Sunday, September 8, 2013

The home stretch

Well, the majority of the kitchen is now finished, with the exception of a small DIY backsplash and the addition of some door panels to our peninsula.  The end, as was the case with the rest of this kitchen remodel, was not without a certain rollercoaster-ish, high drama even and up to the very last day of contracted work. But it all got done in the end. 

And so now that the majority of the work is done, it's time to sit down and reflect on the whole, 4-month process.  Was it worth it? Yes.  I didn't realize how much I avoided our old kitchen, even averting my vision whenever I passed by it, until the new one began to take shape.  I didn't like looking at it, didn't like being in it, and didn't like trying to work in it.  I knew the kitchen was dysfunctional as soon as I moved in last year, but had not realized the extent of my dissociation with it until now.  That's because now,  I take every chance I get to look into the kitchen, stand in it, work in it.  The cupboards and shelving design makes sense for storage and finding things easily whilst cooking, the colors are soothing, not grating, and everything is easy to clean and actually looks clean when you're done.  

When anything in your life reaches the point where you can't work in it, can't love it, and can't function around it, something must be done.  And so it was.

Was it painful?  Yes.  Was it maddening?  Yes.  But we learned ways to cope and, in doing so, proved to ourselves that we're more inventive and tolerant than we had originally thought.  And now we have a place where we want to be, and which works for us.  

Which, it seems to me, is what home should be all about.

This week I will be installing the backsplash, DIY, and so once that it done I will post pictures.  Until then, I will be cooking, baking and preserving in a functional and pleasing environment.  What a blessing!


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