Big Brothers Are the Best

A couple of weeks ago, my brother Jim, flew up from the Bay Area to help us with a couple of projects on our house. Years ago, he built his own home, so has a credible accomplishment under his belt, and as far as I can tell, he knows everything about everything. He's the best big brother ever.

Our main project was building shelves in the master closet. Celeste Sophia had already demo-ed the old, wire shelves. You know, those cheap-o shelves that allow things to fall through or capsize if you don't place things on them just so. I wanted real shelves, solid, durable, strong, pretty. So, thanks to Celeste Sophia's hard work, we only needed to do a bit of sanding to finish her expert hole patching, a quick wash with TSP, and we were ready to go.

Big brothers are the best

Dambara chose the paint color, and a gallon of it had been waiting for us for a few weeks already. The whole idea for closet paint colors came from our good friends, Devidasi and Alex, who designed and built their house at Ananda Village a few years back. Alex prefers neutral, soft colors. Devidasi loves vivid, brilliant colors. So, Alex chose all the wall colors, and Devidasi chose the closet colors. You'll open up a hall closet and get hit with an explosion of tangerine or turquoise or rosey orange. It's beautiful, and it's fun; our two main criteria for refurbishing our house.

We decided that each person who moves into Haven West gets to choose the paint color for their own closet. Dambara picked up the banner and ran with it by bringing home this fabulous lavender. So, after sanding and TSPing, we got brushes and rollers and buried the beige under a thick layer of vivid.

Many hands

Once the paint was dry, we collected hammers and screw guns, shelving and brackets, levels and measuring tapes. We created a wall of shelves, a wall of hanging rods, a wall of drawers, and a wall of blank, ready for kitty-highway construction; a later project.

It feels great to have another room in the house become a functional partner for our household. The kitties have already found their favorite nesting spots, and the lavender really makes the room come alive.


If ever you need help with a project, send for your big brother. They're the best!

Vivid colors to delight the eye