We have oak cabinetry throughout our house. There have been times in the past when I got so tired of all the oak that I wanted to paint it all.
The interior doors are all cheap hollow core, but they are sheathed in real oak. And the door frames are oak as well. Adds up to a lot of oak.
A few years ago, I got so tired of the darkness of all that oak that I did paint the interior doors … but not the frames.
In any case, we’ve been in this house since November of 1993. It was completed in the middle of 1991. The cabinets have seen a lot of use and have badly needed some work for quite a while now.
Enter the corona virus and my husband out of work and they are finally getting the attention that they need.
Bet you’re wondering where this is all going. I sometimes have trouble getting to the point. My husband is often heard to say some version of “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you get to the point?” It will usually be accompanied by a “hurry up” gesture of some sort.
My husband is not the tidiest person. He’s not dirty. He’s just a bit messy. Well, maybe more than a bit.
He has a fair amount of trouble with his attention. He’ll use something, stop using it, put it down and totally forget where he put it down because he was already thinking about something else. Things end up willy-nilly all over the house with little regard for where they actually belong. Yes, I have more than a little bit of that obsessive/compulsive disorder people like to talk about.
Plus, he just doesn’t have the same need to see things are orderly that I do. He has three drawers in our bathroom for all his stuff. They are always a total mess. Since some of “his” stuff is also stuff that I sometimes need to use, it makes finding that stuff really difficult.
Refinishing the cabinetry to the rescue.
In order to refinish the drawer fronts, he had to empty the drawers. He’s put everything back into them and for the time being anyway, they are all neat and orderly.
I wonder how long they will stay that way.
Okay. Yes. These are the insides of drawers and nobody sees them. Right? But I see them. When we were moving from the condo we rented, while buying this house, to this house, some friends helped us. We were pulling the drawers out of the bureau to make it lighter and one of them commented on how orderly all the drawers were, especially my lingerie drawer. I commented that it’s the only way I can easily find what I want when I want it. She said she just digs through her drawer until she finds what she is looking for. I shuddered at the thought.
I’m sure that my husband doesn’t really care how the inside of his drawers look. That sounds kind of funny now that I reread it. Drawers being an old way of referring to underwear. I’m sure that he doesn’t mind digging through his drawers until he finds what he wants. Oh. That’s sounds kind of funny too.
On the other hand, he found some things he didn’t know he had. He also found multiples of things. As in bought it again and again because he didn’t know he had it. Sigh.
I am enjoying having my husband home 24/7. Really. No, really. But some things just aren’t as orderly as they might be otherwise. I never thought I’d be this person. So like my mom was. But disarray preys on my mind. Clutter makes me uncomfortable. As if the clutter is in my mind.
I like open spaces and clear counter tops. I like everything in its place.
Heave a big sigh for my husband.
Maddie's Mom Writes 