reoccupation

in any remodeling project there comes a time when the work tapers off and the space becomes available for habitation once again.  in this case the process was somewhat gradual, though I don't know whether that's usual. 

although the dimensions remained essentially unchanged, it became clear that fitting back into the space wasn't going to be just a matter of reversing the staging and putting things back the way they had been.  even though the actual scope of interior alteration was limited to doors, fenestration and wall surfaces, the impact on the front room as a living space was greater than that might imply.  in moving back into the space I wanted to keep things very open and to protect the sight lines that had been created so furniture was shuffled accordingly. 

I replaced the 17 in. monitor with a flat panel display which hangs on the wall and now occupies a small fraction of the volume previously consumed by the CRT, and set the desk alongside the wall.  it has an end shelf that is by coincidence a perfect size for stowing the keyboard when not in use, further reducing computational intrusion (I still need to find some way to deal with the speakers and printer: the latter is infrequently used for its intended purpose but Peake likes to use it as a cat pedestal).  I also discarded the 1970s G.E. stereo console unit that had been lurking under the stairs.  its components had ceased to function and it had merely become a poorly placed and ill-sized credenza. 

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some time ago I had promised to take photos of the current configuration for my brother.  my intent had been to do that in a sunny afternoon but weekend weather hasn't been suitable for that lately and the current forecast wasn't promising, so instead I took some before heading off to work and a couple more on returning. 
here they are:

morning, looking out


morning, looking in


evening, looking out


evening, looking in

quite a few items still need attention (including, as can plainly be seen, upholstery whose condition is somewhere between a disgrace and an emergency) but the space has become attractive and is now functioning much better than it had before things got started.