The Details of Wonderland
By Jeannine Patané • August 2005

    As a placement agency and I collaborate to find a year-round, long-term client whom I can support, I’ve been spending some time supporting those close to me by helping them with their homes. One space I’ve become fond of is a funky, low ceiling basement apartment where no wall, floor or ceiling is plumb, square or level. It’s an Alice-in-Wonderland delight.
    The tenant recently moved out after a two-year stay, and the apartment had seen better years. A few decades of piecemealed renovations had left the space inconsistent and out-of-date. I took the task of detail work to pull the apartment back together. About dozen tubes of caulk and a few gallons of joint compound helped accomplish the prep work before painting. I also removed unnecessary moulding and hardware that just weighed the space down.

  
Details of wall repair—fixing loose sheetrock and visible nail heads,
caulking gaps in moulding, repairing ceiling cracks
and covering nail holes from removed trim.

  

     When the owner saw the time and detail work I put into the apartment, they began to see its potential. We took the renovation a few steps further and purchased a new kitchen countertop, lighting fixtures and replacement windows. The bathroom floor was the biggest project, calling for a total rip out, concrete fill and tiling to make it right.
     After working meticulously on the space for a few weeks, I appreciated the apartment’s consistently quirky personality. There was even a curious stray cat that came by and poked its head in at the door during the renovation. The apartment transformed into a space I could consider living in, and I believe Alice would be very curious to go down and spend some time there. All we would need is a deck of cards, a hookah-smoking caterpillar, a mad hatter and a late-running rabbit to complete the décor.

  
It was high time to switch to the switch.