...ehem...make that two women. Remember a few days ago, when I said "Bigger isn't always better"? Um, ya. I stand corrected. I now believe bigger is the best, even if it ain't the easiest. (and I am sure you will agree) You see, when I told you the story about the bookcase-hutch thing-y not being able to fit in the room...well, that is still true, however, when I was telling the Sewing Queen of northern Nevada my dilemma,and how there wasn't a more perfect piece for my workroom anywhere on the planet, and oh-woe is me, yada yada yada, she simply said, "Well, why can't you just switch your workroom with your guest room?". Of course I replied with a very long can't-you-see-that's-impossible sigh and a double eye roll over the phone, pointing out that I was way too busy for anything that drastic. Sheesh.
But then........
I couldn't quit thinking about what she said. What if I...could it be...maybe it could...could it really be as easy as that? (After all, isn't that one of the perks of living alone? Being able to do anything you feel like doing, without worrying about what someone else might think?)
Hmmmm.
I proceeded to ask all of my friends opinions on this. (Just so you know-that's what I do whenever I have a dilemma- I obsess and annoy practically every one I know until I figure things out.)
Anyway.
Wouldn't you know that the other Tracey was out of town during this crisis, and so, of course, I called and left her several pitiful depressed messages about my situation. (I know. You're thinking "Dear God! She is a whack job and a half. It's just not that big of a deal!" Oh, yes you were. But it was that big of a deal. See how fabulous the giant piece is in the photo above?)
When at last the other Tracey returned to town she came over and we both studied and circled the bookcase hutch-y thing in my garage and, as expected, she once again said, "It sure is huge." (I know. Profound.) Then she looked at me and said something I never expected. "Okay. We need to paint it up and we're going to swap the rooms. Let's get on it. Now."
Really?!
Yes, really.
So...we emptied the guest room of all the furniture. (Here is the part where I should let you know that I am a nutty perfectionist methodical thinker, and I pointed out that I really thought the entire new workroom should be painted a warm-chestnut-y-kind-of-soft-mocha rather than the drab antique white walls and if I tried to paint it after moving the ginormous piece in it could spell disaster, or a hernia at the very least.) We ran to Home Depot for paint for the walls and the new bookcase piece. We painted the room and called it a day...er..night actually, because by then it was 8:30 p.m.
The next morning we primed and painted the perfect piece for the new workroom. Once dry, we maneuvered the bottom part down the 1960's hallway. We made the turn in the hallway without too much trouble. Before we knew it, we had the bottom part in the room. Yes! Success. (Here is where I made my first mistake.) I got all cocky, dancing and shouting "We don't need no stinking men! We can do this! Why was I ever worried? It's a cakewalk!"
Um, ya. Notsomuch.
The trouble with the engineering on the piece of furniture was that the top of the bottom piece was open. That is, there was no top to it. Nope. Instead, the top was actually the bottom of the top piece. (did that make any sense at all?)
Anyway.
As we tried to get the top piece into the hallway....we hit a bit of a snag. (Did I mention at any point that the fabulous piece, when fully assembled, measures 7 feet by 7 feet? To give you some perspective, that's the size of a small bathroom, people. The photo doesn't really give you the impression it's that large.In fact, you'll need to click on the top photo to view the piece in it's entirety.) We couldn't get it around the corner in the hallway. I was pinned in the doorway to the old workroom, holding up the heavy bookcase top while the other Tracey was trapped in the guest bathroom. She was finally able to escape by doing a Rambo-esque style crawl under the wedged piece, which being held in place in mid air by the bathroom doorway frame (oh, her Mama would have been so proud!) and then pulling and tugging until we got the thing dislodged.
The other Tracey had had enough by this point. She suddenly (and with great gusto I might add) announced that "It's coming off!", meaning that we were going to dismantle the top piece. (Just go with me here. it was the counter top part, but it was part of the top piece to the bookcase..) I just stared back at her and said, "Okay". (I was just happy that one of us was taking the initiative here and I wasn't going to have to replace any walls in the hallway,, at least not at this point)
We managed to get the five million pound rather heavy top piece back down the hall, and the two steps, to the living room where we laid it on it's side. (..er...it's back?) I ran to the garage and got two hammers and then grabbed two towels (Kids, please don't try this at home.) Using the towels to buffer the whacks with the hammers and to protect the wood, we went to town and in about 5 minutes we were laughing (and sweating) as the top came off of the bottom.(Here, maybe these photos will help...the first one is the top part before paint, the second is the bottom part with the newly removed-from-the-top-part counter)
We then moved the newly freed counter top to the workroom and put it on top of the bottom. (Are you still with me here?) and then we tackled, quite literally, the top part. It was still a tight fit around the corner, but we angled it and pretty much found some inner-super-human-girl-strength and ...we made it around the corner by lifting and angling. (all the while holding our breath). We slid it into the room. We focused, and took a deep breath. Then, on the count of three, we hoisted the top part onto the bottom part and it. was. fabulous. (Thanks Mom. You were so right!)
We stood back and marveled at what we had just accomplished.
Aaah, life is good.
After a little touch up paint, I was filling every nook and cranny with my supplies, and feeling oh, so thankful that the other Tracey was confident enough to make a snap decision. (I told you she was a visionary.)
As for the other guy that was supposedly going to buy the fabulous piece from me...well, he did finally call on Tuesday at 2:55 p.m. and I told him the piece was already gone to a good home.
And it was.
