Decision Fatigue

I'm generally a pretty decisive person.  Every day at my job I make a lot of decisions and I help a lot of other people make decisions.  Usually, I like it.  Usually.  The number of decisions I need to make has increased dramatically with the Loft.  Yesterday I hit a bit of a saturation point.  I was discussing what movie to see with some friends and I could have sworn I felt a circuit short out in my brain.  

Paint

I chose most of my paint colors and hired a painter.  He's making excellent progress.  

My colors for the main room are Griddle and Porpoise.  I had to forcibly shift myself away from the colors named Black Tulip and Downpour - the names were so much more evocative.  I would love to have the job of naming the colors. 

The IKEA Experience

It's been years since I've been to an IKEA, and with good reason.  As my Mom, who bravely accompanied me on this (mis) adventure, observed: they make you pay for the products one way or another.  The dollar cost may be absurdly low, but the pain and suffering cost is high.  It takes a couple of years for the painful memories to fade away.

Obsessive List Making

13 days until I move.  I can't stop thinking about all the things I need to do.  I carry this graph paper composition notebook around with me everywhere I go and scribble measurements, phone numbers for contractors, ideas for furniture arranging and of course, to do lists.  I make list after list after list.  The lists seemed insurmountable.  Every time I crossed something off the list, 4 more things got added.  I hate when the list runs onto more than one page - it makes me feel like I can't get my head around it.

Today I had the (possibly brilliant, possibly pointless) idea of splitting my lists into categories: Loft pre-move, Loft post-move, Old home, Other.  The last one is mostly stuff I need to do to keep my life running while all this is going on (like renewing my car registration) and/or stuff I can accomplish on the internet (like arranging to transfer my cable and internet).

I think the thing that will save my sanity the most was identifying the things that can wait until after I move.  I was making myself crazy with "hire painters" mixed in with "replace mirror in bathroom." 

At least my bathroom isn't Avocado!

 This hit kind of close to home...

By which I mean I had a violent reaction to various items in the houses I looked at when I was shopping for a place, including the bathroom in the loft I ended up buying. 

To be honest with myself, I imagine other people will have bad reactions to decisions I'm making now.  Including a distinctly avocado-ish color for wall paint in the bathroom.  White tub though.

Thinking about paint colors and remembering how much I like Photoshop.

Floors!  

Project Day!

6 people, 4 trips to Home Depot, 2 toilets purchased and returned, 1 sink installed!

Before:

and After:

Tomorrow I will be installing this sink.  

 

As promised, some pictures of the (mostly) empty loft.

In order to get more of the space in each shot, I used a fisheye lens, so the pictures are a little deceptive about size.

A somewhat disappointing day - the flooring contractor had to cancel for a medical emergency, but at least my pretty new sink and gigantic A/C unit arrived.

 More after the jump...

 As of May 25, 2012, I'm the proud owner of a groovy artist loft in Somerville, MA.  As I embark on my project as a new homeowner and DIY enthusiast, I decided to document the plans, ideas, successes, failures and humor that I assume will result.

 

The pictures in this post show the former owner's things.  Empty space pictures to come and then a series of before and after shots.