A Curious Kind of Life

Tag: Life Lessons

  • We Remodeled Our Kitchen Ourselves. We Survived.

    We Remodeled Our Kitchen Ourselves. We Survived.

    When we moved into this house, the kitchen was basically not a kitchen.

    Kidding.

    It was a kitchen.

    It was just a very small kitchen.

    The cabinets were basically one row above the sink, and you had to open one cabinet door before you could close the one next to it. You know…because apparently cabinets don’t need to get along. 😂

    And counter space?

    Let’s just say there wasn’t much.

    If you were cooking and had dishes sitting around from your mise en place, you better wash those things QUICK because you were going to need that same tiny countertop to put the food you just cooked on.

    It worked.

    But it could definitely work better.

    So we decided this was a project we needed to tackle.

    The before….

    Enter IKEA

    Off to IKEA we went.

    For starters, we decided to get a kitchen island and a tall pantry cabinet for one of the walls. We figured that would give us some extra storage and counter space until we were ready to tackle the other part of the kitchen.

    We also rearranged where the refrigerator and water dispenser would go.

    Then, while I was browsing IKEA’s website, I discovered their project planner.

    And that’s when things got interesting.

    Because apparently, IKEA thought it would be a good idea to give me the ability to design my own kitchen on a computer.

    Tinker I did.

    I made sure the dimensions and square footage of the kitchen were right. I moved things around. I changed things. I looked at it.

    Then I changed it again.

    And again.

    And again.

    And again.

    I would come home from work, sit at my computer, and work on my kitchen.

    One good thing about our kitchen was that it was basically just one wall.

    But that’s also the thing.

    Imagine if it wasn’t.

    I probably would have spent YEARS trying to figure out what I wanted that kitchen to look like and never actually gotten around to enjoying the finished kitchen.

    So I kept tinkering.

    And tinkering.

    And tinkering.

    I think I redid that kitchen project A LOT.

    And when I say A LOT, I mean A LOT.

    I’m pretty sure my husband was starting to lose his patience somewhere around revision number 100.

    Finally, he looked at the latest version and basically said, “It looks good.”

    Now, when my husband says, “It looks good,” that’s my signal.

    That’s the sign that I should stop.

    BUY THE FREAKING CABINETS.

    So that’s what we did.

    The Computer vs. Real Life

    We had everything delivered instead of renting a U-Haul and trying to haul all those pieces home ourselves.

    And thank goodness for this: all the cabinets and accessories I added to the project were included in the cost and delivered.

    That made my life SO much easier.

    Then the boxes arrived.

    And suddenly, the nice little kitchen I had been moving around on my computer became a very real pile of stuff sitting in our house.

    That’s when I discovered something IKEA’s project planner doesn’t really prepare you for:

    Moving cabinets around on a computer screen is VERY different from moving real cabinets around a kitchen.

    On the computer, you click, drag, and voilà!

    Cabinet moved.

    In real life?

    Not quite.

    Real cabinets are heavy.

    Real cabinets don’t magically snap into place.

    And suddenly you’re dealing with walls, floors, measurements, gravity…

    …and water.

    Because, you know, the sink needs water.

    Otherwise, the sink isn’t going to be all that useful. 😂

    Apparently, when you’re moving things around in a virtual kitchen, it’s easy to forget that some of those things have actual plumbing attached to them.

    Who knew?

    Divide and Conquer, Baby!

    We weren’t professionals.

    Obviously.

    But we figured we could do this ourselves.

    So we divided and conquered.

    My husband took out the old cabinets while I assembled the new ones.

    And I assembled.

    And assembled.

    And assembled.

    By the end of the day, I could barely open and close my hands.

    I’m pretty sure I was assembling cabinets in my dreams.

    Talk about a nightmare. 😂

    We just kept going.

    Eventually, the cabinets were done.

    Then came the countertop.

    Then the tile.

    Because apparently, finishing the cabinets didn’t mean we were finished.

    At that point, I was running on fumes.

    But we soldiered on for the love of DIY.

    And, let’s be honest, because having someone else do it meant paying someone else to do it.

    That wasn’t really in the budget.

    So…

    Down more coffee.

    Maybe an energy drink.

    And let’s do this thing!

    The during…

    And You Know What?

    We did.

    By the time everything was finished, we were pretty darn happy with how it looked.

    Was it a huge kitchen?

    Nope.

    But that wasn’t what we were trying to accomplish.

    We weren’t trying to completely change the layout of the kitchen.

    We were trying to make the space we already had more efficient.

    And we did.

    We had more counter space.

    We had more storage.

    And we could actually use the kitchen without feeling like we were playing countertop Tetris every time we cooked.

    That felt like a win.

    So, What Did We Discover?

    For starters, I discovered that I can apparently redesign a kitchen approximately 100 times before finally deciding that the latest version is good enough.

    My husband discovered that saying “It looks good” can apparently bring an end to the process.

    We discovered that computer cabinets and real cabinets are two very different things.

    We discovered that IKEA cabinets have a LOT of pieces.

    And I discovered that I apparently have the ability to assemble so many cabinets that I can continue doing it in my sleep.

