Necessity is the Mother of Invention (or Things You Want to Do Will Prove to be Much More Difficult Than You Thought)

I live in a 1960s tract house.   It is a three bedroom ranch with a single car garage and a full basement that is finished, albeit not the way that I would have done it, had it been up to me.  

And for the most part, I am in love with it.  It has oak floors, redwood siding and floor joists, a "somewhat" roomy eat-in kitchen, a decent sized lot, and the location is perfect for us.

Before I "owned" my own home, I could never understand why people would let their older homes become so "dated."  I would look around older homes and naively judge the owners for their blond woodwork, or their outdated wallpaper.  Or I'd look at the obviously late 1980s kitchen remodel in the house built in 1950 and wonder why the owner still had dusty mauve countertops and flowery wallpaper with a matching border in their kitchen.   Did they just really like that look, or were they completely unaware of HGTV?

I am smarter now.  And much less judgmental.   Keeping a house "updated" takes lots of time or lots of money.  And usually it takes both.  You can either pay out a semester's college tuition to have someone else do it (easier), or you can do it yourself (cheaper).  We have done a little of both, but mostly "do it yourself."

My most recent "Honey, this will make the house look so much better--you'll see" idea was to paint all of our honey oak trim white.  Little did I know what we were in for.  Cleaning, sanding, priming, painting, more sanding, more painting.  Oh, and all of the doors have to be painted, too.  And you don't just slap latex paint from Wal Mart on the trim, either.   Nope.  Oil based paint, with a minimum of 24 hours drying time between each coat.  It's enough to make a person crazy!!

And then I started doing the math.  Three days from primer to finished product, but a door (remember, all of the doors need to be painted, too) has two sides!  So that means six days before I have a door back on my bathroom!  Well, this got Brian's creative juices flowing.   He ransacked my sewing notions and rigged this.  And no, it isn't the set of Monsters Inc.  

It's amazing what can be done with elastic, velcro, a couple of screws, and the garage door assembly!  Now I should have a bathroom door in three days!

Just in time, I'm sure, for blond woodwork to make a comeback.