When it came time to move summer clothes from the bedroom closet to the guest room closet, I made up my mind to pack everything in a big box that I did not wear that summer and take it to Christian Mission store. Then I slowly brought my winter wardrobe into my side of the double closet. Something happened along the way. My clothes seemed to multiply each time I brought some to the bedroom closet. So..... I started packing another box to take to Christian Mission. Jim began to worry that I wouldn't have anything left to wear.
When you retire, you wear a pair of jeans or old pants and a couple of knit shirts most of the time. Mostly I need dress up clothes only on Sunday. At least my side of the closet isn't so crowded. I even got rid of some of my shoes. Who needs all of those shoes anyway, I thought.
I think Jim began to worry that I might come to his side of the closet and start getting rid of some of his things. I saw him with a ruler measuring the outside wall of the bedroom and going outside and running a line as if getting ready to add on to the house. When I questioned him, he said he was trying to figure out how to add on a room for a big bath area on one side and two walk-in closets on the opposite wall so I could have my own closet. Needless to say, I liked the idea.
Then I remembered the whirlpool tub in my sister's B&B and thought that would be a nice thing to have in our new bath. Just imagine 10 jets putting out warm water onto your aching bones. Ahhhh.... And Jim decided he wanted a step-in shower in one of the corners. This idea came about be cause he was having a problem lifting his left leg due to a sciatic nerve and this made it very difficult to get into our tub to use the shower. We could both justify those two new items for the bath due to our aging bodies. This past Saturday found us shopping and looking at and measuring tubs, showers, vanities, toilets (the high rise ones).
We keep adding square feet to the new room to get things in it that we want. The door will be wide enough between the bedroom and bath for a wheelchair to pass through. We looked at grab bars to install in the shower and tub. Today Jim has been busy making a drawing on graph paper and figuring out where things will go. Hopefully when the builder comes back in a week or two, we will know exactly what we want. The next step is to see how much all of this will cost. I really do want to tell our current bathroom "good bye" and move to a much bigger, better one, and leave the old one for guests.
Tomorrow afternoon, we are planning to make templates of the tub, shower base, toilet, vanity, window placement, etc. and draw the design on graph paper. Our plumber friend suggested we do this and he made suggestions about where to put the water lines, etc.
Every time we built a house in the past, we have said "never again" and after awhile you forget all the stress and take on another project. They have always turned out to be just what we wanted because we did a lot of planning before we began.
When we started looking for a smaller home in Elba, it wasn't easy finding what we wanted, and a good neighborhood. To compensate for lack of storage space in the house (we declared we were not going to put things in the attic as it is difficult to get up and down the ladder), we ended up buying a large storage building to put in the back yard. And that has become so crowded even though I am constantly getting rid of things. If only I didn't "save" so many things.
When we were young we built split-level and even a 3-level home, and ran up and down stairs all the time. Not so these days. Today, I want all my clothing in one big closet. I might end up going shopping for some new clothes when I get my big closet. And about the old closet in our bedroom. The folding doors will be taken down and the opening closed. Then our son's closet behind out closet will be enlarged to take in our space and he too will have a walk in closet of 4'. He needs shelves in his closet and a place to put his 200+ hat collection.
You can bet we will be ready for the builder when he comes, and I'll want to know when he can get started. Our plans are "awesome"; I won't have to share a closet anymore. I' m thinking I might put a lock on my closet door so Jim won't be inspecting it to see if my shoes are lined up and hangers all hanging in the same direction.
