True Confessions

We had two gates to build, and we went for the classic, cottage look of a pergola (or is it called an arbor?) above each gate. The first gate was a pain to paint due to the perpendicular top pieces, so we began painting the second gate without those pieces. Truthfully, it was still a hassle. And, if I'm being completely honest, both gates could use another coat of white paint today. We never finished painting the top pieces of the second gate, and the first gate was painted but went through a winter without rain gutters, so it's seen better days. I do like the shabby chic look of worn paint, but these two go a bit too far. Hopefully they'll achieve their full potential some time soon!

A Good Premarital Test

Remodeling a home requires lots of teamwork, communication, and flexibility. Dominic and I learned to make decisions together, to work toward our goals, and to maintain a sense of humor, and the process was enjoyable (though not easy). Our home project was even mentioned by the rabbi during our wedding ceremony, which got quite a laugh from everyone. Before you decide to spend the rest of your life with someone, I recommend taking on some sort of a big project together. If you don’t kill each other, then it must be true love.

Everything Must Be Yellow

At this point, we were feeling much better about the interior of our house, but not a whole lot had changed on the outside. We wondered if this confused our neighbors, who heard us making an awful lot of racket without showing much progress in our curb appeal. We, on the other hand, embraced our external scruffiness as a valuable anti-theft device and a necessary evil in order to finish the main work inside. We decided, however, that it was time to spiff things up a bit. Dominic was not surprised when I wanted to paint the exterior yellow, but he did ask if every house that we live in would be painted yellow. I told him that I’d have to get back to him. “Lemon Ice” was just so darn cheerful.

Cabinet Chaos

We supposed that we should actually finish putting in the cabinets and countertops. To do so was a little bit of a pain as it required shuffling all of our stuff and moving appliances around, but it was definitely worth it. The free sink (another “flawed” reject) and slightly used stove (another giveaway from Dominic’s stepmom) that we scored really enhanced the look of our kitchen, as did our affordable Ikea countertops. I hadn’t quite realized that cabinets are just boxes affixed to the wall. Hanging them at that critical point between level and the ceiling line was, as usual, a challenge.

Tiling Can Be Fun!

We were dreading the next tile project in store for us after our “issues” tiling the shower, but tiling the bathroom floor was SO much easier. Again we’d inherited beautiful surplus tile from Dominic’s dad’s house, this time Italian porcelain and very natural-looking. The tricky part was actually before the tiling, when Dominic used varying depths of floor leveler to make the bathroom less like a carnival funhouse. But it must have worked, because no one has ever fallen off of the toilet.

According to our usual paradoxical design scheme, we spent very little money on simple shelves and trim, but splurged on the Devonshire widespread faucet. To me, it makes sense to spend more money on those finishing touches, especially when upgrading at that stage usually involves just a little bit more cash rather than thousands. The sink itself came to us free after a more discriminating customer returned it to the plumbing supply company due to an almost invisible black mark on the underside. The medicine cabinet is from EBay, and it’s distressed (in a good way). The seller happened to be from my mom’s tiny hometown in Illinois, which seemed like a good omen.

Cosmetic Fixing (!)

Things really started happening around here. Our second cheapest kitchen appliances and Mills Pride Cabinetry (we did upgrade to glass doors for their magical, space-enhancing qualities) were partially installed, our junk was barricaded in the unfinished (and scary) back room behind a French door, we had a new front door, and Dominic’s dad came by to help trim out windows and doors. Trim. Isn’t that a beautiful word?

Don't Wait to Have a Party

You shouldn’t put off important matters until your house is “complete.” Doing so will only kill the spirit of your adventure, and make you feel bad about all of the small projects that haven’t yet been completed. Instead you should relish each unique phase, and cast off your “what will people think” mentality. Because what people will think is that you’re pretty damn brave, and the quirky, half-done features of your abode will make for more interesting party banter. Thanks for coming, you guys, and thanks for bringing your own chairs.