When I said done...

...what I actually meant was mostly done.

After the floor was painted, I felt a great sense of relief, to be sure. 2 years after that fateful Saturday morning and we finally got to the point where we could think about moving everything that had taken over the rest of the house back into the utility room.

But first...cove base. If you think you don't know what cove base is, think again. It's that edging at the base of the wall that you don't necessarily notice but it adds a nice finishing touch to a room, kind of like quarter round, but with less drama.

More glue!

Less drama, but more glue.

And more rolling.

Rolling out the bubbles...

Isn't that a nice color combination? I picked it out  myself. Occasionally I get things right.


 Once the cove base was down, it was time to put together the work table. 'Cuz really, what kind of utility room doesn't have a work table?

Not ours.

You can see the cove base and how it adds that nice finishing touch to the walls. Props to DH for the idea. I hadn't actually realized it existed until he suggested we add it to the room and then I started seeing it everywhere.

Jill approves.

While DH was assembling the work table, I was retrieving the ridiculous amount of stuff that had spread out throughout the rest of the house and trying to organize it all on our new, fabulous shelves.

And putting our tools in their new, fabulous home.

DH isn't a fan of my describing the manly tool chest as "fabulous," but this is my blog, so here, it's fab-u-lous!

This, my friends (hi, Mom!) is a pretty bitchin' utility room work area...with enough buckets to make even the most discriminating walrus happy.

So the joy of my day was topped of by a brilliant moment when I actually impressed DH. We've been together almost a decade now, so whenever I do or say something that I think should impress him...it doesn't. But this day...on this magical day moving back into the utility room and reclaiming the previously overrun spaces...I impressed my husband.

He needed to drill 1/2" pilot holes in the bottom of the work table's top and as he's reading the instructions aloud, I go over to the newly-organized shelves and pull out some painter's tape. Why? 

Well...because this:

As I'm pulling off a short piece of tape, DH, while still looking down, says, "Could you get me some tape?"

"You mean the stuff I have in my hand?"

And that...as silly as it sounds...is how I impressed my husband. I knew the trick.

The trick: If you need to drill a pilot hole to a certain depth, use a piece of tape to mark that depth directly on the bit. It's simple and it works.

I wasn't the only one who found a bit of bliss on this day. As I was restoring order by putting things away in their proper places, the kitty rediscovered the linen storage in the spare bedroom.

Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.