A Lucy Moment

I know you have them! Those rare moments where your brain just doesn't function properly and you do something stupid, something you should know is not right. I had one of those moments this week. (Ok, yes, Gail, I've had more than one of them this week, but shhhhhh!)

I had a yard sale over the weekend to earn money to add more cabinets in my kitchen. I had already measured the wall where the cabinets are to go and wrote the measurement down. Yesterday, I went to the shop and bought the cabinets, carried them home and immediately stained them to match the other kitchen cabinets. Then it dawned on me as soon as I put my brush down. The cabinets were both 36" wide, for a total of 72", 6 ft. Here I had been thinking "cabinets for the 6 ft wall" even though I knew my wall was only 56". Duuuuuhhhh!!!!

I used to work in construction. The general rule was, measure twice, cut once. But occasionally, I guess I get it backwards and I measure once, cut twice, and the darn thing is STILL too short! In this case, I measured twice and still got cabinets too long. A wonderful example of a Lucy moment.

Determined to make the cabinets work, I pondered and measured and figured. Finally I found a solution! I can use TWO walls, and butt the cabinets up together in the corner. That meant taking a door off one cabinet. And once they're butted up together, I'll have to cut a board to fill in the gap that would have been covered by the door. No problem.

So today, eager to get junk off my counters and hidden behind closed doors, I rigged up some shelving, books, and VHS cases to set the cabinets on so I could screw them in the walls--all by myself! And the result is fantastic! My Lucy moment created a better arrangement than I could have planned. Had the cabinets come all the way down to the end of the counter, I wouldn't have been able to open the last door because I have a wine glass rack hanging from the ceiling over the bar. It would have been in the way.

There is about a foot or so of blank wall at the end of the cabinets. But Pirl suggested I put some open shelves with a curved front there. And I think that's perfect. I have the lumber to do it, so I think that's what I'll do.

And now, here's a picture of the new cabinets. In the corner under the cabinets is a cookbook chair I made years ago that finally fits my kitchen. I'm just so thrilled it all worked out and I was able to do it all by myself in less than 24 hours. My kitchen looks neat and organized now. And now I can start preparing food for tgiving.

Anybody have any Lucy moments you care to share?

BC

Your cabinets are beautiful! What a great save!! :-)

Yup! That's why my family room has no curtains for almost a year now. I threw out the icky old ones, kept the tab stuff from the top of each and went a bought new material. After I got them all cut and ready to sew, I realized I'd only bought enough for 3 panels and not 5. Of course, there is not a store in Sioux Falls that carries that fabric anymore so we have no curtains while I can't decide what to do!

bc - I have never had a "lucy" moment (that turned out near that nice!)

Kooger,

Give this website a try http://www.missingfabrics.com/gallery2.asp?PageNo=67

Good luck!
Melissa

Hey guys, I have almost completed my Lucy project. I cut the shelves, stained them, and just finished hanging them today. I think they look great with a variegated hoya on the top shelf and a blackie potato vine growing in a vase of water on the bottom shelf. Whaddaya think?

Later, when I find a piece of lumber that is just right, I'll cut a panel to fill in the gap in the cabinets where they meet in the corner. Then I'll be done.

TGIF, I've never had a Lucy moment that turned out quite so well either, until now. LOL

BC

Kooger, wold it be feasable for you to purchase a comlimentary colored fabric to go with the one you already have and then use both fabrics to create a bordered curtain??? Or a striped one??? Just a thought

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. I have been thinking about getting a fabric to match. The fabric I have is a wide blue and white stripe so I thought may go solid blue for the other window. It just irks me whenever I look at that fabric laying there! so totally 'duh!' LOL

Kooger although it would be a bit of sewing a stripe is perfect to do borders with and stealing side strips from.

By taking a few stripes off each side and replacing them with a solid piece you will be able to sew the cut peices together to create two more panels to add the solid to and then have the five needed panels. Gosh I hope that made sense. You can also make a valance with the solid piece to tie it all together.

I saw a window treatment that had blue and white striped material accented with a red border this way for a patriotic themed room. It was so pretty with star shaped shower curtain hooks over a pole that used the eagles from flag poles at each end. They also had gold braiding as tie backs. I looked for the picture but cant remember which magazine I saw it in....

