Settling In

The first priority, after beds in the bedrooms, is getting the kitchen put together. One needs to be able to prepare food! Boxes are everywhere. Figuring out what is in which box is tricky. Sometimes, when packing, the size and shape of the item determined which box it was put in. The book that I started to meticulously record box numbers with contents was abandoned in the final days of packing. The essential was labeling the box with the correct room and even then, sometimes items were included if they were just close to the room on the box label.

So the kitchen area of the great room was crowded with opened boxes and littered with packing paper. The sofas were stacked on top of each other and surrounded by boxes. We managed to keep enough of the dining room table clear to sit down to a meal together. The storage room, the sewing room, and exercise room were a shambles. Shelving hadn't been assembled in the storage room before the boxes were piled in helter-skelter and if we weren't sure where something belonged, it went into the exercise room or the family room.

On Sunday, a sweet couple asked if they could come on Monday to help us unpack. I knew that if someone else organized my kitchen, I'd have difficulty finding things for weeks. Instead, I invited them to come join us for barbecued chicken for dinner on Monday, Memorial Day. It was all the motivation I needed to get the great room put together. Down went the sofas; boxes were moved to make room to walk around; and I began to organize the kitchen and put things away.

But there were complications.

First, we had no drawer pulls or cabinet handles. Todd, our cabinet maker, forgot to order them earlier and the holiday delayed their delivery. The hinges and soft-close drawer rails made most of them difficult to open, some practically impossible. Todd showed us how to apply masking tape on them, only adhering it to the inside of the drawer or cabinet door, to create makeshift pulls.

These were troublesome, especially when they got closed inside the drawer or cabinet, but they were better than no handles at all.

Second, the narrow cabinets that I expected to be pull-out spice racks were built as simple narrow cupboards -- too narrow to be useful for almost anything!

Yes, muffin tins fit fine but these narrow cabinets were on both sides of the microwave and on both sides of the base gas range in the base cabinets as well. I only have so many cookie sheets to store! I spoke to Todd about the spice racks I had expected and he explained that that sort of cabinet wouldn't work with cabinets that went all the way up to the ceiling. I wished he had explained that to me before he made them. I would have planned a different arrangement. Getting things out of these narrow shelves, especially the high ones was ridiculous. The solution Todd suggested was a compromise at best. The lower two shelves would be pull out shelves and could accommodate spice containers. I would fill the higher shelves as best I could with other things. The narrow doors to the left of the range in the base would be a pull-out with a peg board. The other side would have no shelves but I store cookie sheets and cutting boards there. That seems to work okay.

Todd said he would get the spice racks made "soon" and, in the meantime, the herbs and spices would stay in boxes on the counter top.

In spite of these inconveniences, I managed to put a living room together and make a dinner.

The Ockeys, Steve, Lisa, and I ate outside at our patio table and afterward, Dan Ockey and Jake helped Steve get his elliptical exercise machine reassembled. The Ockeys were such a nice couple to get to know!

Steve is motivated to get his den put together. It is pretty clear of boxes as yet but we have still got a lot of boxes and book shelves in storage.

Despite the mess, as I walk around the house, I am so pleased with the way the house has turned out! This has been my dream house and I'm living the dream!