today on This Old House...

So when we moved into our little farmhouse this summer, we quickly realized the fridge from the 60s wasn't going to hold the food for this family of six. I sent FarmBoy and Friend to ApplianceSmart and they came home with a behemoth of an icebox. We knew we were going to have to tear a cabinet from the wall to get it to fit. I was bummed cause we had just finished making the kitchen look oh-so-cute and now we were going to have a gaping hole above the fridge. Ugh. What to do. Not that there was really a choice. The cabinet came down and the fridge went in. Yep. The gaping hole was UGLY. There was unfinished wood - unfinished wallboard - shredded-sheetrock edges. It was a sore spot in a cheery little room. So I finally got tired enough of it to fix it this week. WonderGran came over and we devised a plan. A simple white shelf should cover most of the hole. We can glue it up and nail it up to keep it up! She ran off in search of a shelf the right size while I painted the wall to match the rest of the wall. I got the kids tucked in and she was back... the fun finally began.

For Angie, the list of what went wrong:

• The board was a little short so we had to cover the edge with a corner thingy
• The drill bit was crappy and dull and could barely get through the shelf for our pilot holes - took FOREVER!
• The nails to hold the board up had huge galvanized heads - WonderGran looked at me in horror but I just shrugged - we can paint them, right???
• The construction adhesive caulking tube had a nail in it to keep it from drying out. Unfortunately the nail was completely glued in! We yanked, twisted, pulled, coaxed - you name it we tried it. We decided the heck with it, we tore off the spout and just smeared it everywhere! LOL! What a mess!

It was a comedy watching it all come together. Our shoulders ached all evening and the next day from our little job. BUT, it sure looks cute now! My kitchen is back to its sunny friendly self! YAY!

Thanks WonderGran!!!