Musical Rooms, Again

It's week 32. We're getting close to our estimated due date of Nov 23. Based on one data point — Anna — we predict that Sophie will be early. I am therefore required to cease all "home improvement" by Halloween to ensure an ample cushion of time. (If I need to work on something after that date I can go over to Mom and Dad's new house.)

What would I like to finish before then? Obviously, working on the kitchen is out of the question. Fixing up the living room — and maybe the sun room — seems more reasonable.

The problem is that these rooms are filled with stuff. The sun room is knee deep in Anna's toys, and the living room has sofas, chairs, tables, TV, computer, bookshelves, and books, books, books.

We've played this game before. It's called Musical Rooms.

1. Gather Anna's toys. done
2. Temporarily store Anna's toys in the nursery. almost done
3. Bring the wicker furniture to the SE bedroom. (Tina's office, guest room, and now: sitting room.) done
4. Move the living room into the dining room and vice versa. almost done

Whoa, wait a minute. What was that last item?

The living room floor needs to be sanded and refinished. The carpet in the sun room needs to go. (We still haven't decided whether to replace the carpet or put in a Pergo floor.) Working on the floors requires that the room be completely empty. The original idea was to pile everything into the sun room while working on the living room, and then switch everything around. But that meant all the furniture would be unusable.

How could we set things up so we could have a comfortable arrangement while I work on those two rooms? The answer was inspired by an idea Mom had for her new house: make the dining room into a sitting room, and move the dining table into the living room. (There's more to Mom's idea, and it doesn't work nearly as well in our house as it might in hers, but it will be OK for one month.)

Although moving the dining table into the living room was a tricky, two-person job (thanks, Dad!), it can easily be moved into the sun room when necessary because the wide French doors obviate the need for maneuvering.