"Storrmmee" > wrote in message
...
> it is very hard, starting over is just almost unberable overwhelming, so
> many details, little things like remembering to put place matts and
> coasters on the shopping list to finding someone to remove trees so
> construction can be done properly...
>
> it is moving ever so slowly, being superstitious in nature i am reluctant
> to say much as every time i do something bad happens... but at least
> things are moving...
>
> we have learned what is important and what isn't, we are having a much
> smaller house than originally planned but we won't have nearly so much to
> try and pay for beyond the ins co's payout... that became much more
> important than some things, we also gave up some size for more
> maintainance free... neither of us are as young as we once were and figure
> this was a better use of the money... Lee

I could do with a small house so long as it has tons of storage. My
parent's house although not overly small does have tons of storage.

The kitchen has plenty of cupboards and a huge pantry. They still found
this not to be enough and bought a sideboard for the dining room.

But downstairs is a lot of built in storage. Running the length of one wall
are these cupboards that come up to about my chest. They stick out under
the windows so that there is a shelf on top for additional storage. As a
child I had one of these in which to store my toys.

At the back of the room is where my mom used to have her sewing room but it
is now where my dad has his computer. There used to be built in cupboards
along one wall. Those cupboards were just as deep as a magazine, so only
good for some things.

One the wall next to that there is a huge, deep closet. And on the wall
next to that is another, smaller closet with a rod. They move their clothes
seasonally to and from that closet.

They have since redone the basement and they lost the shallow cupboards and
had the one larger closet redone. They had asked for some built in drawers
to be put in the closet but the man doing it misunderstood and put them next
to the closet. My parents have this habit of going away on vacation while
the work is being done. So they can't oversee what is going on. No way
would I do that!

They also have a closet which they call the "cubby hole". It is under the
stairs. So you can only stand up in a small part of it. Seasonal things
like Christmas ornaments slide back under the stairs.

The garage had a ton of built in shelves in it but they had those taken down
and put up metal units.

And they have a shed in the back for garden tools and things.

My brother bought a house with an unfinished basement. Along the length of
one wall they installed benches. I can't remember the particulars of the
benches but they are used for storage and they have removable pads for
seats. They either have drawers that slide out or tops that lift up. They
also built a huge walk in closet down there.

My MIL's house (although she no longer lives in it) was custom built for a
disabled person. Alas they could not talk my FIL into adding an additional
small bedroom which would have been a big help to us when we were staying
there. And it wouldn't have cost much more. It is a one bedroom house.
The kitchen and living room are an open design with the only separation
being carpet and vinyl flooring. Two big pantries for the small kitchen.

The bedroom is large enough for two twin beds. MIL had to sleep in a
hospital type bed. And the closet in there is HUGE! She had a huge long
dresser in the bedroom itself as well as a few small chests. More chest of
drawers were in the closet and there were rods along three sides with
shelves over the top of those. She stored seldom used things like the soup
tureen in there. It was designed so that she could roll her wheel chair in
there to pick out her clothes, although she never wanted to do that.

When Angela was younger, she and my niece would sleep in the closet on a
full sized air bed. There was enough floor space to do that. And it had a
nice light in it.

Some years ago I was living with a roommate. The house had been a three
bedroom but the garage had been converted to a fourth bedroom. That room
was long and narrow but it had a HUGE closet in it! I would have taken that
room for myself but it came with a waterbed which I hated. So I didn't.
Our landlord stayed there one night a week in one of the bedrooms and the
last one was turned into a storage room. He had put in some kitchen
cabinets and counters. It was the perfect place for us to store our craft
supplies.

Another place I lived was above a dance studio. I had plenty of extra space
in which to store things but no cupboards except for in the living room.

But my neighbor had it made! The area that was made into her apartment had
once been a Drs. office. So she had her door which led into the combination
kitchen and living room. The next room over was her dining room but in it
was a long counter and plenty of cupboards left from when it was once a Drs.
office. It was hard for me to imagine how that would have looked.
Certainly not like the offices of today. Anyway that is where she did her
crafts.

Then the next room over was made into a little formal sitting room which was
rarely used and it also had housed her bell museum. She collected bells.

Somewhere on this level was the small bedroom that she slept in and opposite
the bedroom was a small closet. Of course there was a bathroom there too.
I can't remember the particulars of that.

She also had stairs that led to a large bedroom upstairs that she only used
for storage. That was the weird part. There was a door in my apartment
that led to that bedroom! The bedroom was actually designed so that when my
apartment rented out it could be a one or two bedroom depending on whether
that door was kept locked or not.

Worked fine when she was living there. She couldn't navigate stairs so
never used the room. But when she moved out some wacko guy moved in there
with his wife. Because the door was next to paper thin I could hear
everything that went on in that room. He liked to talk on the phone to
people very loudly and tell them all about his talks with whoever was the
president at the time. I think it was Regan. At times it was really all I
could do and all my company could do not to laugh out loud at this poor man.
Ah, the memories. That apartment is now a Walgreen's!