Kooger...I love watching the HGTV channel and the LATEST thing is to have two different materials on one panel...They use a strip from ceiling to floor and then another from 6-26" across the bottom. I bought, 30 years ago, material (on sale, off course) for my bedroom and I knew I would not have enough...So I did what they are showing now and it worked out perfectly. It was different and I am always one for being different...lol Good luck. PS....My first purchace was upholstery material with a sorta flower/vine pattern and then I put on a deep green that was in the brocade for the flowers. It worked.

Hey BC, looks beautiful. I have Lucy moments every moment of every day!

Hmmmm, couldn't the cupboards on the left be moved over far enough so that you could use the entire cupboard, and butt the corners. There will be a hole in the corner but you won't see it, and you will have more storage ....! And the old holes where you have already mounted it will be covered by the back. Just a suggestion, I know it's lots of work to redo something, and I can't see how much room you have on the wall on the left, but......??

Just add my Lucy moment to yours...I see when looking at the photo again, you have the outer left of the cabinet lined up with the edge of the counter.....Never mind.

I have lots of Lucy moments. usually daily.

Never mind.....isn't that Saturday Nite Live talk? Or am I having a Lucy, too? Anywho, they look great.

Yep, that's Gildna Radner's "never mind" wasn't that the geeky character she played?

Hey Weegy, the cabinets could only come over another 4 inches before they run into a door, so I chose to align them with the counter. I CAN access them from the other cabinet door without any problem, so I still have the full use of the cabinet. I'll just have to cut a panel to fit the opening that you see.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I was just sick when I realized I'd made a mistake. But then my brother and I built my whole house ourselves and we had to get creative with a lot of our mistakes. And I just love my "custom made" Lucy house that I've built one piece at a time. LOL

Thanks for the compliments, y'all.

BC

BC - I'm sure impressed, have always wanted to learn carpentry, good save!

P.S. The character was Rosanne Rosannadanna, played by Gildna Radnor. RIP.

Yup, it's much better when you do it yourself, it saves you all those thrilling confrontations with your builder and the idiot expeditor (translation, professional apologist and excuse maker), and all kinds of foot stomping, cussing, and very bad language on your part. They look very nice, and you will love the additional storage space.

Butterfly, I know exactly what you mean by mistakes.....how'd ya think I learned so much.....not by siting.....Also, an expression that my DM taught me when I was young that "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"....boy, those have been my stand-by words ever since. You did wonders..... BTW, that's how most inventions come about....hehe...

PG, you are right....Gilda was a special person. Did a lot in her short years...

Hap

Oh no, Meezer, you got it all wrong! The foot stomping, cussing, and throwing things are even worse when you do it yourself. LOL

My brother and I worked on my house for 3 yrs. I worked in construction for 7 years, learning the trade. And I carried home scrap lumber and leftover supplies for years to build the house. So we built as I had the money and materials saved up.

I can't tell you how many times we screamed and hollered at each other. Many times, I'd send my brother home because he made me so mad. He lives next door, so he didn't have far to go.

My brother and I see things so differently. I'm more creative than he is and can imagine how something will look. He's an architect and only see's lines and angles right before him. So many times I sent him home and did a project by myself--one that he said couldn't be done at all. After a nap, he'd come back over and I'd have it done, much to his amazement.

Did I mention that he shot me with a nailgun once? Yep, there was some pretty language then! LOL Of course it was an accident. But we still joke about it. Then in a Lucy moment, I shot myself! A self-inflicted shot. LOL

It is very rewarding for me to do things myself. I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous, as you've noticed with the cabinets. But I'm also creative enough to fix my own errors usually.

Honestly, there's not much to construction. Any woman could do most of it. You just need someone to show you how. Occasionally you need some mean for heavy lifting, but most of it is easy, like putting a puzzle together.

BC

Butterfly, you are right about a woman doing things...

Fifty years ago I went to a prom at school and there was a girl with the same dress as myself. I then vowed it would never happen again.....from then on I made my dresses, winter coats, swim suits, etc.

