Remodelog (Of Making a House a Home)

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging recently. I wish I could give some excuse, like a major natural disaster, or a pandemic, or something....wait.... Actually, we all know that’s lame. We all know that staying at home during the Covid-19 lockdown would be a prime opportunity to do things you normally don’t have time to do, right? Like write, for example. Except, of course, if you’re writing a remodeling blog and there’s no remodeling going on. But, yay! Kitchen remodeling is back on track, and the kitchen is almost finished! I’m not ready yet for the big reveal, but I do want to bring you all up to date on what’s been happening. I’ll start by posting an entry I wrote way back on April 2. _____ Confinement, Kindness, and Calm No, I’m not going to write about those other C’s, the name of the virus that’s turned all our lives upside-down, the name of the illness that has weird initials and a number—so clinical and detached a name, juxtaposed with ...

February 27, 2020 Day 17 Today the electrician fell through the ceiling. I was sitting in my dining room, trying to write despite the noise of two electricians and two HVAC guys doing their things (our heating ducts need to be rerouted for the new placement of cabinetry). The master electrician, a lovely man by the name of James, had been going up and down our stairs to the attic, connecting wiring to re-wire the fan and future ceiling light fixtures. I heard a really loud thud, then the sound of debris hitting the kitchen floor. Then silence. I jumped up and saw a sight that would have been comical, had it not meant certain injury for the poor man; two legs were dangling down, covered with a layer of white insulation material. The three remaining workmen looked up, unsure how to react. Then the coughing started. James had gotten the wind knocked out of him for sure. I raced upstairs with his apprentice. By that time he had pulled himself back up out of the hole. He was holding ...

February 20, 2020 As I write this, it’s day 1.  The contractor is coming to do the tear-down. The room is going to be completely empty by the end of the day. I remember that the first Latin phrase I ever learned was tabula rasa. Empty slate. The phrase is used most often in relation to child development and learning theories, the idea proposed that we are empty slates and life fills us up with learning new information as we grow. We have an infinite potential, according to the theory. And that’s how I feel about this room now. The potential is vast. It’s my white canvas. And that is more than a little intimidating, I’ll admit. Will the dimensions work? Is my design user-friendly? Will the update stand the test of time, or will I hate it after a few months? Is it too white, too stark? Was wood flooring a poor choice? The only way to know is to jump in, to start painting like mad on that canvas. If I made planning mistakes, well, so be it. Because indeed, althoug...

It is February 10 as I write this. We’re about to embark on a major kitchen remodel, and I’m going to blog about it. Not because we’re remodel experts. Not because we’re DIY-ers. Not because I’m trying to make money by using affiliate links for crap products that I don’t really want to buy or want you to buy (but if I do link it to something, it will be solely because it’s awesome and I want to share). Not because I’ve discovered some fabulous IKEA hack that will involve time and expertise I don’t have, and that will look good for five minutes until the damn thing falls apart. (I have a story about some bookshelves that will be told at some point.)  I’m writing a blog about it because I’m sick of remodeling blogs. You know the ones—with professional photos of bathrooms that look like they should be in Architectural Digest, or at least on Houzz or Pinterest, kitchens that have never even dreamed of stinky clouds of accidentally scorched garlic or splatters of Sunday morning bac...