I feel so productive (and sore): Part I

Something sure has kicked into high gear—maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the idea that people will come to my house more in the summer, maybe it's just an elevated level of activity in my life. I don't know what it is, but I got lots done this weekend.

This is by far my favorite project in a while, partly because it's taken me so long to do it. This is my baking center, a counter space I made from a piece of marble I found in the backhouse basement and four tall legs.

To make it sturdy enough, I epoxied the legs to the marble, then epoxied the back edge of the whole thing to a wooden cleat that's securely screwed into the wall. The legs can be adjusted at the bottom, so the whole thing is level and quite immoveable.

It was actually a pretty easy project to do—it took me all of an hour to put it together. The hardest part, of course, was getting around to doing it in the first place. I got this piece of stone about five months ago, and then I had to get it cut to size (at Alcamo Marble Works on W. 22nd St., by the way), which it took me a few months to get around to. Then I had to find the legs and figure out how to rig the whole thing up.

I'm going to create a whole step-by-step process about exactly how I did it and post it on the This Old House website soon. Keep an eye out for it. In the meantime, I need to start practicing my dough making skills. I mean, what's the point of a marble counter if you don't make a pear tart on it???