Wood Floors

I love wood floors. I really do. Carpet can be soft and padded, and tile can be very beautiful, but wood is far more than that. It's smooth and comforting, warm and comfortable. The wood in my house is ancient, at least as far as my part of the world is concerned. It has been worn smooth by countless footsteps, all the edges softened and all the splinters worn away by the best sandpaper of all: human skin. Ok, that may seem a little disturbing, but if you think about it, it's true; the best violins have been caressed by human hands, the softest jeans are the ones that you've nearly worn through, and the most comfortable shoes in the world have been wrapped around your feet for years.

When carpet wears, it gets thin and gray. It gets used up. Tile doesn't really wear much; I suppose there are comfortable, worn paths in England or Italy, where those tiles were in use for thousands of years... but rock tends to be pretty stable. Wood, though, is soft. Even the hardest woods will be worn down over time. But, unlike carpet (or clothes), when it's worn, it's still just as functional. All those hands and feet and bottoms sliding over baseball bats, floors, and chairs smooth every bump to perfection.

Of Shelves and Structures

Recently, I've worked on a lot of little things, but nothing I can point at and say, "Look at this amazing finished project! I've made huge changes, but most of those changes are "make a bigger mess," rather than "make a smaller mess." Still, we have gotten a few things done, here and there. You will see a difference in my "to do" list - including some parts that were rather unexpected.

The biggest section that's been marked off my list is my security section; I wasn't planning on working on any of that for months, if not a year. However, I got a good deal on equipment, so I went ahead and installed it. I don't have all the automation in place that I will want, but the important pieces like window or door intrusion, and smoke/fire alarms, work just fine. I need to learn more about the system so I can hack in some of my own devices... but, that can wait.
Meanwhile, I've also been working on some hard-core remodeling. I've decided to tackle the Kitchen - a bit early, I know, but we are so low on kitchen storage that it just needed done. Plus, this is a "stand alone" improvement; unlike moving sinks, installing floors, or repainting all the things, all this required was making a huge mess.