A House is Never Finished

I change my own house almost every day. Nothing major obviously, but minor edits. My husband calls it tinkering. Every day he comes home from work and something has been moved around on the shelves, an item has been brought out of storage, disappeared, or simply manifested out of thin air; worse is when there’s something for him to hang or move. I am forever adding and subtracting, always editing. Major pieces like appliances, furniture and fabric remain fairly constant of course, but I’m always on the hunt for something better.

This summer we did actually undertake a larger renovation. We finally upgraded our “stock condo” kitchen, swapping out the 12” granite tiles and contractor grade light ash cabinets with no personality. We also made the space more livable by leveling out the useless mini-bar/ledge and created more seating and storage.

Before

 

It was quite jarring an experience having our kitchen ripped out, and especially toting a 10 month old back and forth to spend the days in friend’s homes while the kitchen was sledgehammered apart and put back together. Not to mention no running water and an inch of drywall dust for weeks. It was a valuable experience for me to go through as I now know how stress inducing the displacement from a major hub of your home like the kitchen can be.

After

Once the kitchen was complete I was immediately bothered by the adjacent foyer. It too, had no personality, and needed some life. We added a new wallcovering and it really helped to define the entryway. Once the ball was rolling I couldn’t stop it. From ordering new switch plates to considering options for hiding the smoke detectors and thermostats within the HVAC system, as soon as I finished one thing, something new would become an eyesore. Finally, I had to pump the brakes. It’s just our little downtown condo, not our dream home…One day we’ll have a “Meryl Streep” worthy kitchen. For now I’m happy with ours, though this Home Depot hood is seriously taunting me!

Someday