Lindsey Kuglin, Here, There & Everywhere

If you saved your edition of the Walkerton Herald-Times from May 1, you’ll be able to recall the horror of my kitchen decor.

That is something of the past. Shortly after I wrote that column, I started peeling the wallpaper off. And peeling. And peeling.

Yeah, the last four weeks have been much, much worse than having to look at disgusting old wallpaper. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that there is light peaking over the mounds of building materials, tools, and paint cans.

When I first started peeling the paper off, my goal was just to splash some colour on the walls, so the room looked respectable. But why stop there? I got into some local shops to check out backsplash tiles, took home a sample, and now I can’t do without. Then I found a new stone paint to resurface my countertops. Had to have it. Then we got some new lights and started mapping out an island.

Of course we have to do it all in stages. We had to resurface the countertops before we paint, so we’re still at that stage, and I’m going to go ahead and assume it’s the most invasive step. All our small appliances are living as refugees in the dining room. We haven’t had a home-cooked meal for a couple weeks. The large appliances are pulled out of their spots, and have cramped the walking area so we have squeeze-through paths everywhere. Once that’s done, we have to do drywall touch-ups and then paint, and then we can do the backsplash.

So what was supposed to take me a weekend to do, has turned into at least a two-month project. I look at my May calendar and laugh. I have written on May 19 “paint kitchen”. Here we are, over a month later, and I’m still a week (I hope) away from paint.

Scheduling is difficult. The busy summer weekends. Since the weather turned warm, friends and family keep asking us to come over. Sometimes I feel like saying “I love you, but you have to leave me alone, or I’m going to batty.”

I need my kitchen back. I miss stir fry. I miss roasted sweet potatoes. I’m looking forward very much to the day when I can push my refrigerator back into its nook, and when there is an available surface on which I can chop a carrot. It’s getting closer. Slowly. And it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I know it’ll be worth it in the end. But right now, I’m sort of missing the days of hideous wallpaper and usable countertops.