Where IS that Tape Measure?

During that first big weekend of phase1, I had created all the work areas in the house. I  hired two grunts ( thanks Matt and Joe) to move all the furniture pieces against the walls in the big space in the back. We emptied contents and they moved the pieces where I directed. With their strappin' young muscles, it was done in 40 minutes.

That left the center of the great room as “staging” for all work. It was hard to make snap decisions about where to stack every little thing I needed to temporarily move, but in the end, the house felt mostly organized. Every choice had a reason, and the work areas for all of phase I felt prepared and set-up.

But now, tools have crept back into almost every room…like dust bunnies. They just rolled into corners and on top of fridges. And as they moved, my sense of temporary order melted with it. Now clutter, even important clutter feels everywhere, but I don’t know where that is…and I spend too much energy trying to find things.  Being in the middle of the project managing and running around keeping the schedule tight so those rooms are ready for mid- January, means I can’t take another day to re-organize. Besides, the octopusian reach of my general contractor means it will happen again, as terrific as he is.

Uuugh!!!!! I’ve just got to fold that “finding task” into my job description. It’s wearying. 

If you can, no matter if you're doing the work or hiring it: Be a containment nazi about where things are. Restrict places for  tools- have someone- you , or a work person - grab stuff at lunchtime and again at day’s end and put them back where YOU want it to be. My work team swept and left the place totally clean each day, but they didn’t re-center their tools. Part of it was because they offered us their tools for our tasks- hanging pictures for example goes much faster with a cordless drill. But part of it was that their level of happy meant their tools only needed to be  mostly organized in heaps, somewhere. Just be aware that you can ask for the level or organization you need, if you’re living there while they work.