Staging, Painting and Surviving

Perhaps you are not familiar with "staging," either the theatrical kind or the house staging action which has been my undoing the last couple of weeks. Did I tell you that DH got a new wide-angle camera; this because the photos I had taken with my digital camera (not wide) did not appear to him like the interior photos in the glossy realtors' brochures of the pricey home for sale. The question of "to realtor, or not to realtor" is still under consideration.

So, new camera on hand we set about 'staging' several rooms. The objective was to gain 6 suitable photos for the upcoming spring market when we will announce that our house is for sale. While the photos began to take on a spacious, furniture store setting what is not in the picture is equally telling. For every clearer, clutter free room shot - there is a hall or corner stacked with the detritus of human living. Too many dishes, too many picture frames, too many pillows; where does all this stuff go when you are not taking pictures?

The kitchen was the worst job, every thing cleared off of every surface save but a bowl of fruit and one platter "artfully placed." True, it is difficult to view your own home in an objective way - not after you have planned, painted, moved, arranged, re-arranged, cleaned and lived with your treasured possessions for over a decade. Objective is not the first word that comes to mind.

The first word is not one you would use in polite company because after hours of moving, arranging and accessorizing the 'frame' we agreed on very little and were both too tired to be amiable. That said we had six photos in just under three days time. And we had not started packing, storing or getting ready for the next step.

NEXT STEP:  Interior Painting
I remember the day a friend said to me "getting an inside painter is cheaper in the winter as they cannot do any outside painting then." Cheaper? How much cheaper - not by the estimates we have in hand. Plus the act of painting is the easy part. The hard part is taking down all the picture frames (65 and counting), moving all the furniture, rolling up the rugs, packing away all the non-essentials and making a clear path for the painters. Yipes!! To this end several trips to the ABC store for empty liquor boxes was necessary.

Prelude to Painting is the fact that we rented a storage unit and cleared off the steel racking in the basement so that it could be carted to the rental storage place. Yesterday with the kind and gracious help of sister Jan and Rich, the racking was installed. Two pick-up loads of racks, storage tubs and boxes are now cleared out of the house. And there is much more to be done.

Today I have a tiny slice of my real life back as I got to the gym and found that two weeks of moving furniture, climbing up and down ladders and lifting boxes may not have been so bad; my back is stronger than ever and I lost two pounds. After gym my attention turned to the give-aways for the Guild's Silent Auction tomorrow night. Every January the Durham Orange Quilters' Guild has a silent auction where each quilter brings fabric or sewing paraphernalia they no longer want and put it on the table. Hopefully some other quilter will want it and out bid all other to take it to a new home. This has proved to be a major money maker, especially in off-years when we do not mount a quilt show. And this year I have the car loaded with goods to let someone else enjoy.

Dinner tonite is leftover casserole from yesterday's lunch. I wrote of the Breakfast Sausage & Cornbread casserole that I made for New Year's Day brunch (see early January). The best solution for eating on a moving day is to make something the night before and bake it off before lunch. Using the same recipe, with only slight additions of broccoli and red peppers, the cheese covered casserole came out of the oven looking marvelous. We were all too hungry to care. Neither fat-free or very light eating the guys loved it of course and even my sister wanted the recipe. How bad is that?

Tomorrow it is back to work - more pictures to pack, clutter to clear, boxes are ready to be filled and much needs to head to the local thrift shop. This week: the painters are coming. My coping method has been to relax with Mr. Kindle and read the Ken Follett book, "Dangerous Fortune."  Follett's writing reads like a Masterpiece Theater production. English aristocrats, ambitious bankers, socialite wives and the undoing of a family fortune. Reading for half-hour at a time helped me relax between tasks keep my feet from aching so much. Finished it this morning and ready for the next "A Place Called Freedom," another Follett saga. That should last me most of next week and maybe I will survive (?).