Where there's a Will...

Will

This is my friend, Will.  If you're an Albanian, chances are you've met him at some social event or another.  Or perhaps at a restaurant because he does enjoy dining out frequently.  Will is a realtor and the owner of a fabulously unique living space that was recently featured on All Over Albany.  If you're lucky, you've been the recipient of one of Will's spine-crushing hugs, inhaled his divine Jo Malone cologne and heard his uproarious laughter.  He's a great guy - generous, thoughtful, loyal and fun and I always enjoy spending time with him.  Even when things don't go as planned, as was the case this past winter when we skied Albany Muni together with a less than ideal outcome.  One of us will share that story with you someday.  The bottom line is this: I love me some Will!

Last Friday, Will came over for a glass of wine prior to our meeting a third friend for dinner.  As always, the conversation was lively as we caught each other up on our recent trips and talked about all the changes occurring in my life.  Little did I know that Will had some changes in mind for me, also, relating specifically to my living space. For those of you not familiar with my house, I'll describe it: typical Albany two flat property which has been tweaked.  The first floor unit is fairly standard with a living room, dining room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom.  Upstairs I have 2 floors of living space (thank you, zoning board) with the first of the floors containing a living room, office/playroom, bedroom, bathroom and an open kitchen/dining room.  The top floor for the last 12 years has been 2 additional bedrooms and a bathroom.  There have been numerous changes made over the past 15 years, with walls coming down and doorways opening up and I thought the space was fairly well arranged.  That is, until Will took a good, hard look around...

Will has been to my house on numerous occasions, but he must have been inspired by my new status as a solo homeowner that night.  He asked if it was okay for him to take a tour of the upstairs and within minutes he had mentally reconfigured my entire space, other than the kitchen, a bedroom and the bathrooms.  The ideas he shared were creative, logical and completely novel to me - it absolutely never would have occurred to me to utilize the space in the manner which Will came up with in all of 5 minutes.  I'm going to get me a new house!! 

I was so excited immediately by the prospects Will presented that night that, following our dinner, I moved the first of many pieces of furniture.  Saturday I shopped a bit for some items and continued moving furniture with the assistance of all three of the Lilly boys.  Geez, they're strong!  It must be the Meadowbrook Farms milk, we splurge on.  I'll post some pictures when the project is done (as if any homeowner project is ever completed!) but I'll tell you in advance that it will be very different.  Try to stay with me as  I describe the dramatic repurposing of the space...the current dining room (open to the kitchen) will be the new family room, the current living room will become my bedroom, the office is now the dining room and the second floor bedroom will be an office/guest room.  Lucky (as always) Griffin gets my large bedroom on the third floor and the boys will take over the upstairs bathroom (as well as the entire top floor of the house) and I will girlify the bathroom on the main floor.  You realize this is just a lot of moving around, right?  Which means not a lot of money, just some muscle.  Thank you, Will, for your vision and, most importantly, for your friendship.  You literally rocked my world!