Brian Sawyer

Floored

In yesterday’s post, I complained about not having time to knit, which I realize is something of a cop out. (I know I get tired of hearing people say they’re too busy for X, since we all have time for the things we choose make time for.) So, this post isn’t a justification for my knitting sloth. But I hope to at least show what’s been occupying most of my time lately. It’s true that I haven’t been working on this project around the clock, but it’s also true that it hasn’t left me with a lot of energy in my free time. And the work has been wrist-intensive, which actually continues to make seemingly simple things like knitting and typing difficult. (Please excuse me for the brief DIWhine.)

Over the holidays (as well as both before and after), we were busy making over our kitchen from this:

to this:

The result is a kitchen that retains not a single element of the original (with the exception of the overhead lighting fixtures).

Of course, we contracted the bulk of the job–namely, cabinets, countertops, and appliance delivery/installation (with the exception of the new microwave, which I delivered and installed myself)–to professionals, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t take up a lot of my time anyway.

That said, after the kitchen was once again fairly usable, it was time for my main personal contribution of blood, sweat, and tears: the floor. It was my job to turn this floor:

into this:

The project involved a great deal of planning:

and a greater deal of work:

an attention to detail and precision:

and even a little practical math (this is the first time I’ve ever required the Pythagorean Theorem in a real-world situation):

Still, after all the frustration, stifled (and, yes, some not stifled) curses, and pain (and, as mentioned, earlier, with some continued soreness), I’m quite pleased with the results:

Now, I just need to tile the backsplash, after which I’ll be left with nothing to complain about and nothing but free time for lace knitting. 😉

If you’re interested, check out more photos of this and other DIY projects in my Home Renovation Flickr photoset.