Making Some Headway

The whole time I've been here I've been preparing the main house. It is a huge job. I have nearly 4000 sq. ft. of 30+ years of stuff to clean out...Oh. My. God. LOL So everyday I walk up the short road from our guest house to the main house and swear there are days I just want to cry. It CAN be overwhelming. There's so much to just throw away but even that's not easy. See, up here in the remote U.P. there is no garbage pickup, no matter the outrageous out-of-state taxes we pay. No, you have to load everything up and drive it to the dump and pay a fee. Pain in the ass to say the least.

There's lots of stuff that's serviceable though. Kitchen tools and pots and pan, glassware and at least 2 full size beds that include headboard, foot board and all good mattresses. There's end tables and a coffee table and a complete dining room set that includes a big hutch, table with 3 leaves, 6 chairs and a matching sideboard. I've asked around town if anyone needs these things they can have them...they just have to come get them. So far, no one has called which amazes me since I know damn well this entire area is not healthy economically. I'm going to wait another week and then call the churches, again, and then goodwill. Problem is Goodwill is 60 miles away. Just unbelievable.

So anyway, I did get the ugly butt 30 year old carpet removed and replaced with a new floor on the main level.


So here's a shot of 1/2 of the living room area with the new floor.


Here's the dining room area (with hutch I want to get rid of)and Bob, the installer from Eagle River Flooring. He did a marvelous job!

Now when I decided on the floor I knew I wanted bird's eye maple but then the decision was real wood or laminate. Well, because we have a lake, sand, dogs, cats, gravel and everything else that gets dragged in from the woods, we decided on laminate. I'll tell you, you just can not tell that this floor is laminate. The improvements in these types of floors has been amazing. It's the most practical. It's easy to clean and lightens up the entire main floor main rooms.

Next came furniture. We needed a new, king sized bed, couch, chairs, area rug and end tables. So off we went to Northwoods Furniture Gallery in Eagle River, WI. They have amazing furniture and the owners are the nicest folks you ever want to meet. So was the salesman that helped us. I will definitely be back there. Oh, their delivery guys were just the best!


The new couch. It's so comfortable!


The 2 new recliners (made in the USA...Indiana) separated by new hickory twig table. The couch has new twig tables on each end also. I just love them. They're not overly kitschy nor are they too large.


The new area rug. I love the colors and it will be easy to clean.

Now the bedroom photo. Since we bought a king size bed we had to order the headboard. It will be here in about 3 weeks. It's pretty darn cool...light wood with pine tree cutouts. At first I thought the bed would take up a lot of space but the master bedroom we have is absolutely HUGE. BTW, that ugly orange lamp will be gone shortly! LOL



So that's part of the main floor almost done. There are 2 more bedrooms, a walk-in closet, 2 baths and a kitchen yet to tackle. There's also the downstairs. If I showed you a photo of what that looks like now you'd die. Probably from laughing to death asking "where the hell did all that STUFF come from and what the hell are you going to do with it!"

Yes, the walkout basement (which is the same size as the main floor, meaning huge) with another huge stone fireplace like upstairs, another table, hutch, chairs and sideboard to get rid of, a laundry room and 60, I mean 60 cabinets filled with STUFF! Arghhhhhh. BTW, these are not small cabinets. They go floor to ceiling (the ceiling is nearly 12 feet high throughout the basement) in 3 rows on 2 walls. Just kill me now! LOL