    Most importantly, though, we discovered that we could actually do a pretty big project together without killing each other.

    That’s saying something, right? 😂

    Would we do another project like this?

    I think so.

    But not in the near future.

    We survived this one.

    We don’t need to get cocky.

    And maybe that’s one of the things I like most about this kitchen.

    It isn’t huge.

    It isn’t some giant kitchen transformation.

    It’s just our kitchen, made a little more functional for the way we live.

    Sometimes you don’t need to completely change something.

    You just need to figure out how to make what you already have work better.

    And if you can do that while keeping your marriage intact?

    I’d call that a successful DIY project.

    Now excuse me.

    I think my hands just remembered those cabinets.

  • Things That Should Have a “Where the Heck Is This?” Button

    Things That Should Have a “Where the Heck Is This?” Button

    There are times—actually, most of the time—when I’m cleaning an area of the house and I find something that shouldn’t be there.

    You know the kind of thing I’m talking about.

    It’s not trash. It’s not something I don’t need. It’s actually something important.

    So, naturally, I do the responsible thing.

    I put it somewhere safe.

    And then I lose it.

    Not immediately, of course. That would almost be too easy.

    No. I put it somewhere that I am absolutely, positively certain I will remember.

    “This is a safe place,” I tell myself.

    “I’ll remember this.”

    Future Me has apparently never been consulted about this arrangement.

    The Case of the Missing Universal Plug

    A perfect example happened with one of our universal travel plugs.

    We travel with it because, well, it’s a universal travel plug. It comes with us when we’re packing for a trip, and it’s one of those things you don’t want to discover is missing when you’re standing in your hotel room in another country.

    So imagine me cleaning up a bedroom.

    I find the plug sitting somewhere it shouldn’t be.

    Rather than leaving it there, because I’m trying to be a responsible adult who keeps things organized, I put it somewhere safe.

    Somewhere I won’t forget.

    Or so I thought.

    Fast-forward to the next time we’re packing our luggage.

    I need the universal plug.

    I know we have it.

    I’ve seen it.

    I have personally picked it up.

    And yet…

    Where the heck is it?

    Suddenly I’m searching through drawers, cabinets, closets, random containers and every other place I could possibly have put it.

    And the most frustrating part?

    Before I cleaned up that bedroom, I probably saw the thing all the time.

    It was right there.

    In the wrong place.

    Annoying me.

    Waiting for me to put it away.

    But now that I’ve actually cleaned up the room and put everything where it supposedly belongs, I can’t find the one thing I’m looking for.

    Apparently, I made it too safe.

    The “Safe Place” Is Not Actually Safe

    This has happened more times than I care to admit.

    I’ll find something while cleaning and think, Oh, this shouldn’t be here.

    So I move it.

    I put it somewhere logical.

    Or somewhere that makes sense in that particular moment.

    And then I completely forget where that logical place was.

    Sometimes I’ll even remember the thought process.

    I moved it because I didn’t want to lose it.

    Great.

    Where did I move it?

    No idea.

    And that’s when I start retracing my steps like I’m investigating a crime scene.

    Okay… I had it in this room.

    Then I picked it up.

    Then I was cleaning this.

    Then I thought, “I should put this somewhere safe.”

    And that’s it.

    The trail goes cold.

    The item has entered witness protection.

    Is It Just Me?

    This is the part where I started wondering:

    Is this just me?

    Because surely I’m not the only person who has a designated “safe place” that is apparently so safe that even I can’t find it.

    And if you have ever cleaned your house, moved something important somewhere “better,” and then spent 45 minutes looking for it later, you already know where this is going.

    There may actually be a reason our brains do this.

    When we’re cleaning or putting something away, our attention is often focused on the bigger task rather than creating a detailed memory of exactly where we’re placing one particular object.

    And when we put something somewhere unusual—especially because we’re trying to make sure we don’t lose it—we may not create the kind of strong memory that helps us retrieve that location later.

    In other words, our brain may basically say:

    Got it. Thing is safe.

    And then immediately move on.

    Thanks, brain.

    Very helpful.

    Maybe Future Me Needs a Little More Help

    I’ve started to wonder if the problem isn’t necessarily that I’m forgetful.

    Maybe the problem is that I keep assuming Future Me knows what Present Me was thinking.

    Present Me:

    “I’ll put this right here. I’ll definitely remember.”

    Future Me:

    “Who are you?”

    😂

    Maybe the solution isn’t another storage container, another organizational system or another drawer labeled “IMPORTANT.”

    Maybe I just need to stop creating mysterious little hiding places and calling them “safe.”

    Because apparently, a safe place is only useful if I can actually find it again.

    Until then, perhaps what I really need is a button.

    A big one.

    Right in the middle of the house.

    WHERE THE HECK IS THIS?

    Press it.

    The house pauses.

    A tiny alarm goes off.

    A voice from somewhere in the ceiling says:

    “You put it in the drawer under the printer.”

    And I would like to formally request that technology make this happen.

    Until then, I’ll keep looking.

    And when I finally find that universal plug?

    I’m putting it somewhere I’ll definitely remember.

    Probably.

    Maybe.

    Let’s not get carried away.