Downsizing, Phase 1: Unjunking, Basement Stairs, Floors

 

9/15/24  

For several posts now, I’ve mentioned my home-improvement projects and related downsizing and unjunking efforts. Just as I’m keenly interested in my creative/learning process and documenting it (one of the key purposes of this blog), I want to document what it takes to make changes to a house one has lived in for nearly four decades. Although I have taken a gazillion photos (don’t worry; I will resist showing them all here), I’ve had the time and energy to make only a few sketch journal entries. But now that most of Phase 1 is done, it’s a good time to show results as well as give some back story to all of this.

A few months after Greg moved to assisted living, I found myself rattling around in “too much house.” I plan to eventually move to a retirement community, but not for a while (maybe as long as 10 years). The size of a retirement community apartment that seems right for me is about 750 to 800 square feet, so I decided I would buy a condo of about that size as a transitional step. A small condo would force me to downsize, and when I was ready to move to the retirement community, I could do so without the added burden of getting rid of so much excess stuff.

9/16/24

I started talking to a real estate agent. When I read the evaluation she had prepared for our house, I realized that the main floor is just about 800 square feet! A lightbulb turned on over my head: Maybe a transition to a condo wouldn’t be necessary! If I downsized sufficiently now, I could move my bedroom and studio from the upper floor down to the main floor. Emptying those upstairs rooms would enable me to replace the 35-year-old carpet up there (which my agent had strongly recommended before even showing the house). Permanently vacating the upstairs would also mean reducing heating and cooling costs.

The problem with making any significant change in a house is that often one step must be preceded by others. (I had to dust off my old project management skills from my working days to think through the most efficient sequence of steps.) Our former TV/reading room was to become my bedroom. But before I could move the bedroom downstairs, I had to replace the 35-year-old carpeting in that room and the adjoining hallway (another recommendation from my real estate agent). Since the rest of the main floor already has original hardwood (now 99 years old!), it made sense to install hardwood, which I have always loved.

9/22/24 Our California king-size bed would have
overwhelmed the small bedroom downstairs, so one
of my few new purchases for the downsizing was to buy
a smaller bed for myself.  

(I don’t want to get too thick into the home-improvement weeds here, but if you’re interested, the material I chose is actually a composite hardwood material, a Scandinavian product, that is more durable than traditional hardwood.)

I also decided it was a good time to rebuild our scary basement stairs, which were scary even when I was 30. Now that I’m definitely not 30 and have osteoporosis, they were scarier than ever. A safer stairway would enable me to continue living here longer. All of the above was Phase 1, now complete.

I’m very happy about my new plan, because the truth is, I didn’t really want to live in a condo – I still love my house and neighborhood. I just thought a smaller home would be a good way to force myself to downsize. It turns out, I already have a smaller home – and I’m excited to be moving into it a little at a time.

Phase 2 will be moving my upper-floor studio/office to the main floor and replacing the carpet with the same hardwood. I’ve saved that for last because I know that downsizing my studio will take the most time. Arrgghhh… how to decide which art materials to keep?? And what about my vintage colored pencil collection?!

In the meantime, the general unjunking continues (and will likely be a never-ending process). The junk-removal service I hired has made two visits so far, and we aren’t done with the basement yet. For the third and last haul next week, I plan to fill the truck with as much as I can from other areas of the house, too (we also have two attic spaces full of 35 years of accumulation).

9/16/24 Sketching Greg's old skates brought
back fun memories of our early dating days.

Since I am planning to continue living in this house for many years, you may be wondering why I’m doing all this work now. Aside from the practical matter of saving on heating and cooling costs by vacating the upper floor, my reasons are these:

• Why wait until just before I sell the house to make improvements that I could be enjoying now while I still live here?
• Materials and labor are only getting more expensive. If I make the investment now, the payback when I eventually sell the house will hopefully make it worthwhile.
• All of this work is tough enough now at age 65. It’s damn well not going to be any easier when I’m 75. My future self is already thanking me.

(By the way, if you’re interested in learning what happens to all your donations when you take them to Goodwill, here’s a fascinating Seattle Times article from a few years back.)

Before: Scary, 99-year-old basement stairway with treads so narrow that I used to walk down like a crab. Note the non-existent risers. My contractor commented that the handrail looks like something that was taken off a submarine.

After: Much safer, less steep stairway, now up to code and with a sturdy handrail.

After: The original, 99-year-old hardwood still looks great!

Before: 35-year-old furniture and area rugs

After: The TV was moved from the small room in back that is now my bedroom. This leather chair, purchased used at a consignment shop, is the only other purchase (besides my bed) that I made for this downsize. The other half of the livingroom will be my new studio!

After: I forgot to take a photo of this former
TV/reading room when it was still carpeted. This
shows the new hardwood that replaced it.

After: My new bedroom

After: Although it's tight, I squeezed
my reading/journaling chair in the corner of the 
bedroom where it always used to be when the TV 
was still there. It's my cozy comfort spot. Note
that the ottoman is the same as the one I use when
I watch TV in the livingroom. Since I don't watch
TV much, I just carry it from room to room.

A celebration of Phase 1's completion at Macrina!