Realities of Renovation

There's nothing quite like peeling back the layers to reveal the bones of your house. Last year, I took my entire second floor down to the studs. And I did much of the demolition myself, including pulling up five layers of carpet and flooring. In spite of the fact that tack strips were indeed invented by the devil himself, that project ended well. On time and on budget.

Yesterday, I got to help my sister with the start of her kitchen renovation. Nine of us descended on her house to remove kitchen cabinets, strip wallpaper, and pull up old flooring. With the wind howling outside, we worked cheerfully, lapsing into complete silliness when we were able to remove large sheets of old wallpaper.

At one point, I commented that I felt young. For the most part, everyone I know now just hires contractors to do the whole thing. Long gone are the days of pizza and beer as an enticement for friends to gather to to help with a large project. We're all too old and too busy. But yesterday, with spray bottle in one hand and scraper in the other, I felt the same as I had so many years ago, when we were all just starting out. We'd strip floors, take fire axes to walls, and paint, paint, paint. As the pieces of wallpaper fell like confetti to the floor, the care of all the intervening years also fell away.

Soon, there will be a shiny new kitchen in my sister's now blank space, probably in time for spring. On a blustery winter day, we planted the seeds for the room of her dreams to grow. Just like when gardeners clear the land, there's a timeless hope that comes with starting anew.