3 minute read
My Motivation to Work Out
So I can move the couch from here...
The full illustrations are available on the desktop version
Madeline Strum Photography
...to all the way over there
Both of these illustrations are based on iPhone panorama photos taken during the moving process, so there was tons of stuff everywhere that Madeline took liberties interpreting.
Madeline Strum Photography
The amount of sunlight that poured through one basement window (the far right in these illos) was so hard to deny that even with the vertical blinds drawn Madeline had to figure out how to protect her garments on the clothing rack. Then one day she opened the vertical blinds on a different window (the far left in these illos). Why were the kids playing in the dark? What if they rearranged everything? What if they got rid of some stuff...?
This illustration doesn't really capture how cluttered and chaotic the arrangement was when the north end of the space (this side of the page) was "The Dadda Zone." The previous tenants left behind a sleeper sofa, a dresser, and an armoire that slumped to the left so none of the drawers actually be opened. For April Fool's Day, Madeline turned the IKEA cube wall 90 degrees. It's blocking out the armoire from this angle.
After taking these pictures for Issue 87 in March 2020, Madeline thought the sleeper sofa and TVCR should move to the stage to create a TV space, a Lego space, and so on. It did not work to create a better basement where all three kids played together.
Madeline Strum Photography
Other than opening the blinds on three windows and making the most of the natural light, Madeline wanted to be sure there was a studio space. She had cleared out space in January 2020 that quickly became work from home spaces for Luis and Betty. Back when they moved in, the landlord had suggested what is now referred to as "the stage" could be a man cave, but all of Casa Vega is basically a man cave. Madeline decided "the stage" (one step up from the rest of the basement) should become her space.
Madeline Strum Photography
Madeline Strum Photography
Madeline has carved out spaces before that are supposed to be for shoots, but never had a set up where furniture wasn't waiting to be moved back or someone else might show up and need that space for other work. Now whatever she arranges can stay there as long as she needs without cats or children messing with the set up. She focuses on that when she has to open up the pipe that flows to the city sewage so she can scrape out three apartments worth of poop.
SO MANY TOYS
When we moved in and didn't feel like figuring out how to get rid of the baby dresser the previous tenants left behind, Luis filled it with toys. This month, Madeline unloaded the toys, moved the dresser, and then shot all the toys to catalog them before they went back into the dresser. Unloading more boxes later, she found duplicates of figures in the drawers, like Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet. No one here even likes the Jets.
Madeline Strum Photography
The planning might have started in March. After I cleaned giant toy sets to pass along to friends, we could consider how to reorganize the rest. April 22 was the first day of flipping the basement, starting with the couch and computers. If I hadn't been doing push ups during the planning phase, I wouldn't have been able to move the loft bed—a floor-to-ceiling 3-foot deep stack of boxes. Moving and paring down bins took days. —MV
A LOT TO WORK THROUGH
Knowing Mother's Day is on the horizon sends me into the throes of existential angst. My mom stopped talking to me in the 2000s because she thought I was hard to talk to. (See Page 22.) I have three and a half kids who don't know my mom. And moms should go back to work! And we had new neighbors on both Floors 2 and 3! So if I can rip apart someone's garbage armoire and rearrange everything, it helps keep my brain off the lurking dread. Not only did I create a giant puzzle but also contracted rashes that had me research scabies and dust mites. —MV
