have such a nice place no matter what the size.

Still, it makes me appreciate the large rooms at the condo.  I'd like to enjoy them while I can, but...

... did I tell you we bought living room furniture for the 'new' house because the rooms were going to be too small for what we had?  And had some of it custom sized?  Well, that chicken has come home to roost.  The manufacturer is now ready to deliver two dining tables, six dining chairs, a 4' dining bench, a 76' daybed, and a 65' sofa, and they don't have warehouse space to keep them for us any longer.  Which would be fine if we had drywall and something more than a subfloor at this point, but we don't, so the furniture can go either to a storage locker or to our condo.

It's gonna be pretty cramped at the condo for the next few months, is the short story here.


On the upside, we'll get to see the colours and styles of all our furniture together in one room before we commit to any more fabric!

Isn't it lucky that our new bed frame is backordered till September?


2 comments:

Darlene said...

Mary, try nok-out on those sheets. Mary hunt blog Everyday Cheapskate has nothing but praise for it. Product was mentioned in today's blog again.

Mary Keenan said...

Darlene, thank you so much! I'd never heard of Nok-Out and it turns out they carry it at Pet Valu... we have one of those down the street from our condo but I would never have thought to look in a pet supply store for a laundry helper. I will definitely give that a go!