Whenever I hear the word “pivot” I immediately think of an episode of the TV show Friends where Ross recruits Rachel and Chandler to help him get a couch up a tight staircase.
Well, the other day, we were moving our furniture upstairs into our newly renovated bedroom. Moving things upstairs is always challenging, but we have a particularly tricky house. It’s nearly 50 years old and has tons of narrow doors and hallways. In particular, the staircase that goes upstairs makes an immediate 90 degree turn that is surrounded by walls and has a fairly low ceiling.
Kim and I pivoted most of the furniture up with relative ease, with a little assistance from Abby and Maddy. But we saved a few heavier pieces for when we had extra hands. There was one piece of furniture that we were a little concerned about: an armoire that is really tall. Once we realized that it separated into two pieces, we figured it would be no problem. I undid all the screws, took off the doors, removed the drawers, and thought we’d be ready to go. I easily carried the base upstairs, now all we needed was the top.
The armoire was fairly heavy, and three of us grunted, lifted, and started moving up the stairs. Immediately we ran into trouble. It was so wide and so tall that it bumped a wall here, a banister there, a ceiling above . . . And of course, all I had running through my head on repeat was Ross shouting, “Pivot!” A couch would have been easier. We pushed, pulled, shoved, and heaved, but all we did was get a gigantic piece of furniture more stuck in a stairway than I’ve ever gotten a piece of furniture stuck before. There was a moment when I didn’t think we would get it back down, but after leaving a few good dents and holes in our walls, we safely returned it to the first floor.
The more we looked at it, the more we realized that mathematically there was no way to get this giant cube of furniture up the narrow stairs. So now it was our turn to pivot. It sat in our living room for a few days, and each time I walked past it, I tried to brainstorm a way to heft this behemoth up the stairs. We even briefly considered bringing it up and in through an exterior window but then realized that would be the start to a Florida Man story that we didn’t want to write.
Eventually I started taking out screws and carefully removing bits and pieces. Our plan was actually to cut the armoire “in half,” just like Ross’ couch ends up in the Friends episode. But once I’d removed a few obvious panels and stabilizer boards, it turns out that the fancy top was only held on by a few internal screws and a long glued-in wood tongue. A few vigorous whacks with a rubber mallet, and the top gave way enough to allow me to pry it off. The only damage was to a little trim on the inside where no one would ever notice.
With the top off, the remaining piece was just the right size to get upstairs (with a few pivots). And so instead of an armoire cut in half, we managed to get all of our furniture safely moved.
Like pivoting furniture upstairs, the holiday season is a time when we are often asked to Pivot. Our schedules fill up, we become busy with a variety of responsibilities, and often what we think we are going to do changes at the last minute. That can quickly become frustrating. And that’s why we have our gardens. When things get busy, when things get stressful, getting our hands in the dirt is a great distraction. So, when you need to get your hands dirty come see us! With cooler nights and shorter days, December is a great time to plant so many different trees, shrubs, and flowers. Happy Holidays and Happy Planting.
P.S. We’re giving away this bundle of holiday-themed plants to celebrate the holiday season and our amazing community! It includes a Reindeer Philodendron, a Candy Cane Poinsettia, and a white Holiday Cactus. The Holiday Plant Giveaway concludes Thursday, December 7 at 11:59 pm EST. Click here to participate on Facebook and here on Instagram – increase your chances by participating on both!
