Counter Productive

We sanded our new, unfinished cabinets with little sponge sanders. An employee of a heretofore unmentioned store in my local town, and which shall remain unnamed, suggested that we sand with 0000 steel wool pads. We tried this with disastrous results. It left flecks of the steel wool in the grain of the wood, looking like grimey dirt. The only solution was to sand that layer away. My son bought the little sponge sanders and they worked like a charm. You don’t really have to sand much, you just want it to smooth up, and take the stain evenly.

Oh, it is worth mentioning that the cabinets from the store may have various flaws and gauges in them. You’ll want to inspect each little nook and cranny carefully for defects that might bother you. I knew that we were going to bung things up a bit once we got them installed. But after you are spending all the money on replacing them, you somehow just want them to start as perfectly as they can. That’s a hazzard of ordering things like this from a distance. You have no control of that, and the hassle of returning is expensive and stressful. (Ask my son, who lives in a fairly remote small town, and does remodeling for a living).

We rubbed the stain in with a rag, which my son says is the best way. I also used some sponge brushes. After it dries awhile, you rub it again, and sand it again, with a finer sponge. We did this twice. I thought we would brush on the varnish layer, but my son didn’t want brush marks. He taped up a plastic curtain to protect the rest of the house, wore a face mask, and sprayed on the varnish (polyethelene). This was fast, and made a very even, beautiful coat. He did that twice, as well.

At this point my son tiled the counters, and from that point on we really had a kitchen. I became conscious of the importance of beauty. It was so restful to have a place to put my eyes that was lovely. I would leave other places in the house, just to come back to see the kitchen.

My son put crown molding at the top of the cabinets, which connected them to the ceiling. This deprives you of the temptation to stash unsightly junk on top of your cupboards, and really finishes the lines beautifully. He had done it in his work, but not alone, so he googled crown molding, and figured out how to do the job. He said it was miserable, but for us it was magic.

By moving the edge of the bar counter flush with the door way, instead of ending several inches before the door, we were able to widen the kitchen by one foot. This equaled one drawer space of cabinet added to the size of the kitchen. It was amazing how much twelve inches of extra space made! It went from cramped, claustrophobia, “I can’t stand to have anyone else in the kitchen with me,” to comfortable and just the right amount of space.

I always wanted a bigger kitchen, until I went to someone’s house who had a huge kitchen. At first I lusted after the space. Then I helped cook a meal. I discovered that you can walk five miles preparing dinner if your kitchen is too big. This is fine, if that’s what your exercise program is, but I’d rather take a walk outside, down a pretty country road. I was exhausted. It was a good thing for me to learn that there is such a thing as too much space.

In my little square kitchen I was always just a few steps away from exactly what I needed. And with the addition of one more foot, I didn’t feel crowded when the kids were in the kitchen with me. It was great. Another important thing we did was leave the hanging cupboards off. This opened up the room so that it flowed into the family area. I knew that we needed to get rid of the boxy cupboards, but what I didn’t know is how it would affect the flow of light in the room. Remember, I’m the girl who loves light. It was wonderful! I can’t even tell you.

Sliding doors marked the transition between the Kitchen and Family room, opening to a covered deck. Sliding doors are called Sliding Doors because no one would buy them if they were called Sticking Doors, which is what they really are. Ours could only be opened by children if they hung onto the handle, using their feet to push out from the wall. The answer was to take out the Sliding doors and install French doors, which are better in every way. If you need to take something really big through it, both doors open and free up tons of space. This was my husband’s stroke of genius idea, and it was perfect.

The final thing we did was take out the box the fluorescent lights were in. Everyone has these high vaulted ceilings anymore, and ours are only eight feet tall, a la 1970s, fuel crisis, lower the ceilings to lower fuel costs era (and explain to me how we are in less of a crisis thirty years later, and closer to the end of peak fossil fuels, by far). We knew it wouldn’t do, to have the ceiling be one inch lower than it had to be. We reinstalled three small boxes, just to cover the lights in pairs. The boxes are white, matching the ceiling, and it really is amazing how having the ceiling in between the banks of light being a full eight feet high really helped the feel of spaciousness in the room.

To summarize, we tiled the floor, replaced all the cabinets, raised the ceiling, got rid of the hanging cupboards, pushed the room out one foot, and put granite tile on the counters. We also replaced the kitchen sink, and the dishwasher and stove (more on that later). It was a total remodel. We even replaced the window, which had been broken some years ago when said remodeling son had thrown a snowball outside at the person doing dishes. I would say he more than atoned for his sin, with his help during our remodel.

Would it be unkind to point out that this son was the most mischievous, mess making, let’s be honest, destructive child we had out of nine children? It just goes to show that you never know where your children’s energy is going to lead. If I could have known then, I might have lightened up a little and enjoyed the wild ride a little more. If that’s where you are along the trail, give it some thought.

Joy in the Journey.