The truth about living with a handyman

Last week our fridge broke. After a couple of days of living with coolers all over the kitchen and a visit from a repairman, we bit the bullet and decided it was time for a new fridge.

Jeff really wants a side-by-side fridge. He says he is sick of bending down to see what's in the fridge. If this makes any sense to anyone I would like to know, because as far as I can tell the bottom of the new fridge is still on the floor just like the bottom of the old one, and the food down there is all still at the same level. But anyway, a side-by-side fridge it had to be. And bigger than the old one. That I did agree with.

On Saturday lunchtime just before we went fridge shopping Jeff said that he was itching,  'just itching',  to tear out some drywall. I should have paid more attention. He said 'I don't know how much longer I can hold out.' I should have listened.

We found a fridge that we liked that would fit in the space available in our kitchen. But just before we bought it I pointed out that the doors swing wide when they open and I wasn't sure that it would actually work on the one side in the kitchen where the washer/dryer wall sticks out a couple of inches. Jeff said airily 'It'll be alright' and dismissed my concerns.

We bought the fridge.

We brought it home.

It didn't fit through the garage door.

Jeff took the doors off the fridge.

It still didn't fit through the garage door.

It fit through the front door but to get it past the stairs Jeff had to take the door knobs off the coat cupboard and knock a couple of skirting boards off. This fridge is never leaving this house.

As soon as it was in the kitchen it was blindingly obvious that the door issue was actually going to be an issue. Jeff said with an gleam in his eye 'We don't have to have a fridge to fit our kitchen. We're going to make our kitchen fit this fridge!'

And that is the truth about living with a handyman. People think that my house must be perfectly put together because Jeff does do such good work, but the truth is that when he is doing a project I live in a building site. I am always having to think one step ahead of him and guess what he might knock down next and be ready for it.

So because our fridge broke, I have been talked into a whole kitchen remodel. We are not just replacing the cabinets. We are changing the shape of the kitchen and rebuilding walls. Jeff has exactly what he wanted - a side-by-side fridge that is bigger than the old one, and the opportunity to rip out LOTS of drywall. And I have the prospect of dust, disruption, no cabinets for weeks while he raises the ceiling, and the promise of a temporary kitchen counter made out of planks until we get around to replacing the old ones.

Planks.

On the plus side, the kitchen is the only room in this house that he has not transformed utterly, and I am sure that I will love the new kitchen. The old one is barely functional anyway, it's so small with ridiculously tiny cabinets that nothing fits in. And when the new kitchen is done, this house is done! And then we will probably have to move because there will be no more drywall left in this one for him to rip out.

But spare a thought for me over the next few weeks. Me and my plank kitchen counter.

Let the games begin.