In this issue of the Cook County News-Herald, you will find our special Fall Home Improvement insert. We always have fun putting this special supplement together, starting with trying to decide what to write about. Since there is a limited amount of room, there is hearty competition over what stories will run. We are always amazed at how much is taking place in our small community. Lots of building, remodeling, retrofitting, and beautifying homes and businesses.
Although we rarely have a shortage of ideas, we are open to suggestions— if there is a home improvement topic or a local construction project you’d like to see in an upcoming home improvement issue, drop us a note or give us a call.
I would like to see an article on something that doesn’t exist—moveable walls. I don’t know if it’s physically possible, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could rearrange the walls to change the layout of your home from time to time?
You don’t know, until you live in a house, whether you are going to like the way the walls are arranged. It would be nice to try the layout of a house out for a while before deciding to make it permanent.
I remember reading about a college that underwent a major campus renovation but left the installation of sidewalks until last. Instead of placing sidewalks where designers thought they should go, grass was planted. After a season of observing where students and visitors traveled, sidewalks were installed where paths had been worn in the grass. How logical!
It would be nice if the same theory could be applied to our homes. For instance, after a few years of living in our current house, I realized I would have liked more closet space in my bedroom. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to just move the wall, making my dining room area a bit smaller and my closet a bit bigger?
People could make changes as the size of their family grew or became smaller. For example, we have a threebedroom house, which was perfect when my two boys were living at home. But now that they are gone, we don’t need two rooms. It would be nice to be able to push the wall one way or the other to create a larger bedroom and a smaller storage room.
Now, I know this can be done by ripping out drywall and knocking down studs, but that is so extreme and messy. I don’t want a house full of demolition materials. I don’t want to have to re-plaster and paint and reinstall flooring.
It would be nice if walls could be on some sort of track, like a bump-out on a recreational vehicle (RV), so it could be done quickly and painlessly.
I doubt if we will be doing an article about moveable walls anytime soon. But it’s a fun thing to think about. Kind of like the kooky appliances and vehicles in the Skypad Apartments in Orbit City á la The Jetsons.
I hope readers enjoy our fall home improvement issue, despite the absence of a moveable wall story. And I hope that with or without moveable walls, all your home improvement projects are as quick and painless as possible! Learn to adjust yourself to the conditions you have to endure, but make a point of trying to alter or correct conditions so that they are most favorable to you.
William Frederick Book
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