It Only Takes a Minute

I get bored easily and when I get bored, I like to change stuff. My husband loves this. During Christmas vacation, I have done a lot of little tweaks around the house, in addition to my regular and new routines. The days are all basically the same as when I am at work (the beauty of working from home), but there is a little more promise when you don't technically have to be working.

Take today. I woke up and did my regular daily chores (feed and water chickens, get eggs, bring in firewood) and checked all of my media distractions (Facebook, email, Twitter, Pinterest...) and then was feeling a little flat. After two cups of coffee, I wasn't ready for an activity (cooking or reading, usually, and Downton Abbey if I have all my homework done) but I didn't want to exercise just yet (got a new elliptical for Christmas!), so I moseyed around the house, looking for something to change.

Then I saw it:

A cupboard door that wouldn't close started the whole morning

As Andy has settled in and started finding all of the fun little quirks that I have gotten used to after living in our house for almost eight years, he has come to call it the "Tim Burton House" because it's crooked, lopsided, quirky, and the construction and other related considerations are downright weird. (Well, the new part is odd and seems to have been built with the plans held upside down, but the old part, c.1886, makes sense...mostly.) I've always had a limited budget when it comes to renovations and repairs, so I get my reno-demo kicks from easy stuff like a coat of paint, a furniture reconfiguration, and other cheap and cheerful ways to make the place feel different. After all, I am in the house nearly all day, every day. A gal needs some change now and again!

But yes, when my eyes locked on the Tim Burton cupboard door earlier this morning, I immediately zoomed in to figure out why on earth it was ajar. Had the mouse that lives in the wall left the door open when he was trolling for a snack? Turns out the clasping mechanism was shot and bent loose from years and years of opening and closing. Sure, I could have gotten a pliers and just squeezed it back together, but there's no fun in that (plus it's a change you can't see and I was jonesing for some eye candy). I had read an article on open shelving about 12 minutes prior and decided that it'd only take a minute to make a nice change--and free up some counter space for my new Kitchen Aid stand mixer (another blessing of the season).

That's all it took for me to get to work. With each IM to Andy at work asking for various tools, drill bits, and other implements of mass boredom destruction, I knew he was getting nervous; I didn't want to tell him what I was up to until I knew it was finished without a problem (we learn from our mistakes). Off came the cupboard doors, a hole was drilled through the shelf so the microwave cord could access the plug on the wall below, and I moved this and that... and here's our open pantry area:

A downright Zen spot to make dinner

I have to figure that this will keep me from buying embarrassing food because it's all in plain sight, but I also like how I have a really great workstation in that corner. Everything is open and accessible. Neat.

And it only took a minute.