One wouldn’t normally think this, but the 3 scariest words in the English language are “I’ve been thinking…”
Normally, thinking’s a good thing. I would even venture to say a great thing. But when my mother starts a sentence with “I’ve been thinking…” I’m filled with a mixture of dread and frustration because ever since we started this home renovation, these 3 innocent little words have meant she’s about to change her mind and flip flop on a decision already made.
Most recently she’s decided to tile the central foyer after all, which necessitated trips to various tile stores all weekend to find the right tile. The latest bee in her bonnet is to get blinds from Walmart because “they’re only $15 each” instead of the $70 we’ve been quoted.
Let me back up a bit. Since the renovations are supposedly expected to be done by the 20th*, we’ll be needing window coverings soon. We’ve gone to a few places to get quotes for various window coverings, including cellular blinds, wood blinds, mini-blinds, and window shadings, and received quotes ranging from about $2,700 to $3,800 given different combinations.
In the interest of saving money (which I completely understand), my mother is considering getting blinds from Walmart. Perhaps I’m being unreasonable for dismissing this idea out-of-hand, but these blinds are $15 for a reason: Somehow I don’t think Walmart will cut the blinds to fit the dimensions of the different windows we have—they’re known for being excellent operationally and not for being customer intimate—but my mother thinks it may work. So I’ll let her figure it out.
I probably shouldn’t be as particular as I have been about the design decisions—after all, I’ll be moving out next year when my condo is ready anyway. But still. I want the house my mother plans to grow old in to be not only comfortable for her, but aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps we have different ideas about what the latter is…but so far, she’s always come around to my way of thinking eventually, if in a round-about way, so I suppose I’ll just have to be patient—which, goodness knows, has never been my strong suit...
Meanwhile, the hardwood floor is taking shape on the 2nd floor and the red oak looks great!
* I'll believe this when I've moved back into my bedroom and the house is in some semblance of its former (dis)order.
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