A dear reader posted a comment on what I thought was a random-and-therefore-normal-for-me photo on Instagram, saying, “I love your homey posts!”
And that got me to thinking! I know what I hope to see when I scroll my favorite accounts… and I wonder what my readers hope to see when they scroll mine or visit me here?
So I thought I’d ask!
What would you want to see and talk about?
And how long are you willing to endure updates on a long-awaited (by me, but possibly hitherto un-thought-of by you) kitchen renovation? A renovation that is likely to take forever?? Because that’s how I roll? I will assuredly die before it’s done? Because now I’m old? But had no idea what to do before? I mean it’s taking me forever just to write this one post?
A random BEFORE that highlights what I will explain below: the Real Problem in My Kitchen, the Conflict Between the Work Area and the Traffic Pattern:
If you’ve been here from the beginning, you know that we’ve taken the kitchen from dark to lighter, while working with what we have.
And for that I have to give credit to Rosie and Suki, who insisted on forging ahead and painting, when I would have remained paralyzed in a state of dealing with a large house and homeschooling.
Suki in particular peeled a lot of wallpaper, which I don’t think I have any photos of, at least not handy. Rosie in particular spent many a hot hour in the driveway, painstakingly sanding and painting all the cupboard doors.
A BEFORE (can you tell?):
And to the Chief, who made me two different butcher-block island counters, the second time really spiffing it up to my specifications.
And lots of other changes along the way, including the whitewashing of the bricks which, now that I look at the before photos, seems like even more of such a good move.
But as I said at the time, we’ve only arrived where many of you might say, “Good, now you can actually renovate!” But we liked it fine, and more importantly couldn’t afford to do more!
And the truth is, I have had so much trouble trying to make a plan for this space. There are so many doors, windows, traffic patterns, and not to mention a giant fireplace (which, don’t get me wrong, I love!). But where to put everything, most notably, the refrigerator.
Aren’t refrigerators a huge problem? They are just big bulky expensive things blocking everything.
I can walk into any space and tell the person how to fix it. But I could not figure out what to do with this space!
(Some pretty flowers — the rehearsal dinner centerpieces for Will’s wedding — to distract you from the fact that it works but… it also doesn’t work, this space):
But this summer, as I really concentrated (I’ve been updating my “kitchen inspiration” board on Pinterest, if you are interested), I finally came to a realization:
This funky column of bricks was the problem.
Some things are not easily conveyed in two dimensions, so you will have to believe me that the entry into the kitchen from the mudroom (which is how you get in my house, the real front door just being too far away) was super constricted by this jutting-out brick affair.
Because of it, the work area had nowhere to expand even to a minimally efficient extent.
They (old residents) chose to put the stove here and that used to make me so upset, until I realized how difficult the situation is. I decided that since I couldn’t do anything about it, I’d just accept it. That helped!
But when my cabinets started to fall apart and a new (needed) dishwasher wouldn’t fit under the counter, I realized I had to confront this dilemma, scrutinizing actual designs offered by experts.
And that’s when I realized the bricks had to go. Before I could figure out one other thing, we had to make room for actual bodies to enter and exit. (I also realized that not every contractor will be willing to take on this job, as it seems like the thing could be structural, and who wants to be responsible for that! But I was pretty sure it was not. More on that below, and also ponder this room, which is above, and shows in its smaller chimney footprint that it’s not possible that anything is being held up by the troublesome column.)
This is the before to show the narrowness of the path into the kitchen:
So that’s what happened this week!
Thanks to Auntie Sue’s architect husband’s expert assessment, I had the confidence to call the wonderful, cleverly not invasive, and tidy mason and get this job done. I called, he came, he took bricks out (and put a few back in, as you will see in the last picture), he left!
See what I mean? Not that many bricks to this thing, especially considering how in the way it was!
Lots of repairs to do…
But still! Already better!
Again, the before of the narrowness as you enter:
And how it is now (and yes, that cabinet on the right will be gone! Don’t worry! But also don’t hold your breath!):
You can see how he fixed that row of bricks at the edge there, into which the Odd Column was tied.
So you can see… this is going to take a while! (Now to find a carpenter to fix this bit while we go on to Phase II, more on that later.)
Are you up for it?
Or would you rather talk about something else entirely?
XOXO
bits & pieces
- Catherine Pakaluk: The State Can’t Save the American Family As I’ve said before, if we mistakenly rely on the state, we have to accept that the state can dictate what to do in our most intimate sphere, the family. Given that the Obergefell so-called Same Sex Marriage ruling effectively removed sovereignty of the father and mother over their children, leaving them naked before the power of the state, this is an even scarier prospect than it was before. It’s a temptation we must resist, to turn to the government to solve our problems.
- Next time I hope to remember to talk about how A Pattern Language can help in the decision-making process of renovations (not to mention original building) — here is a little article about it.
- It’s not a little thing, one of those little battles you’d prefer not to fight, for your child to be asked what his pronouns are in school or at the doctor’s office. It’s a way to trans him.
- “If there’s one thing progressive educators don’t like it’s rote learning.” In Defense of Memorization.
- “The Joy and Sorrow of Rereading Holt’s “How Children Learn” — Readers here know that I recommend reading John Holt. There are some people who make deep observations, and even if their philosophy is not ultimately reaching the heights I would wish, or even if they don’t quite see the whole picture, those observations are valuable. John Holt is one of those people. He just “gets it” and helps parents have confidence in letting their children have freedom to learn. There are many who stand to profit by undermining your confidence and tethering you to their particular standards. John Holt had nothing to gain by offering his insights. That’s important.
- She was an only child. Now she has 101 great-grandchildren. I like this cheerful lady, even if I can’t rise to her energy levels! I appreciate that she just wanted to have lots of people around her, and figured that giving birth to them was the best way to achieve that goal! She’s a kindred spirit!
from the archives
- 10 Survival Tactics for Rescuing a Bad Day! (These are doable things that actually help, trust me)
- Having read all the books and watched all the minimalist videos, I really think that I can help you, a person with perhaps more children than those experts take into account, declutter.(Yes, even though last week I was caught saying, “Never throw anything away”!!)
liturgical living
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