Range hood. Done!

I didn’t realize how much the old range hood was dragging down the kitchen until it was gone.

Now I don’t have a “before” picture of the hood – Paul surprised me with the swap and it just didn’t occur to me to take a photo long before the installation.

It’s black and stylish and matches my ceramic-top stove. It’s smaller than the previous range hood. The light works. The fan works. Nothing fancy but it fits in and lifts my dingy kitchen’s spirits.

My dumpy little kitchen is old-school cabinets that need either replacing or refinishing. There’s a new sink and faucet and that helps but you can’t breathe life into counter-tops from 1970. The cabinets, maybe, with lots of elbow grease but the effect is still … old.

My kitchen is 10 x 10 and before the massive mitigation in the forest, I’d planned on a Martha Stewart kitchen from Home Depot. The only nice thing about my kitchen is most kitchen plans are based on a 10 x 10 model so the pricing can be pretty accurate to the actual cost.

I still can’t decide whether to replace or renew but for now, the new range hood is a big improvement.

My Aunt Emy used to say, “Never have your nails done.”

Aunt Emy grew up in the 1920s, one of 15 children; she was the youngest. Emy was adored and she was 50s chic and personified the elegant lady with matching hats, gloves, purses and shoes. She also rocked jeans and t-shirts. She could hunt, fish, loved dogs, helped her husband, Gene build a monumental greenhouse that not only grew all their vegetables, it heated their house.

Now Emy had her hair done each week – she was part of that generation that would have their hair washed and set every Wednesday and Saturday and nary a drop of water would touch her head in between.

She did her own nails most of the time but occasionally she would “have her nails done.” Professional manicures look better than the job you do yourself at home and she would look down at her newly manicured nails and realize she needed to have the stylist touch up her hair color. She’d realize her wardrobe needed sprucing up so she’d go to Joslins department store in the Villa Italia Mall.

Aunt Emy was wise; never have your nails done.

It’s the same thing with doing home renovation. It started with the front door, then the back door, then the range hood.

Now I feel the need to clean all the stuff off the top of the refrigerator and re-arrange the post cards and pictures that live there. I put the Tupperware away in a drawer. I’m considering painting the 10 x 10 backwash.

I’m feeling relieved of some of the pressure that lingers after a home like Cove Creek with all of its Highlands Ranch elegance. I still miss my piano so very much.

Anyway, the old cornflower yellow range hood will find a new home at the ReStore. I have to wear gloves to move it because it’s so greasy. I probably should just put it outside and let one of the numerous bears lick it clean as they parade past my front door each day.

Home improvement continues.

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