• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

Dining in a Construction Zone — Sheltering at Home Day 7

March 24, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

dining in a construction zone
We will be dining in a construction zone from now on — moving our old kitchen table out of this tiny den, where Jon and I have been holed up since November, when construction began on our house remodel. Photos by Barbara Newhall
Sheltering at Home, Monday, March 23, 2020

OK. If our contractors are going to be smart about the COVID-19 virus. If they’re going to stay home and practice conscientious social distancing. If, while they’re at it, they are going abandon our remodel project half way through. Then Jon and I are going to reclaim our turf. We’re taking back our dining room. We’re taking back our living room. We’re taking back the pretty views from what used to be our breakfast nook.

Ready or not, we’re moving in.

We are getting out of our overcrowded den, where, since Nov. 1,  we’ve been holed up — eating, reading, watching TV, emailing, storing dislocated furniture, and overseeing a disruptive home remodel.

We’re moving the old kitchen table out of the den and into the construction

dining-in-a-construction-zone
From now on, we’ll be happily dining in a construction zone. Outdoors to the left, a half-finished deck with makeshift railings. Leaning against the dining room walls, our new sliding doors and a stack of plywood. In the living room, the new walnut mantelpiece.

zone, into what used to be our breakfast nook and — now that the wall between kitchen and dining room is gone — our new dining room as well.

We’re stuck at home here, practicing self-isolation. And, by golly, we are going to make the most of it.

New Mantel, New Paint Job

We’re going to take in the pretty new paint job in the living and dining rooms (Benjamin Moore’s Mayonnaise [double formula], with BM Sage Brush on the fireplace wall). We’ll admire our gorgeous new custom-milled walnut mantel, designed by Blake Gilmore.) Also the numerous ceiling can lights sweetly lighting up the place — as planned by our designer Jill Loman.

We will ignore the yet-to-be-installed windows leaning against the dining room wall. We’ll pretend there’s no lumber in the living room. We’ll leave in place the saw horse, the compressor (too heavy to move) and that dusty old blanket.

We’ll set the table, sit down to dinner. And count the days until, once again, the carpenters’ hammers rouse us from sleep at the ungodly hour of eight in the morning.

To see “before” pictures of our kitchen-dining room wall removal, go to “Too Many Walls and Not Enough Bathrooms.”  More redecorating thoughts at “Over-Wrought Iron — Those Curlicues Had to Go.”

dining-in-a-construction-zone
The wall between our kitchen and dining room used to be just to the right of this door. Yesterday, I sliced away the plastic sheeting on the door to let in the view.

Filed Under: A Case of the Human Condition, Sheltering at Home Chronicles

Share This with a Friend

Share

If you enjoyed this, get my Latest Riffs on Life!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone. [convertkit form=1389962]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

The Quilt From Hell — Forty-Two Years Later, It’s Still Not Finished

An unfinished quilt and stray piece of calico overflow from a storage drawer. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It had been staring at me from that drawer for decades. The quilt from hell. My wedding present to my brother and his wife. Never finished, never presented. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

family-christmas-photo

The Truth Behind That Happy Family Photo We Just Sent You. Sheltering at Home Week 39

wrestling-with-god-by-barbara-falconer-newhall

A New Roll-Out for ‘Wrestling with God’ — Just in Time for the Holidays

woman-with-white-air-barbara-falconer-newhall

Now’s Your Chance to Let Your Roots Grow Out. I Did It. Here’s Why — Sheltering at Home Week 4

outdoor-dancing-studio

Widowed: Dancing Makes Me Cry.

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2025 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in