Thank god. Before-and-after pictures are coming up next week, but first I have to clean all this shit up and make it look presentable. You know, crystal chandeliers and whatnot.
Do I like how it came out, you might ask? As usual, the answer is more complicated than it needs to be. It has to do with one of the reasons why it took me so long to finish in the first place. I mean, besides my glacial painting pace. Sometimes, I have trouble leaving well enough alone.
Once I go down the rabbit hole of home improvement, or any big project really, it’s hard to find my way back out again. Because if I’m going through all the trouble and disruption of painting, anyway, I might as well rip out these ugly countertops, too. Then, the stove could be centered in the spot where a vent should be. And then maybe we could actually put in a vent so I don’t set off the fire alarm everyday just because I like a good sear on my meat.
And then there’s the whole refrigerator situation. How it just sits there in the middle of the room, blocking a doorway. It’s convenient when you need something, true, to have it right there in the middle of everything. But sometimes, I’d just really rather it be somewhere else. But where? I’d be in a perfectly good painting groove when I’d find myself just standing there, brush in hand, paint dribbling down my forearm, as I drew up blueprints in my head of what the kitchen should look like. The next thing you know, an hour has disappeared. The painting still isn’t done, the kids are up from their naps, and I’ve planned an addition to the house that will never happen. $%*&@
At some point you just have to say "enough," so I set fire to my mental plans and gave myself a stern lecture. We all want things we can’t have. Like a better personality, for example. You just have to learn to work around them. Paint the goddamned kitchen. So I did. It's just a little anticlimactic since the transformation happened so slowly, and many of the original problems haven't been solved. But it’s fine, I guess. Maybe I’ll be more excited when I find those "before" pictures.
At least things can finally get back to normal around here. Like thinking up something good to do with all these eggplants.
I don't know if this will make you feel any better but... I STILL haven't finished the tricky spots in mine.
Posted by: Ann | August 07, 2008 at 03:31 PM
Our kitchen renovation started with a 2 inch crack in our stove top. Well, we weren't going to replace our tiny, can't fit anything in the oven, 24 inch stove with another. Or put it in the same place - directly next to the sink. Might as well remove a wall and rip out the cabinets and finally get a dishwasher. The wall coming out led to the discovery of an overall lack of support for our second story and next thing you know we were putting in beams and jacking the house up! Maybe we should have just painted the stove top to make the crack blend in.
And that stance (paintbrush in hand, blueprints in head)? I know it all too well.
Glad the project is completed! Now have a nice glass of wine and please write up an eggplant post. I'm knee deep and out of ideas.
Posted by: andrea | August 07, 2008 at 04:15 PM
Wow, subjunctive. Neat.
:)
Posted by: cookiecrumb | August 07, 2008 at 08:50 PM
My kitchen "remodel" began one long ago New Years Eve. I was drunk and in high heels and fancy dress I chipped up the entire tiled floor.
How do you fix that in the morning? Oh, you don't.
Argh. Me+Alcohol+1am=Sloppy Mess, Literally.
As for the eggplant. Well, you know it practically half-kills me every time, but I love it thinly sliced, breaded, fried in olive oil, and served with a very garlicky-basily- chunky tomatoey type sauce. I definitely have to keep an inhaler on hand, but I can't help myself. Wait, that's what the epi pen is for right?
Posted by: Lily VS | August 07, 2008 at 09:37 PM
Uh huh. Know right where you're coming from. Remember that carpet we ripped out in... what? May? June? Ya, well, we still don't have anything down yet.
Our kitchen is a one-butt kitchen (that's all that can fit in it at one time) and I would dearly love a remodel. But my new mantra is "I'll let the NEXT owner deal with that."
Posted by: Sally | August 08, 2008 at 09:01 AM
Sally: Good idea. I hear the future owners of our houses have unlimited time and money.
Lily VS: I love that image of you hacking away at your kitchen floor, all dressed up and sloppy drunk. Makes me laugh every time. And, yes, you can get away with a lot with an epipen!
CC: I still don't get subjunctive.
Andrea: Eggplant post coming up. And your kitchen remodel sounds totally worth it if you came out of it with a dishwasher you didn't have before. How does one even begin to live life without a dishwasher?
Ann: That makes me feel soooo much better, actually. Thanks.
Posted by: Tammy | August 10, 2008 at 11:54 PM