Enough is enough….

Well, it took some doing, but Jeff finally had his moment of being sick and tired of this project. It happened when he was getting ready to install the final piece of the living room: the fireplace screen, which arrived damaged and had to be returned.

 It’s not like that was the biggest problem with the room….

Early in the remodel process, Richard had to tear out water damaged ceilings in the living room from a roof leak. We could clearly see the damage when we purchased the house. After that was fixed and painted, we left the room alone until the floors (Jason at Sandmaster’s) and fireplace (Tuffy at Tile Effects) could be done.

The floor was a nasty white carpet that was stained with I didn’t want to know what. We installed the same wood in this room as we did in several other rooms on the main floor.  The tile on the fireplace was crumbling so we knew that had to be replaced. I chose a blue tile for it and matched the wall and cabinet color to that tile so the colors would be cohesive throughout the house.

The living room was not a top priority for us to finish as it won’t be used as regularly as the rest of the main floor. After the floors and the tile fireplace were installed, the room sat empty for quite a while.

Since we started entertaining again, we decided it was time to order furniture for the room. The first couches that I purchased said “navy” online, but when they arrived, they were a gray-teal color. Even Jeff, who will freely admit that he stinks at decorating, knew they wouldn’t work. He sent them back and we ordered different ones which look a lot better and cost about half as much, so a win-win.

I found an inexpensive, giant rug, chairs, coffee tables, and accent tables. We had precisely no furniture for this room, which meant I had to purchase everything.

So that was fun for me…not so much for Jeff, but he shouldn’t have sold our other furniture….

 I always find bargains, so he can’t complain too much.

Once all the furniture was in and arranged, Jeff picked out and ordered a fireplace screen. He did a really good job, too. However, when it came, it had a huge dent in it, right at the front. Jeff, being the ever so observant man that he is… didn’t notice the dent and had already started putting the screen together. When I looked at it, I pointed out the massive dent which led to a “spirited” discussion of returning it.

I wouldn’t call our discussion an argument per se. We haven’t argued since the great pantry incident, but not being able to complete the room and having to deal with returning the screen put Jeff in about the foulest mood I think I have ever seen. 

And we’ve been together since we were teenagers.

Since Jeff doesn’t get cranky easily, I had to do some exploring with him to see what was going on. My conclusion was that he had just had enough. He was tired of it and needed to vent his frustration. I can respect that. After all, even God gets to the point where He has had enough (Deuteronomy 3:26, Isaiah 1:11 to name a few).  If God, with infinite patience, can hit His limit, who am I to judge Jeff for doing the same. I was just surprised that a fireplace screen was the final straw. When you consider all of the other crap we’ve dealt with, that was so very minor in the scheme of things.

We received the replacement fireplace screen and the next hiccup happened. Jeff expertly put it together and then discovered it wouldn’t work on our fireplace because it needs a wall mount screen…information that would have been helpful BEFORE we purchased it.

 The new screen is going to be used in the office to replace the brass and black number, so it won’t be wasted (and I get to replace something I dislike, which I assure you is a happy accident).

We spent the next week or so looking for an appropriate wall mount screen. We came up empty as we aren’t willing to pay over a thousand dollars for this item. So I revisited the original glass doors and decided that we can paint them to better match the room. I ordered high heat paint (a requirement when painting anything near fire or a heat source) and prepared to work.

While waiting for the paint to ship, because of course they didn’t have it in stock, the chimney and fireplace people came to inspect all four fireplaces. Jeff had them put the old gold screen back on the living room fireplace, so we had something in place while waiting for the paint. Once it was back on, it looked great. It matched the lamps in the room and didn’t draw too much focus, which was my concern. I told Jeff we didn’t need to paint it. We could just leave it alone. Which means that room is FINALLY done, and we didn’t have to spend any more moolah… which makes us both happy and not a little relieved….

After all…. enough IS enough….