Notes from Maine - 2024/01/14
I’ve learned to live without a kitchen at this point. If I simply focused more of my energy on the project of remodeling, the new kitchen might be done by now, but I’m dragging my feet. The kitchen is a background project, and I have a lot more things in the foreground at the moment. Mom has threatened to come up for a visit, saying that I’ll get things done faster if she’s here. She’s absolutely correct about that. Left alone, a day can easily pass where I make no progress. If I’m concerned about another set of eyes on the state of my kitchen, I’m sure that I would keep it higher on my priority list.
In terms of food, I don’t need the kitchen. I’m eating mostly fresh vegetables and I don’t need to do a lot of cooking. Nutritionally, these past few months have been better for me than the past few years. But I would like to put everything away. I can’t stand having my kitchen stuff boxed up and cluttering the dining room. I hate the extra dust that an active construction site brings.
You know what this house needs? It needs more corners. There’s a place at the top of the stairs where I put a small couch opposite a TV. It has a reading lamp and a small window that offers a nice breath of air in the summer. Sometimes my nephew will camp out there with a cellphone, Nintendo, iPad, TV, and Xbox circled to make a digital campfire.
I used to have another little loveseat outside of one of the corner bedrooms. My sister liked that couch and the morning sun as a reading nook. It’s just one step removed from the bustle of the busy areas of the house, but close enough for convenience. That nook was overrun by pinball machines at one point, but they’ll go away soon I’m pretty sure. All those machines are on loan for one reason or another, so hopefully that cozy nook will return.
That whole side of the house is in transition at the moment. It lies on the other side of the doomed kitchen, so it’s dead to me.
Today I need to track down power cable for the oven. This house has never had an electric oven that I’m aware of. My electrical panel is nearly up to code (there’s a ground strap that I’m suspicious of), and it has a big double breaker that used to supply a water heater. That’s where I’ll put the oven circuit. My “new” stovetop will still be propane, just like my last range was. I found the stovetop over at ReStore last summer. It’s an expensive model that I got for cheap.
Other than that, I haven’t really made any appliance decisions. I like my old dishwasher, but I’m not going to re-install a twenty-year-old dishwasher. My old refrigerator will do for now. It won’t be difficult to replace in the future if I decide it doesn’t fit in the new kitchen. All my new doorways are wide enough to accommodate moving a fridge. Before, I had to take off doors and remove trim to get any appliances in or out.
I hate the idea of renovating the character out of this house. It’s an old place, but the previous owners had already redone all the electrical and replaced all the plaster with drywall. So the house had already been scrubbed of a lot of the ancient “farmhouse-ness.” My informal rule is that I never take down a wall without erecting another. I like labyrinthian, mysterious spaces, not “open concept living.”
When I converted the old pantry into a proper laundry room, I also put in an odd-shaped closet off the living room with a secret tiny door that leads to the back of the dryer. It’s functional—I can easily clean out the vent—but also quirky. My nephew used to make a game of going into the laundry room, shutting the door, and emerging from the closet a minute later. I have plans for another secret passage that I’ll construct in an upcoming project. It won’t be nearly as obvious. He’ll have to find that one on his own.
I have some messy work ahead of me today. I have to remove some more drywall in order to route a cable for the new exhaust fan. My kitchen has never had an exhaust fan before, which is crazy. Years ago, Mom and I fixed up unfinished space above the kitchen into a bedroom. I took that opportunity to cut holes for the vent. That ducting has been waiting all this time for its time to shine. We’re almost there. All I have to do is figure out where the outlet should go (and finish the floor, build the cabinets, paint everything, and then install the exhaust hood, but those are minor details).
I guess I’ll stop making excuses and go do it. Wish me luck.
