19 South Chancellor Street
I woke up this morning at 2:30. My heart was racing, my brain was spinning and I thought to myself – this is crazy! To do lists were flashing in my head and I could feel my anxiety level ratchet up. No way was I going to get up – so I tried deep breathing – 10 counts in, hold for 5, blow 10 breaths out……and I guess it worked, because when I looked at the clock again it was 6:30.
I never thought a house could do this to me – an affair de coeur, most certainly, but an affair de la maison (francophiles, please excuse any grammatical blunders!) – never! Perhaps it is the mass and scope of work that I feel I need to do that has consumed my thoughts. I can envision the completed product, but ticking off the items on the to-do list – and the ever-increasing length of that list, sometimes overwhelms me. I have to remind myself not to get mired in the minutia – just one step at a time, one room at a time. Sometimes it is so hard for me to maintain that focus – and since this is a pretty lengthy renovation – I need to work on ways to relieve some of the anxiety and still keep pace with a self-imposed schedule. For me, the best way to keep my stress at a manageable level is to go to the gym. So after several hours of work at the office and an appointment with a client, I grabbed my work-out clothes and headed on over. My routine is to start on the treadmill and run 2 or 3 miles, then about 30 minutes for weights. Well, I must be stressed, because when I looked down I had already run 3.5 miles. A quick round of the weights and I was off to the house. It is pretty amazing that exercise can calm me down, help me focus – has something to do with serotonin levels. Whatever it is – it works.
Today I finished painting three of the four walls in the master bedroom. 
The fourth wall, which is covered with built-in shelves, will take a few days. I removed some of the shelves and will bring them home to work on at night. I figure I can do four shelves a night – an easy task. Each morning I will bring the finished shelves back to the project house, and repeat at night until all the shelves are done. 
Not really sure if I like the drawers at the base of the bookshelves. I think I might remove them and put in doors, plus the glide mechanisms on most of the drawers don’t work. That is a project for a few weeks from now.
While I was painting the walls I noticed more things that needed attention. All of the outlets had been painted - not just the outlet covers (which I have removed) – but the outlets themselves. That is an unsafe condition according to most home inspectors – and is a cheap and relatively easy fix. I figure that is something I can do – just turn off the circuit breaker and install – hope they sell those things by the case. Another mini-project that caught my eye was the closet. It is a later addition – appears to have been a 70s thing – and I tell you it makes me crazy. Instead of trying to reproduce the molding that used throughout the rest of the room
the contractor used that dreaded colonial stock molding!!! Have they no sense of history? Not to mention a total disregard for a sense of design continuity. People, what were you thinking? To me, it is like nails on the proverbial blackboard. Then, to make matters worse, they tack on a sorry excuse for crown molding – and there is no crown molding elsewhere in the room. I have to think about this – perhaps I will go to an architectural salvage store and see if I can find some doors that I can retrofit so that the closet would have more of a built-in appearance – as if it were original to the house. I have seen them in older homes in Philadelphia – usually oak, more often than not, they were painted. Another item for the to-do list….. Also I notice that this closet has base molding that doesn’t match the rest of the room. 
Notice in the background that the molding is the 6″ base molding – and then in the foreground, the molding is the ubiquitous colonial molding. Just hurts my eyes. Another item on the list.
I admit, I am consumed – but I am loving every minute. This past Friday I had my first house party – I wanted everyone to see the “before”. There must have been 50-60 friends, colleagues and clients who stopped by for a look – and it was so much fun. No furniture, stereo blasting, lots of drinks and muchies, and I was amazed at the turnout, and touched by all the kind words of support! So here’s the deal, folks. If you want to stop by and lend a hand – let me know. I will cook you a killer meal – pick French (a la Julia Child), Italian, or comfort food (I make a mean chicken pot pie). We can paint a wall or two, reglaze a window, take down a wall – then pop a bottle of wine, sit down for a meal, and do what I enjoy best – hang with the people I love! My door is always open. 
