Comfort, Closure, and Cutting Corners

Comfort

Any sunny spot will do for a cat!

Closure

I was at my wit’s end trying to figure out how I was going to get my cabinets to latch shut. My overhead cabinets don’t have any catches, so they couldn’t serve as inspiration. I checked the dressing room and kitchen cabinets and, lo and behold, I found a discrepancy. One of the original closures broke and was replaced by something else. I knew this something else would have to work for my new cabinets, too. So, off I went to Home Depot with a picture and I actually found the same thing!

Super cheap, too, less than a buck fifty each!

I installed them in all my new cabinets except the over fridge one. The side of the cabinet isn’t thick enough for one of these, so I’ll have to add a spacer. *sighs*

Here’s how they look in that cabinet over the drawer.

(Yes, there is something in there now, pillows. They won’t be staying there long; I just want space to manoeuvre in the study.)

I will get around to putting the pulls on one day; I’m just nervous about making holes in my pretty doors. 🙂

Cutting Corners

I bought an 8′ long section of trim so that I could make some practice cuts and get an idea of how much it would cost to do the whole rig.

My dad used to love cutting trim, it was like a puzzle for him. The first time I attempted to cut the stuff I was on the phone for ages with him getting tips. We thought the same way and he could verbally explain things to me better than I could understand with a diagram. I wish dad could have been available for a consult today!

I decided to do the bit around the sink to the kitchen-side cabinet edge. First step, make sure the gap between the wall and the floor isn’t more than three quarters of an inch, the width of the trim:

Okay, slight problem. From the edge of the vertical trim to the flooring is three quarters of an inch, but from the wall to the flooring is a full inch.

A couple of minutes later:

yay for scraps!

I then tried to take measurements and got super daunted. I decided to start from the opposite end of the project, where I would have a flat edge.

A half hour and three feet of trim later I got this far:

Fourteen and seven eights inches of trim in, eighty billion to go. At this rate, trim is going to cost me several thousand dollars and take a couple of years to install. 😀

I’m only jesting. One of dad’s tricks was to cut four scraps of pieces with the four cuts I would need and to use that to line up the saw and trim. It’s an excellent tip that works. I just had a lot of wastage and lack of progress since I had to learn a new saw. I’ll continue with the trim next weekend.

The ‘Front Room’ Needs a Better Name

This is the ‘front room’, post-makeover, as seen from the entrance. The other half of it isn’t much to look at since it’s still empty. 🙂

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So, I have a study, a dressing room, a toilet room, a kitchen, a loft, a cockpit, and a basement. What should I call the renovated portion of the front room? Dining room is too formal and anyway I don’t eat there. Living room isn’t accurate; I do most of my living in the study. Den isn’t quite right; to me a den is a cozy room with a door where you watch tv. Lounge doesn’t fit my personality. 99% of my books are stored there and I will be putting in a reading chair; is library too snobby? Nah! The library it is!

And there you have it folks. Miranda is now officially an RV that suits my lifestyle and priorities. She is as close to perfect as I could have ever dreamed. It’s funny how I used to believe that I needed a vast home with rooms to lose myself into and have found my most functional space to measure less than 130 square feet. Once you distill your life to the 20% that is essential and build around it you will find it to be much richer and that you can be satisfied with a lot less.