Continuing from “What I’d tell myself a year ago” – the most crucial thing I’d change next time… get rid of more stuff before moving – and better organize what’s left. Putting stuff in storage - a master stroke; utter genius. Last summer, after a major stuff-cull, Paolo & I were shoving things into whatever vessel [...]
(The seventh of assorted moving tips – read #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6) After recent count, this is my 19th home in twenty-something years. That’s a lot of moving moments – enough, probably, to fill a bad book. Here’s another of my past mistakes that you don’t need to make: After a particularly harried move, I owed my [...]
(The sixth of my moving tips – read #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5) Total cost for our movers: $650. That’s labour only, plus a half-hearted shrink wrapping of our couch. Our mattress was moved naked and our picture frames and artwork were thrown into dirty blankets. Dirty, naked things are hard to love. Spending money hurts even [...]
Real life resumes! We’ve got clean towels and Whole Foods’ tastiest provender. Reasons to celebrate, both. But it’s day 3 of no home-based internet and that sucks. Note to self and snarky glance in Paolo’s direction: call to transfer the internet as the first thing on next time’s moving list – not the last! They’re [...]
Ensuring any household move leaves the appropriate aftertaste – it ends with cleaning. You think you’re done – and then you have to put on rubber gloves to explore crevices you didn’t even know you’d rented. Vladimir Lenin Landlord had made the schedule clear: You give back keys at noon, then leave. Stringent stuff, but I [...]
(The fifth of my moving tips – read #1, #2, #3, #4 and #6) For crying out loud. The nonsense left over after the professionals moved what should have been our every last possession: heavy, dirty plant pots on the balcony TV and computer monitor (would you rather break it yourself or watch it ruined in the hands [...]
Not so great: our movers earned 6/10 on today’s performance. (That’s a Canadian 6/10, which is overly generous and actually a 3). I’ve never used professional movers for an inter-city move before, so I had high expectations for a day with little stress and minimal exertion on our part. Instead? Very much the opposite. Here’s [...]
How the mighty fall. Tomorrow’s moving day and we’re not exactly packed. It’s all that remainder crap. My desk’s contents. Really fragile wine glasses. The stereo. A closetful of coats. Cleaning supplies. Whatever’s left in the fridge. An inter-city move really allows for great laziness. Besides, we ran out of boxes and I can’t be bothered [...]
2 days to possession Dear Landlord, Here’s why you’re having no luck in renting our apartment. Rest assured, we really don’t care – and it’s no inconvenience at all to hit the beach every night while you tirelessly show the place. Still, you might want the inside scoop. Sidenote: Vancouver’s rental market is atrocious – [...]
(7 days to possession) Can you move without packing paper? It would be nice to try. Proper packing paper you have to find or buy. With newspaper you’re stuck washing every dish at the other side to get rid of blank ink. And you’re still left with a mountain of paper after unpacking – an [...]
"An ugly baby is a very nasty object and the prettiest is frightful when undressed". -- Queen Victoria
“There are but two ways of dealing with a room which is fundamentally ugly: one is to accept it, and the other is courageously to correct its ugliness”. -- Edith Wharton, The Decoration of Houses (1897)
“[T]o create a beautiful home,
you need a bit of ugly”. -- Deborah Needleman, The Perfectly Imperfect Home
"The uglier the wallpaper, the harder it is to remove.... Ugly wallpaper just sticks better. It's a fact" -- Julie Sussman, Dare to Repair
