Adventures in Remuddling

Now that the larger part of our renovations is done, we’re focusing on some basic comforts: getting a good night’s sleep. Once upon a time, we had a full size pocket coil bed with a plush top that was comfortable, but too small. Tig would be quick to point out that he campaigned for a queen sized bed, but I did not listen to his advice at the time. Later on, we inherited a queen size bed from our friend who left for Brazil. The mattress came with a low slung, espresso DWR lookalike bedframe , complete with built-in lighting that has three settings (see pic below).

Fast forward to today.

Continue reading “And miles to go before we sleep” »

First I hit the internet and read up on mattress buying. The problem is that mattress preferences are so individual that no one winner emerges. While one person might rave over a particular mattress “worth every penny”, another one despises it “I bought another bed and am much happier now”.

Taking a look at our own needs, we focused on two things: minimal lateral transfer of motion and a medium-soft top. It had to be soft, yet supportive. We personally didn’t care for air beds (we had the same sleep number) or spring coils that were interlocked (I could feel every movement).

Continue reading “Mattress Shopping Part One” »

Continuation of Mattress Shopping Part One

At the local mattress making company, we were greeted by a salesman who had a funny way of speaking low at the beginning of the sentence and then two octaves higher mid way. It was a little weird. Tig was annoyed; he made it so that I interfaced with the salesman most of the time. It turns out the store did sell latex toppers. We can order it any way we want: in different thicknesses, sizes and firmless levels.

We chose a soft 24 ILD (a measure of firmness) latex topper in queen size. There wasn’t one in stock, so it had to be ordered. For a whole week, Tig cooly watched as I waited anxiously. “I’m resigned to bad sleep,” he says nonchalantly. Grrrr.

This Saturday, it was ready for pickup. And there it is (below).

Continue reading “Mattress Shopping Part Two” »

Having people over is the biggest home improvement motivator. This Thanksgiving, we are staying in Boston and Jona is come up to visit. In order to be good hosts, we thought it was about time that we move into the master bedroom so that our guests have a place to stay. Good plan, except for Obstacle no. 1: The closet.

Continue reading “Out of the closet” »

Last weekend, we installed the closet organizer, thus finishing the master bedroom closet.

Yes, there is a light at the top of the closet, which Tig installed. No more fruitless searches in the dark for a wardrobe item.

But wait! There’s more!

Continue reading “Smelling the cedar…obstacle #1 removed” »

Well, we failed to move into the master bedroom in time for Thanksgiving. The first obstacle, the master bedroom closet, we conquered in time.

The second obstacle…

Continue reading “Obstacle #2″ »

After opening up the walls, Tig fashioned a remote camera out of some wire and duct tape. With the camera firmly attached to a wand of metal, he fished the camera into the hole and took pictures. Actually, it was a little more complicated than that. The camera was wired to the laptop, so that we could see the images from the camera. It was much like microsurgery, with Tig manipulating the camera, while I operate the laptop and snapped pictures using remote commands.

Here were some of our suspects:

Continue reading “Microsurgery: Finding the cracking culprits” »

We still have not moved into our bedroom yet. We did get a step closer today.

The previous owners had a “unique” (for lack of a better word) plate collection hanging on their bedroom wall. I did not know the bedroom was the place to hang plates …

Anyway, you can get a glimpse of the plate collection on the wall from a picture taken during the home inspection. (Also see “Obstacle #2” post for picture without plates)

Continue reading “Scrubbing the Walls” »

We still have not moved into our bedroom.

Everytime we seem to be getting closer, we actually get further and further away.

It would have been nice to move in to the bedroom by early fall. The items we definitely needed to do was to fix the closet (which we finished a few weeks before Thanksgiving) and paint the room. If it was just that, we’d easily be moved in by now. However, a few problems came up.

Continue reading “The Neverending Bedroom Saga” »

Lest we get too wordy, an illustration of why we’re insane…

Continue reading “Stop the insanity” »