It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is complaining about the Construction Chaos at our house. How long it’s gone on, how messy the house is, how I can’t find anything I am looking for. But today… TODAY… I found a silver lining. I guess I’ve known it all along, but with painters (almost) scheduled to come and flooring (almost) ready to be put in, it just hit me.

We have a rather large family room. Between the fireplace and the “tv watching area” is what I consider a large “dead space.” It’s used as a walk-through from the dining room (left in the photo) to the kitchen (bottom right is new granite counter in the kitchen). But it also looks…. well, like a large empty space. It’s really hard to arrange furniture in the family room because of all of the windows, doors, and the fireplace. I think, after living here 5 years, I’ve FINALLY hit upon a solution, but more about that later.

In the meantime, I’ve been using that space to refinish smaller pieces of furniture. It’s perfect. I get to be in the family room when hubby and the dogs are in there, I can listen to the television if I want, and I don’t have to worry about getting paint on the floor (as you can see in the lower middle of the photo).

It’s the SILVER LINING to the Construction Chaos. And, honestly, I’m going to miss having the ability to work in the house like this. Would I chose not to do the remodel so I could keep this work area? NO! A thousand times no. But in the middle of all of the mess, it’s a little perk. Definitely the Silver Lining.

This piece I’m working on in the photo isn’t finished yet. I hope to be able to show you the Before and After next week.