The Shelf Adventure Part I

Dear Readers, you are coming in on the end of an adventure.

A couple of months ago I was standing in my kitchen, probably half-heartedly doing the dishes. I want you to know that I feel like I am always doing dishes. I live alone and find myself consistently frustrated by the realization that there are always dirty dishes in the sink and that there is no one to blame but myself.

So on this particular winter day, while washing my dishes, I was looking over at the shoddy easy-folding bookshelves I had for storage space in my kitchen. I had recently acquired some rather large new kitchen appliances—gifts from the winter celebration of our savior’s birth (Note: I am Unitarian, that is tongue in cheek)—and wondering where the hell I was going to store them.

The space in question takes up about half of my tiny kitchen. About a minute after moving in, I had thought that a long counter-like shelf, sturdy in nature, would be incredibly useful for this space. Two and a half years after moving in, as I was scrubbing dinner plates, I realized again the dire need of doing something to remedy the shelf situation. I picked up my phone and called my friend Becky, who is not only a 8th-grade math teacher, but is extremely handy with tools, and boasts some serious carpentry skills. She had recently built some very sexy shelves in her apartment that I had a mad crush on. I decided to solicit her assistance for my kitchen.

“Hey Becky,” I said, “I was wondering if you could help me build a shelf.”

Becky came over for a quick consultation on the shelf plan.

“Do you want a free standing table or a shelf built into the wall?” she asked, and there it began.

This “quick consultation” turned into a long consultation and resulted in a couple of drawings in my journal, including a flip-up side board for extra counter space, height specifications, many exact measurements, board width estimates and details of what the counter/table would look like and how it would function.

To be brief, there have been many trips to the hardware store (multiple hardware stores in fact) to obtain wood, screws, plugs, stain, varnish, sandpaper, hinges, and again to change our minds about types of screws and wood.

Honest hardworking weeks lapsed in between spurts of Becky and I working on this project. I promise you that had I possessed a blog at the time you would have been included in a detailed play by play. It has been a trying process.

Last week, while enjoying Happy Hour with Debbie, I ran into Becky on her bike. She asked me point blank if I had finished varnishing the wood yet. I had not even started, and Becky urged me that if I could have it varnished, we could construct on Sunday. But if I could not get my act together by then, it might be a couple more weeks before we would both have a free day.

So this Saturday past, I varnished happily while Debbie sat on my couch and painted romantic pensive women on toilet seats. Saturday evening I called Becky. “Guess what I did all day” I said proudly. “You varnished all day didn’t you?” Becky knew. I will freely admit I was feeling pretty proud of my pieces of wood. They were looking beautiful in their shiny lacquered coats.

To be continued…

Love, Kristin