Restoration of the Mind

 

So I finished my kitchen on Sunday. I had a goal to repaint the cabinets in an off white color for a different look. Not only was the color uneven before but it should have been done years ago. That’s on me. I’m not the most eager home improvement type. Some of my friends spend every other weekend doing some home project. Their houses look amazing because of it too. But for me I like to read and write . . .  everything else is a distraction from that.

Despite my lack of energy on the whole effort I didn’t take any shortcuts. I took everything out of the drawers, cleaned the shelves, taped the corners and put on 3 coats of paint. My mom helped me for a few hours saving me serious time. I found some inexpensive paint at the re-store (a habitat for humanity center) and covered the wood with it. Years ago my plan was to sand off the old mocha paint that covered the cabinets. My brother started on this when he lived here. It was clear this was going to be more work than I wanted to put in, him too. He sanded off the top coat of paint to reveal a kind of shabby chic, rustic look. It was purely accidental but I kind of liked it.

Also I was lazy and decided to leave it alone.

The new off white is better if only because it’s a fresh coat of paint. Nothing is easier to accomplish and brighten up a home’s interior than new colors. I wonder how much of that is purely mental. Does the new color and clean look actually look better, or am just responding to the feeling of accomplishment? The answer doesn’t actually matter. It works every time I try it.

Why bother to mention such an easy renovation, a weekend job that a lot of people can do in half the time? Because success builds on success and even little projects you didn’t want to do will teach you how to increase in complexity for projects. I didn’t just need to paint and remove hinges from the old cabinets; I had to put them back the correct way and make sure they fit. This sound easy but it’s tough to make them fit again. I had the cabinets doors switched around the first time. Technically they should fit either side but they don’t. Each door only fit right in the exact spot I removed it from.

The cabinet doors didn’t line up great before my little fix anyway. My house was built in the early 1940’s so a lot of the structure is worn and a little crooked. A settled house means doors never hang right. I assumed I’d screw the hinges back in, line up the clasp to the lock and attach the hinges to the spine. It’s never quite as easy as you imagine it. But then that’s restoration. The increasing complexity is in lining up the hinges after you’ve taken them down. You can’t just use the old holes if the hinges on the door aren’t lined up exactly right, and mine weren’t.

 The problem solving comes from figuring out which door fits where.

I got to a stopping point and finished for the night. A stopping point for me is when I’ve made improvements beyond what a non-carpenter will put up with, but not tried for perfection. It’s better than “That’ll do” not as good as “Wow, that’s amazing!”

It sounds funny to mention problem solving in such a straightforward paint project. For a lot of guys this is stuff they can do half drunk while watching a football game. But home repair stuff is on my ‘hate to do list’ if such a thing exists. For other guys it’s events like funerals or birthday parties. Some guys don’t like to do anything creative on their own. They’re social animals and cloistering in some library to study local history or scanning databases for academic research is anathema.

 Problem solving home repair is my kryptonite, or at least it used to be.

I’m a big believer in positive confession. Everyone should speak positive confession over their mind and body on a daily basis. It’s crucial when we have obvious setbacks or are prone to laziness. I’ve addressed the issue of problem solving in my prayer time. I see myself as a new creature in Christ with new habits and new mindsets.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIV

This is my daily verse and I’m starting to believe it.