Perfection is the Enemy, and Pickled Oak in the kitchen

It is so easy to lose perspective. To think that, now that I have a blog, and have a reading list (see below) of really awesome blogs, that I have to be A Blogger among the best of them. Which I just can't. I don't have a fancy camera, I can't think as clearly or be as articulate as I wish. And so I have not put a thing on here in a week. Stupid mistake. I know better. I should quote a wise Catholic intellectual here, or Pope Francis, or the Bible itself. But I've got Flylady at least. Who, unlike Martha S., refers to "perfect" as the 'p' word. Who says that 'housework done wrong still blesses your family'. And whom I call to memory when I realize that my ideal of something is keeping me from taking any action at all. If anyone who reads this finds that to be a pitfall for them, too, check out the link.
So, here I am! Thinking out loud. And sharing some cool things. Like this:

Hermione reminds me its my Youtube Tuesday. So, in case you haven't seen it yet, check out Sister Christina. And then see what Kathryn has to say about it at Through a Glass Brightly.

What I really want to do is share pictures of my kitchen! It's not completely done, but I am really happy with what we've accomplished. I had golden oak cabinets, a la the 1990's, and while it isn't my style, the wood is such good quality that I just can't simply paint over it. Actually, natural wood is one of my favorite things. So, spurred on by the new dishwasher to do something, and by Auntie Leila's whitewashed fireplace, I decided to whitewash the oak, so it would be white and bright, but still show the grain of the oak.
This is a good summary of what I did. Here are before pics. You can see our old white countertop, which was *so* seamed and stained and coming apart. But the white was bright. I knew that once we put a countertop on that was the medium tone, earthy colors we picked, it would become a lot darker in the kitchen.

That confirmed my desire for not just a fresh, sanded down oak finish (the cabinet doors really need sanding no matter what), but a whitewashed one. Which, I forgot to mention, is called 'pickling' when it's done to oak.

Here's the new countertop and the pickling I've done so far! Can you see the wood grain a little bit?

I keep the doors off the upper cupboards, which I painted inside the other summer. The lower doors and drawers need to be done. The pickling/whitewashing is my brainchild, but Fyodor has offered to help sand! also, you can see we removed the 'appliance garage' from the corner there. so we have wall repairs and painting to do. But! I'm so happy with what we have so far. Spring break is comin', too, so maybe we'll finish then.

Emptying cupboards was a good opportunity to declutter and wipe things off, as well. So that fits in with spring cleaning/lent decluttering!

See ya on Thurs for {p,h,f,r} !