Lessons from the Kitchen
As we have been deconstructing the details of what it takes to actually build a new kitchen, it occurred to me that this is not a solo journey or even a couple's journey. It literally takes a village to get the job done. And oh what an interesting and amazing array of citizens who occupy our kitchen-remodel village. All are "experts" at what it takes to complete a successful build-out.
Do I start with the employee at the store who helped us design our layout, choose cabinet finishes and placed our order? Or do I go back to the dozens of photos I cut out of magazines or the tips from friends and neighbors who have already been around this block? What about the appliance gurus who educated us on the fine points of every new appliance we had to choose including our over-the-range fan for pete's sake! And don't even get me started on the lighting masters who have been walking us through the maze of xenon, halogen, fluorescent and LED.
Where would we be without the delivery men who ferried our cabinets like precious cargo across country and to our door? Or the guys who miraculously delivered our over 300 pound professional gas range to its proper resting place? Or the two Justins on our street who are in the trades and helped with specific installations, let alone the generous use of a truck to take our old kitchen to the dump.
The irony is that I'm already singing the praise of this village and my kitchen is literally empty! The garage is full of boxes ready to be opened and welcomed to their new home. But rebuilding a kitchen is about layering one layer on top of another until the whole emerges, and we are only just past the design and tear-out phases. There are many more villagers who have yet to arrive to do their magic.
Doing life takes a village. Our kitchen remodel is just a microcosm of the bigger picture. People come in and out of our lives ~ some for a moment, some for a season. And some remain to enjoy the fruits of the community we have mutually created.
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