Who would have thought I’d be able to thank my neglected and outdated house for saving me from insanity and self-destructive behavior after being laid off? This old house, I owe you one. (Complete with before and after shots.)

“Stuff to Do While I Have Time.” That was the title of the list I created within hours of being laid off last year. Since I didn’t have a job, I was hell-bent on keeping busy. The first item on the list? Redo Kitchen Cabinets.

Lucky for me, I had no idea what I was getting into. One moment I was sitting on the couch, overwhelmed with self-pity and anger over losing my job, the next I was on a stepladder furiously removing my first cabinet door with the wrong-sized screwdriver.

And that’s how it all started.

Just a little background. My house was built in 1931 and hadn’t been updated at all since the early 1960s. Our cabinets, while practical and well-made, were atrocious (see picture). My kitchen is huge, but the dark lacquered cabinets with black, front-mounted black hinges made the space seem smaller, outdated and depressing. You know what Don and Betty Draper’s kitchen looks like? Well folks, I had the same one.

So it started with one cabinet door. And then another. Slowly I moved onto the drawers. I sanded. I removed lacquered-on hinges. I filled screw holes. I sanded again. I peeled green shelf paper off with my fingernails. I went to Home Depot literally every other day. Sometimes, I went twice a day.

Eventually I found my groove. Once I was confident enough, I could blow through Home Depot in seven minutes, even stopping to talk to my new friends. And while I think of it, here’s a home improvement tip you won’t hear from Bob Vila: if you want to get someone to wait on you at Home Depot, wear a garment that is a tad revealing.

Don’t get me wrong, I had my moments. Having drilled several erroneous holes in my first finished drawer, I went to my local hardware store looking for advice on how to mount a pull the right way. The clerk screamed, “Drill at 3/16!” in my face over and over again until I fled the store in tears. Then there was the day I actually left a cabinet door at Home Depot (it was destroyed in the trash compactor before I even realized it was gone.) And predictably, I hit my fingers with the hammer and slammed parts of my body in cabinet doors more times than I can count on two (bloody) hands.

Four months later, 33 cabinet doors,  57 hinges, 43 pulls and 12 drawers later, I was done. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll tell you that I had my handyman remount my cabinet doors. It’s tedious work, even for someone like him who’s been practicing carpentry for more than 50 years. But I will also tell you that I assisted him every step of the way.

And not only did I complete the first task on my list before I found a job, I managed to eek out many more home improvement projects that were on my list. I painted the living room, my bedroom, the kitchen, removed wood paneling and—brace yourself—hung drywall.

So house, thanks for keeping me entertained during those long months where I could have just as easily been indolent. Thanks for showing me I can do something other than office work. In other words, thanks for needing me. Without you to pour my energy in, I might still be sitting on the couch, staring at unpainted walls, feeling sorry for myself.

My Cabinets Before

My Cabinets After