I am not sure when this changed exactly, maybe when I went back to work last year. But, it seems like our house is in a state of constant evolution. This job was originally scheduled late summer last year, then my father-in-law died and we have had a year of unplanned activities.

This week, we begin the journey of new countertops and replacing the faux brick paneling with subway tile. Since I am not doing the work, I guess what I think doesn’t really matter. Despite all of that, we will be inconvenienced without having a proper kitchen (as long as the job takes).

What bothers me about the process is what seems like the constant piling of cast-off housewares and furnishings and boxes or stacks of things sitting around. Ultimately, even though I am not doing the work, I end up having to deal with the job waste. Trips to the dump and donation centers, listing items for sale, etc. It seems like the ultimate wasteful, consumerism type behavior that is actually beginning to bother me.

We have shifted from the buy-once, cry-once mentality of furnishings to an evolving cycle of cheap(er) decor. Beds last five years, couches are three, chairs and rugs are replaced annually. The items don’t come in a truck anymore, they arrive in boxes that require assembly. This means that they are less durable. Then the old ones have to be moved out to the garage to become my problem. It seems so wasteful to me.

As an example, our first bar stools we bought were by IM David. Looking them up for writing this, I see that they are retailing for nearly $1500 a piece. We replaced them with $150 chairs a couple months ago. One of the two chairs didn’t swivel properly, so now we have three chairs. Our old chairs are dirty and worn by they are still very nice pieces that we could have invested the $300 into restoration. I am debating whether to sell them, restore them or donate them.

I am not against engineered furniture. Some of it can be very nice and there is a place for it. For one, they provide good value. For instance, my kids will likely be out of the house in less than three years. So furniture that doesn’t have to last a lifetime is probably a better deal. It also appears to scale properly. It seems like a lot of today’s furniture is so grotesquely sized. I am not a fan of wood/metal/glass integrated pieces either. I don’t like the ascetic.

I think this will be nice when it is done. It was my idea in the first place. But, was it necessary? No. is it really worth it? I guess we will see.

End Your Programming Routine: Where this is all going is that I am sure that once that work is done, there will be a whole bunch of other changes that will happen as a result. We were discussing hardware changes, our range is ailing, the cabinet finish is worn, my wife hates the lighting and false cealing and things like that. Expect more changes to come.