Several years, back I was having a conversation with a collegue over dinner. He and his wife were finally going to renovate their basement. They had loved living in their home for the past three decades, but now that the children were gone it was no longer working for them.
His wife had retired two years prior, and while she was embracing all things ‘retired’, she had a constant issue with having her sewing machine in the dark dreary basement.
Dennis went on to say how their three-bedroom bungalow had great natural light, and looked onto their beautiful back yard.
The thought of moving was a total non-starter for them. They would simply ‘gut’ the basement and make a beautiful ‘sewing room’.
When I enquired what the children’s (main floor) bedrooms were now being used for; …..”oh they still have a bunch of their stuff in there” “our son is married and lives a few streets over” “our daughter has a condo in Oak Bluff”.
Me: “HELLO !! They are adults! “They have moved out. They are not coming back. If something was important to them, they already have it. Any junk left in their rooms is exactly that! “
“Give them one week to claim anything, and then call ‘1-800-junk’ ! “
Seriously!?! How easy to simply empty out the best room on the main floor. Give it a complete overhaul to your (wife’s) exacting requirements, and Viola!
A light-filled beautiful sewing room! (Or in the case of the above photos, a fully functioning office with lots of femininity. All that is left to do in this room is reupholster the office chair).
Cheaper + Faster = A total NoBrainer.
Did Dennis take my advice? Did he share it with his wife?
I will never know, as he never, ever, shared a dinner table with me, ever again.
