Week 37: Reaching the Threshold

Our front door was framed near the turn of last century. It was sized just right, until the advent of King-sized mattresses, Costco overstuffed furniture, or in our case, industrial sized refrigerators. We drove over to Mill Work Outlet, a family run door supplier, and searched for a wider style. To correctly hang the door, Clint and I stood on either side of it, and moved shimming pieces for the right adjustment. It was a humbling communication experiment. A job that we planned for ten minutes turned into hours of back and forth directions. We were an inefficient yet successful team!

Week 36: A Room for Living

From years of teaching high school, I believe projects have beginnings, middles, and ends. A definitive launch, and a ceremonious finish. Not so in the remodeling world. With the kitchen “almost” complete, we have moved on to the living room. This staggered progress is less satisfying, but more efficient. We have now dry walled, spackled, and painted the living room. Clint installed recessed lights, and called the living room done—“almost”. Both the kitchen and living rooms are quite smart and will soon graduate with honors.

Week 35: An Early Christmas

When Clint and I got married last June, family and friends showered us with gifts. These packages were safely tucked in the attic until we could enjoy them with our completed kitchen. Now is the time! We brought down box after box and ended up with a huge pile of cardboard and Styrofoam. Christmas has come early for the Nelsons!

Week 34: Open Sesame

I used to press my nose against the shiny hardware in Restoration Hardware’s window. I never stepped inside, for fear there was a shopping fee for handling merchandise. This spendy shop is filled with elegant, artful, and overpriced house wares. My heart was set on something from this store, but our budget disagreed.

While visiting a friend at the Common Folk boutique, I fell in love with their hardware and ran outside to avoid temptation. Their sidewalk sale then caught my eye. 14 vintage door handles sat in a porcelain blue bowl. I heard a faint “Hallelujah Chorus” as I brought the bowl to the counter, and paid $2 each! Thanks, Common Folk!

Week 33: Re-Energized

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b50nAEbGAA0

Clint and I entered and won a PSE energy contest over the summer. $85 in light bulbs, and the chance to win a flat screen. It's painfully cheesy, but fun to watch.

Week 32: In the Hood

Last spring, we bought an oven hood from an Albert Lee clearance event. Albert rightly titled it “event” rather than “sale”. With frenzy akin to Black Friday, shoppers literally ran down aisles ripping tags off of desired appliances. I sprinted in my three inch heels to a neglected store corner to snag the last stainless steel hood. It was retail warfare at its finest.

Clint just installed our sparkling hood, which also required squeezing into a not-so-large opening. Note to self: buy more measuring tapes. The hood now sits lonely, awaiting its oven companion.

Week 31: Black Galaxy

In ordering countertops, Clint and I opted for the gaudiest granite name we could find: Black Galaxy. There were some close seconds, including “Brazil Butterfly” and “Desert Rose”. While these names paid homage to the 90s pop world, they were all legitimate choices from the glossy retail order forms.

A few weeks later, two gentlemen showed up with three slabs of “Black Galaxy” and a few tools. Not the sky-defying experience I had in mind. But their Spartan approach worked well, and within four hours, the room was transformed.

With our kitchen nearly complete, I am looking into careers in the naming business. My limited lexicon and lack of textile experience should work to my advantage. “Smoky Licorice” or “Dark Speckles” would just as well describe our stone—or future songs by Sting.

Week 30: Slicking Sammy

You can’t grease a fridge to squeeze it through small spaces. We tried. At the Sears Outlet, we found the perfect fridge. It’s a stainless steel beauty with French doors, and pull-out freezer, and tall shelves, and Humidity controllers, and a plethora of buttons. This Samsung model (nicknamed “Sammy”) was slightly too wide for our archaic door frame. With no other way to invite the appliance in, we stored it in our neighbors’ garage. Millwork Outlet provided a lovely new door, and Clint cut a larger opening for it.

So, a week later, we brought steely Sammy home and slid him beautifully through our new front entrance. Theoretically, this fridge should’ve fit in its kitchen opening. But there’s a funny thing called “clearance” that French doors require to open. We’re now contemplating a hatch-back variety. Or perhaps we’ll try slicking Sammy once more.