Old House My House

photo by Katherine Slingluff

I love my house. I love what it was as a cozy, intimate, shotgun―built by people's bare hands without power tools during the 1890's. And I love what it has transformed into―I'll call it my grand palace. 

The process of rebuilding my house has been a tremendous educational experience on so many different levels. I am a hands-on, get-into-it woman•―I love working with materials and learning about how things are made. But I have to say that this is the first time in my life that I can recall feeling totally clueless and ignorant, to the extent that I have to trust someone else on something I'm invested in.

You see, I create with my hands―I'm a potter and sculptor. I know clay. I know how to make things. I find materials from any and everywhere that look like ordinary junk to some people and love transforming them into beautiful creations.

A builder of pots I am. But a builder of homes I am not. It is so amazing to see how a house is created, the craft of building. (And then I think of the fact that there are so many different ways around the world that people use technologies to build homes.)

Well, I've learned so much from being so involved with this project of building my home. Trust me: You know that I now know (and will remember, even when the walls are closed) where the studs are, what the floors look like underneath, how my historic windows are put together―from glass, glaze, framing, casing…basically I know my house not only as its naked self, but what's going on under the skin to make it function.

My first lesson of the day is that it is unapologetically, unequivocally, absolutely, extraordinary, and significantly important to be involved in what's going on with your house and have very good communication with your contractor. (We won't say excellent communication, because sometimes that's a challenge with people we've been knowing all of our lives.)

My second lesson of the day is that it is unapologetically, unequivocally, absolutely, extraordinary, and significantly important to be involved in what's going on with your house and have very good communication with your contractor. :)

*peace,

*rashida