Volume index · Updated October 20, 2026

All the notes, in one list.

Seven long notes and the documents that say who publishes them. Filter by topic or by a word in the title. This is a reading list. Nothing on it is for sale, and nothing on it books a visit.

Filter by words

Attic bedroom with a sloped wood ceiling, round window, and a small dresser

Planning · November 12, 2025 · Updated August 3, 2026

Measure the room and the path

How to measure the room, the route, and the piece as three different sizes. Clear openings instead of the name on a door slab, turns and landings, sloped ceilings, and a worked comparison in which a sofa fails every orientation through a 30-inch gap.

Planning · January 20, 2026 · Updated September 14, 2026

Plan the room from the path inward

Draw the walking path before the seating. Door swings, drawers, outlets, alarms, and the floor a chair borrows when someone stands up. A paper scale you can do with a scrap, and the point at which a tall case is also a decision about holes in the wall.

Gray sofa facing a wall-mounted television in a room with a large window

Two people with cardboard cartons in a bright room, one writing on a box

Delivery · September 4, 2025 · Updated June 18, 2026

What to handle on delivery day

The hour before the truck and the hour after it leaves: clear the route you already measured, count cartons against the paperwork, look at corners, and read the sentence you are asked to sign. This note does not book a truck and cannot open a claim.

Assembly · February 11, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026

Read the assembly sheet first

How to read a hardware sheet as a sequence. Cam locks, dowels, and barrel nuts as names on a drawing, not as a pile of parts. Why a case is squared before the last turn, and why a missing structural fastener means you stop.

Two patterned armchairs and a small round table against a plain wall

Wooden dresser between two bookcases on a blue wall

Anchoring · December 8, 2025 · Updated July 22, 2026

Anchor tall furniture to the wall you have

Why an empty case feels steady and still needs the kit in the box. Gypsum, plaster, and masonry are not the same wall. Leases that limit holes. The moment to put the drill down and find out what you are drilling into.

Buildings · March 16, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026

Elevators, stairs, and house rules

What to ask a building before a date is firm: entrance, elevator reservation, hours, hall protection. How to measure a cab, a landing, and a rail you are not allowed to remove. Street rules stay local. This publication does not publish them for every city.

Small apartment with a sofa, a dining table, and a kitchen along one wall

Tan leather two-seat sofa in strong window light

Materials · April 9, 2026 · Updated October 15, 2026

Care that follows the material

Wood movement and indoor climate, why a cleaner does not transfer from one cloth to another, metal and glass, sun and vents as placement, and fasteners that settle after a few weeks of ordinary use.