When I got married, at 19, I had no money, but still wanted things. So, it Did it Myself. My father showed me around the :"cellar" as I was growing up, so I had basic and I am BASIC knowledge of carpentry, electricity, plumbing, etc. So away I went. I eventually got the, Builder's Discount" at our lumbar yard, they thought that this 5' kid couldn't do anything until she kept coming back for more lumber, nails, screws, etc. Then I got free fixin's for my hot water heater, "Cuse we never had a lady plumber in here before"....and so on. Years ago, women didn't do these things. Now it's another story. But I had fun and fun seeing men's faces when I'd say, "yup, done that"!! I had a lot of laughs...

Keep on truckin'

Hap

I did stay away from the nail guns......they sounded dangerous....hehehe

I'm sure it's easy, once you know how! ROFL. You had me going about sending your brother home (next door). Your house sure looks like it turned out better than that car that was built "one piece at a time", does anyone remember that song? It was a "'55,'56,'57,etc." LOL.

BC, you're so talented, when you're done there, will you come do mine!

Prairie Girl, I think that was Johnny Cash's car. You know, he was from Arkansas too! It's a hillbilly thang--one piece at a time. LOL

Happy, you and I have a lot in common. I love doing things, especially if "girls don't do that." My dad was a construction worker and I grew up in awe of him. I wanted to be just like my dad. But he'd never teach me anything because I was "just a girl." My dad still believes a woman's place is in the house. (My sis, who is a lawyer, believes a woman's place is in the House...and in the Senate. LOL)

When I was in my late 20's, I landed a landscaping job in a subdivision a big construction company was building. Once the roads and greens on the golfcourse were done, they then moved me over to their construction crew. I was the only female on the crew and as time went on, I made as much money as the guys did. I learned how to do a little of everything. I don't like concrete work or roofing, but anything in between is all right.

Weegy, you know how it is, just when you think you're done, you think of something else you need to do. My house was "done" about 5 years ago, but I'm still adding to it. Just like we do our gardens. Always one more thing to do. LOL

BC

a few days after i moved into my newly built my BIL came and installed carpet in all the rooms. i have a door leading to the basement for some reason this door stuck on the carpet when it was opend or closed. i am not a handy person but i figured i would take the door down to the basement and cut it. i did a perfect job but when i rehung it i realized i cut off the top and not the bottom.

Butterfly, you're a hoot in that comment about your sister....it's so true. But I have a confession.....(Hanging my head) I thought by the way you talked and what you had just done, you were "not a woman" . How sexist I am.....sorry....and after all that I do. (Haning my head lower)

Have you ever talked to sugarweed? She is a steamfitter. Another "girl" that took the bull by the horns and I do mean BULL....

Hap

I love you HERBIE......you're right after my own heart.....and mind....lol

Remember "Annie, Get Your Gun" ? "Anything you can do, I can do better, I can do anything better than you!" I loved that show and always thought I could do anything a guy could do, and even managed to do quite a bit of heavy lifting.

When we built our house five years ago, DH and I did all the tile in the bathrooms, floors and walls, the entry way, and later, the laundry room. Our builder promised we would have water by the time we needed to get the tile down, (Lie #427) so we had to haul water in five gallon buckets to mix the adhesive, and the grout, and for clean up. I also tiled the wall behind the kitchen range.

A guy I knew told me not to use black grout in the master bath with the black marble floor, because it would require more clean up...so I did it anyway because that's what I wanted. About the only thing I won't try is high ladder work on gutters or roofs, gives me the heebiejeebies to have too much air below and around me!!!

M5, the bath is beautiful.....what do some guys know anyway???? HUH????? And I'm with you on the height thingy.....I get pains in the back of my legs just thinking about it......EUUUUUUIIIIII!!!!

Thanks, Hap. Five years later I still like it!! I think he was looking at it from a workman's point of view, too much labor. But I want exactly what I want, not what someone else thinks I should have. And I'm just pigheaded enough to follow through. This must have been a characteristic I developed early. I remember my dad taking a bunch of us kids, cousins etc. out for ice cream cones and everybody wanted vanilla. I asked for chocolate which my father thought was too demanding and said "You'll take vanilla or nothing." I said, OK and turned around and walked out of the store. I was about 10.

I have to admit BC, I thought you might have not been a woman too. I'll only admit that because I'm not the only one! (call me sexist too!) Sorry. I would love to be able to do things like that, but I'd probably cut the door wrong too Herbie! That's so funny.
We remodeled our whole house 4 years ago and already there's things I'd like to do! And we hired a contractor, we were very happy with his work and price and I'm finding out we're very out of the ordinary, everyone has a horror story about their contractor.
You're right, one thing leads to another.

