Little Boxes

Remember the 1962 song written by Melvina Reynolds, "Little Boxes"? That's what today's kitchen remodeling picture reminded me of -

"Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same."

Melvina was writing about the conformity of the American "establishment" when she wrote this song. When I was looking at the new wall, I was thinking about the symmetry of the 2 x 4's. Each section of the kitchen remodel is unique and presents its own challenges. This most recently tackled wall is no different.

The rooms and walls in older houses are not exactly square and plumb. The years of settling of the foundation and the weight of walls, roofs and weather can cause a house to change from its original perfection. Clintonville homes are known for their handcrafted walls, ceilings and room additions. At sometime since 1948 our kitchen has had additional space added to it. That addition is posing some challenges for the walls and (in a later post I'm sure I'll be talking about the ceiling!)

I'm thankful for the years of experience Larry has working on Clintonville homes. Their idiosyncrasies have become his passion and at times his frustration, but, he has always come out the winner. And, he won with this wall as well. Boards, wires, electrical boxes and insulation complete the "behind the scenes" work. Once the cement board is applied, no one will see the challenges of the now straight and plumb wall (except for maybe in Larry's mind's-eye.)

The Month In Review

It's seems like things are going slowly until you take the time to review what's really happened - here's a pictorial review and quick summary of the past few weeks:

Drywall and plaster removed from west walls; electric wires going to "nowhere" removed; soffet added to west wall(for glass cabinets); gas line moved from west wall to north wall; art show courtesy of granddaughter; confused dog (where's my food going to be tomorrow?); air holes to the outside walls patched with foam (warmer now); rerouting of the cold air-return and heat registers; wiring added for microwave; other wires rerouted.

It's the attention to detail that happens now before there is no chance to turn back. Thanks Larry for being so thorough during this stage of the process. You rock!

Twisting and Turning

The photo attached here may not look like much to you, but believe me, it represents a full day of hard work. Much of the time the pipes and wires below the floor boards represent much more work than meets the eye. It's like a cut or scrape that you get that hurts like heck, but should really look worse than it does. Know what I'm talking about?

With our new kitchen drawings, Larry knew that he would need to move the gas line for the stove and the furnace pipes that allowed the cold air-return to work properly. A full day of cutting metal, bending pipe and boring holes in joists would be necessary to create the end result.

Reconfiguring any room in a house creates opportunities for change. Some change is expected and others, not so much. There can be surprises at every turn. One thing is for sure - you'd better think ahead before cutting, bending and scraping, because once it's done, you may not have a chance for a 'do over'.

Our lives at times are much like the details not far below the surface of our kitchen floor boards. Our stomachs twist and turn as we deal with difficult friends, jobs or family members. To keep from giving into their madness, we reconfigure our boundaries, letting them know that we can't give in or the other things that plug into our lives will not work properly. Psalm 56:5 says, "All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me."

Some days are just tough and the only way we can survive is to rip into the floorboards of our lives and reconfigure the way we've been doing things. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same things in the same way and expecting new results. My kitchen is not going to change until we ripped up some floor boards and reconfigured some pipes and duct work.

What about you? Are there some emotions beneath your surface that need some twisting and turning? I know it hurts like heck, but maybe the result of your changed life will be as beautiful as the end result of the kitchen I'm expecting!