Compulsive hoarding is a mental disorder that is just beginning to be understood. As a hoarder, I have acquired things over the years with a specific purpose in mind at the time of the acquisition, used some of those items for their intended purposes, forgotten the goal for different objects, but now that I find that they have outlived their purpose in my life I am struggling to rid myself of those same things.

You can read the start of my journey here.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Of Scooter and beds.

I've been very careful lately about buying anything and adding to the mess. However, Bugster and her new husband did pick something up for me tonight from Craigslist. I found a pair of pretty solid wood headboards to make into a bed for Scooter. She's still sleeping on the bottom half of the bunk beds the girls used for years, and I want to sell them and get them out of my house!

The headboards are both 4' tall. We'll be cutting the legs down on one to make it into a footboard. I'll be using a bit of elbow grease to get some purple crayon marking out of the filigree-like pattern on one board, but once it's done, I'll prime them and paint them white. Then, we'll attach the springs that are part of the trundle bed that we brought in from the side of the house, and we'll slide the trundle underneath. It will be so nice to have it done, and I have no doubt she'll love it. It's not the biggest priority right now, but I will work on it as I get time.

I know it sounds counter intuitive to go ahead and buy this right now with all we have going on, but the timing is right. I've been looking for several weeks for something that would work. We needed something that matched, that looked good, that was in decent shape, that was a good price, that didn't look super outdated, and that didn't have holes already drilled in them, or that didn't have places for the slats to slide in. To be able to get all of that for the price we needed was difficult.

The timing was right. The price was right. The person wanted $35 each for them, or he'd sell them 2/$60. However, when the kids got there, Bugster said she could tell he realized she might not take them. So she asked, if he would go to $50 for the pair, since there was more crayon than she expected, and because there were some small dents in them and a slight chunk out of the one. He went to $50, so I told her we'd split the difference. We were both happy.

I'll probably paint on it as I can in the next couple of weeks. I still have some painting to do on furniture that we're using in the basement. And since things are still set up down there to paint the furniture, I'll be trying to get the painting done as soon as I can. That way, the furniture can be moved into place, and we can get the storage unit unpacked and put away before the end of July.

I'll also be taking before and after pictures of it. It may take me months to get the pictures up. But I will.

It will be a visual reminder that things don't have to stay the way they were.


4 comments:

  1. Would a Mr Clean Magic Eraser help, or by "filigree-like", does that mean that the surface is uneven? (Even if the surface is a bit uneven, a Magic Eraser may help. They do wonders. They do contain formaldehyde, though, so you have to wear gloves.

    If you're looking for an alternate Magic Eraser that is chemical free, try the Norwex version. (I'm a huge Norwex fan - I've got so much of their stuff.) The link to the eraser is http://norwexhealthycleaning.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=226&zenid=89bf9f7f85469388cbf6e1516744e15e

    Well worth it, and it saves an UNBELIEVABLE amount of scrubbing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like your daughter is a good bargian shopper! The bed will be lovely

    ReplyDelete
  3. I use magic erasers for everything, and trust me it can handle crayon, my oldest took a permanent sharpie to my grandma's newly painted wall and magic eraser got it out!!! Good luck I'm sure it will turn out lovely!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, Jennifer, the surface is really uneven, and the offending youth who wielded the purple crayon traced every curve of the pattern with the crayon. It's going to take some elbow grease and at least one Magic Eraser to get it all off. And I'm totally fine with using a Magic Eraser. They are amazing!!

    She is, Fern! I've taught her well! :)

    Tiffany...I use them a lot, too. And the EXACT same thing happened to me when we painted 7 or 8 years ago. Scooter took a HUGE marker with one of those half inch long tips and wrote in thick black marker all over my freshly painted off-white walls. I made her do a lot of the scrubbing. It took her a few days, (and me a little longer, so she didn't see me working on it at night when it was her job) to get it all done, but it worked. Can't see where it is unless you know exactly where to look! :)

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to The Closet. Feel free to take off your coat, hang it up, if you can find the space, and sit a spell. I just love your visits. :)