Fighting the Blues with Orange

Feburary was not the kindest month. I did not ride my bike, I did not finish the Girl Watching article (though it is getting close...), and I did have many bouts of serious grumpiness. We had lots of beautiful snow and even some clear, sunny days to go with it, but I found myself battling the blues for much of the month.

Part of my decision to tackle the kitchen was the hope that having a project would help me feel a bit more energized and connected to something. So the wallpaper came down, the scrubbing and patching commenced, stinky primer went up, much debate over color ensued, and finally 7 hours of painting netted me an orange kitchen. Well, it isn't really orange... technically, it is "pumpkin patch" -- a sort of orangish/brownish/terra cotta kind of color. Along the way, the kids, Andy, Shannon and Laura all pitched in. There is still caulking and organizing to do, but step one is done. Hopefully, I can get the ceiling fan replaced soon and pick out some new window treatments as well. I like it.

There are two things I particularly like about the recent changes (besides the color and lack of wallpaper). The first is the new arrangement of the stove/fridge area. For some reason the cabinet that is now in between them was over on the far side of the stove. Moving it in between and moving the microwave to the other side of the kitchen has netted me a butcher block work space next to the stove!

Second, is the new outlet/garbage disposal switch. It used to just be a switch, but now it does both and that means that the space above the dishwasher is much more useful.