Ding Ding

This Wednesday I’m celebrating imperfections. Usually What Went Wrong Wednesday is about bad choices, but this time it’s about the things that should have been bang on, but for a bang (or spill, or crash).

First up is our fridge door. Now you’ll be aware that one of the features of the last house was a somewhat protracted build. And one of my triumphs was ordering a full set of Siemens and Miele appliances before the first Brexit price-hike(I think I probably saved about £1500). Unfortunately that meant lots of things spending lots of time in warehouses, and nobody really knows at what stage the door acquired its distinctive ding. We noticed as soon as it was installed, and could have got Siemens to provide a free replacement. I got as far as finding out how to make that happen. But when I thought about the resource implications of sending someone out to remove a perfectly serviceable door, importing a new one from Germany to replace it, and then consigning the old one to landfill I couldn’t go through with it.

And the more I thought about it, the more I embraced the ding. Because, smug eco-credentials aside, it made the next blip – might have been the bashed up corner of the larder door, the odd screw on the shoe cabinet or the bent out of shape window pull – easier to take.

And yes I could get all of these things fixed. But if I do it’s only going to be a matter of weeks before the rug acquires another stain or someone opens a second door too vigorously and takes a chunk out of the plaster. And I’m trying to make a home not a show-home – and what use is a home if you’re too scared to live in it. So, notwithstanding all my efforts toward loveliness, I’m trying to let go of perfection.