No Man's Land

We’re in the no-man’s-land days between Christmas and the New Year when hibernation truly begins, so why am I sitting on a step ladder in my kitchen, typing on my laptop with the pull-out cutting board as my desk? I’m searching for chandeliers online while my husband rips out the ugly drop ceiling in the adjacent dining room—long overdue. I’m not sure what prompted all this productivity, except that sometimes when you give yourself permission to do nothing it has the reverse effect.

We’ve wanted this drop ceiling torn out since moving here two and a half years ago. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a photo before it was gone, so I had to dig through my archives to find one from before we’d fully moved in. Situated above the ceiling is damaged drywall that needs patching and sealing—the job for today. Then we’ll cover it with stained tongue and groove, add recessed lighting in the corners, fix up and repaint the walls, and install the chandelier. There’s a lot of work to do before we’re finished, but the inches we’ve gained in ceiling height already make the room feel more open.

When it comes to projects and renovations, there are plenty on our list that are higher priority than this. There are woodsheds and outdoor shelters to build, a den ceiling we had to tear down and still need to replace, and entire rooms in our house we can’t use yet because the flooring needs repair. But in our last decade or so of home ownership, we’ve learned that sometimes you need to take on a project just because you want to. Follow the impulse and consider it a morale boost because that’s exactly what it is.

Like most projects, this one is turning out to be a slightly bigger deal than we originally expected. I’m guessing it’ll take longer than the week we predicted to finish it. Either way, there’s no going back now.