This Year's Big Christmas Week Project

Essentially, this week, between Christmas Eve and New Years, is my vacation. My department, or industry for that matter, generally takes this week off. So every year I like to use this time to tackle something around the house. Four years ago, I took down that old pool in the back yard. Last year, I built the deck around our new stamped patio.

This year, I had several choices floating around my brain. Cara and I have been mulling the idea of remodeling our kitchen since we moved in to this house. That's a "more than a week project" and so this week's project eventually changed to "remodel the bathroom." ...up until a week ago, that is what I was planning to do this week!

Then, a small bit of intellect ran through the Turek home. We realized that if we play our cards right(read: stop spending so much money!), we might see a debt free (sans college and cars) situation by May 2010! Wouldn't it be nice to look at our accounts and realize zero credit debt? So that's what we're shooting for.

That meant that my big plans to remodel the bathroom and kitchen also hit the "parking lot" for at least a few more months.

If you know me, then you know I can't just sit around with all of this opportunity(read: old house that needs tons of work!) As a part of our future plans to remodel the kitchen, we've decided that the pantry will be one piece that will stay when we replace the other cabinets and redo the kitchen. 2 different styles of cabinets in the same kitchen is all the rage in design anyway.

Monday, I set off to Lowes and bought some materials to correct a pesky problem with this pantry that has been chosen to stay. I took out the old shelves(too few) and replaced them with custom built pull out drawers(more). No more reaching to the back of the 24inch shelf. No more trying to understand what the hell is way back there. Just slide out the shelf and peruse the many cans and boxes all within the confines of a well-lit space and an up-right back.

This was my big project. I enjoyed it. Total time: 5 hours 30 minutes (including a break to take Cara and Ava out for "brunch.")

My dad inspired me to make these shelves. Dads build stuff...and think about engineering things for the better and/or ease of use...Past, Present and Future!

(Insert some sort of Bear and/or Lion growl here)

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