Edited because I'm stupid!

This message was edited Nov 26, 2005 4:58 PM

Are you my twin sister, M5?

That reminds me of myself at that age. One Thanksgiving we went to my Aunt's instead of staying home, which was the norm. I did not want to leave home.....I was told that I was going. I advised my mother that I would go, but I would not eat......and I didn't. I sat at the table like a lump of coal......If I had been my daughter, (???) I would have batted me on the head.

Nite.

Hap

weegy - "Things you'd like to do?" DO 'EM! I just love hands on projects. They come out so much closer to what you really want than anything someone else builds for you.

Pleae note the "much closer" up there. Nothing I have ever done/redone/done again has ever come out just the way it looked in my head, but I have loved the results even with/inspite of its "differences".

go for it!
ginni

I just came across this thread... loved your cabinet "fix" BC... but really loved the frank admissions about assumptions of gender. I get that a lot here on DG beacuse I was a licensed contractor and often give advice. People assume (because of my name as well as expertise) that I'm a man. Wrong!!

BC - I have to laugh cuz I'm tryin' to imagine a dude named 'Butterfly Chaser'!

I think Iamwaytoodumb.....or something like that, who I thought would be a blond. is actually, One of the Boys.......

(Oh, I just KNOW I'm going to be in trouble with this post!).....think I'll head out to the north 40 for a while.......

Hap

Interesting, brings to mind my early days as a paralegal. I was the first woman in a unit of men examining title documents to establish succession of ownership, and wrote to various professionals, lawyers, etc. At first, I used my full name, and often was questioned about my "qualifications" regarding the information I provided, resulting in having to write a second letter. I suspected gender bias, so I started using my initials...instead of my first name. Veee-olah! No more questions, although if the correspondence then resulted in a phone call, there was a little noticeable surprise when they heard me speak. LOL

Good for you Meezs. You sure are creative.....what was that I said about the Mother of Invention?????hhehe have a great day everyone and I will be checking up on you all....at least to see if you are behaving......LOL......Dog to vet for check-up and then Miss Molly comes this afternoon....Hee Haaaaa.............

I've always been a tomboy, and I live in the south where there has always been a lot of gender prejudice. There are a lot of "good ole boys" like my dad who believe "the little lady" ought to be home baking and tending children. That was never my idea of life for myself. And you can't imagine how excited I was to tell my dad I was finally a construction worker.

My boss told some folks at a lumber yard where we bought our supplies that I was the best worker he had and he wished he had ten more just like me so he could build some fine houses faster. Of course, he would never tell ME this. I always heard his compliments second-hand.

Herbie, that's so funny about cutting the door off on the wrong end. What did you do to fix it?

My brother tells people that I built my house--he just helped a little. That's not true, but I appreciate it. He worked just as hard as I did and he did the harder stuff himself, with some of his friends who'd work for a burger and beer.

Darius, I must admit, I thought you were a guy too. Don't know why. But I think we all need pictures under our names so we'll know who we're talking to. I have a picture of me on my member page.

Meezer, I LOVE the bathroom! Excellent job! WOW! Tile is one thing I haven't attempted. I don't have the right saw to cut the tile. I did lay my own hardwood flooring, but that was easy and no special saw needed. And I am like you. I want what I want, and I want it now. So many times, my brother has said, "That won't work." And so I kick his butt back home and I do it anyway. When I first started gardening, he said nothing would grow in our red clay. Really?? I figure it won't grow if I don't plant it. So now my entire yard is a garden--no lawn at all. And where does my brother like to hang out? On my porch surrounded by my tropical paradise.

Never get in the way of a woman and her dream. And ladies, anything they can do, we can do better! I worked with several different construction crews, and most of the guys were bozos! The lead carpenter on one crew was illiterate AND a drunk. Most of the guys on the crews were high school dropouts, druggies, alcoholics and ex-cons. Quite often, someone wouldn't be in for work on Mon, because he'd been arrested over the weekend and was in jail. So why is it that many people believe construction requires a genius? Watch HGTV and you can learn a lot. And then there's my hero, Bob Villa. Wouldn't you love to study under him? I would! Now there's the genius!

BC