Reflections on a project gone (pretty much) according to plan...

By pretty much according to plan I mean to say there were a number of unanticipated disasters. And, we pretty much specialize in unanticipated disasters here around 726...

Fun Blast-From-the-Past:

The kitchen when we bought the house. 

The kitchen after the remodel. 

I was chatting with Mr. Perfect on the phone today, relaying the part about the story where I stood in the center of a room 3/4 of the way done and cried about not being good enough, and he asked: Why didn't you just wait for help? I think, this is why...

When we bought the house...And, we still bought the house.

What the trim, etc. has looked like pretty much since then. 

I'm pretty much all about learning. I tell my students all the time: The human brain learns by doing. You've got to jump in head first, get your hands dirty, be unabashedly afraid to make mistakes (now, the tears were largely about wishing that the mistakes I had made weren't permanent fixtures in my home, but whatever). I looked at this project and figured there was only one way I was going to learn...By giving it a try. By cutting a few pieces of trim wrong and by calling in my right-hand-woman to fill in some thick caulk lines. And, when I really got myself into a closet door pickle, by calling first my dad and then our friend Woody for a rescue. 

It isn't 100% finished. There is touch-up painting happening as I type. There are curtain rods that need a toggle-bolt hanging. I need to figure out how to get the new door. I must learn how to rewire those ugly ceiling lights. Pillows must be sewn. Beds must be made. But, Kumquat reports she's been reading away this rainy Sunday in the new library nook.

And, it feels kind of nice, at the end of it all, despite all the imperfections, to be the kind of girl that builds window-sils and installs moulding and then goes and gets a manicure afterwards. Who is imperfect. Who doesn't know what she's doing 3/4 of the time. But, who also isn't afraid to try. That's something, isn't it?

It was Jelly-Bean who looked at this corner and said:
"This will be perfect for your books." 

To be sure, putting away books was one of the first jobs. 

Trim and moulding and a new arrangement. Hooray!