Settling In

Flamingo Room w/Riordin on the Bed
Tequesta, FL
January 24, 2022

The process of converting our condo into a full-time residence from a vacation home is more extensive than I had believed possible. It turns out that the small things that we lived with have now become important issues since I am retired and have nothing else to do but work on projects. 

There is also the fear of over-stuffing the condo--which has less storage space than our Maryland home--even though we are not nearly close to maxing out the capacity. But, Chris and I are cognizant of the "collection syndrome" and working hard avoiding gathering "things" just because. One way we are doing this is by evaluating the function of each item being considered for inclusion in the home--be it decoration, furniture, kitchen ware or whatever.  

One thing we have done is to theme each of the bedrooms. Using a theme helps in deciding whether a particular item has a place in the house. Currently the three bedrooms are the Flamingo, Turtle, and Pelican rooms. As one might suspect, my favorite room is the Flamingo room and the recent additions to this room are the large freestanding Flamingo statue in the corner of the room (which we brought with us from Maryland) and the three-piece art over the bed. The stairs at the foot of the bed? They are for Finnegan, our Yorkie. 

It is all part of the process of settling into the condo and living here for more than one or two weeks at a time. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL