When I moved into my little house eight years ago I knew that there was a lot of work that needed to be done -- I didn't mind because I knew that was why I had been able to afford the property. One entire year was spent on the most pressing items and once those were done I could each year choose something that needed work.
The local Habitat For Humanity Restore is usually the source for most of my materials. With no plan in mind as to where they would eventually go, I had bought a few years ago some fabulous oak mouldings. They were beautiful, were oak, and the price was low -- I couldn't resist buying them, but they went straight into storage. This summer I realized that the mouldings would make a perfect casement trim for the entry into the garden room. The entry had been expanded by the previous owners, but the job had not been finished properly. There was admittedly a certain satisfaction in taking a crowbar to something that so clearly needed destruction.
The drywall had to be replaced and the oak was just enough to finish the job.... I had to do a lot of adjustments before I was satisfied because the sag in my old house tends to make anything that is truly straight look 'off'. Crown moulding was doubled up to make the top part.
Instead of something that has to be visually 'tuned out', I now look at the entry with pride and pleasure.
photo: Tip is sitting in the entry. The sauna that I designed and built can be seen in the next room. The painting is an old one that I have kept from that particular series. The hardwood kitchen floor (visible in the photo) was one the necessary jobs during that first year in the house.
