Monday, February 15, 2010

Hey! Did you know we are getting a new kitchen?!?

It has been four weeks of decisions, dust, and depression.  We are at the halfway mark of our kitchen remodel.  Things are on the upswing now.  Sheetrock is going up, the painter and floor guy is on stand-by.  It is starting to take shape.

Almost one year ago, The Deputy and I came to the conclusion that a new kitchen was necessary.  Well, he thought a new garage was necessary, but I sat him down and explained our priorities.  For example, we had only two and a half feet of workable counter space.  Another example, the kitchen floor in the winter time was at a consistent temperature comparable to the arctic tundra.  The final example, stuff was starting to fall apart.  Tada!  He agreed.

So, we met with a kitchen designer.  She was nice, but didn't have great ideas.  We have a VERY small kitchen.  She could not come up with a plan that would maximize usable space in the kitchen area.  Then one day our plumber was over pulling small toys out of our sewer line and we got to talking about the new kitchen.  We told him we couldn't figure out how to get a better work layout for our existing kitchen.  He suggested we move the kitchen to another larger room in our house!  I laughed at the crazy thought.  Did he think we had a money tree out back?  I know I call him on a regular basis to pull items out of our drains, but really, move the kitchen?!?

Two days later our persistent plumber showed up on our doorstep with three different kitchen plans he drew up.  I politely explained to him that this idea he had would be too costly and we already had a set budget.  He politely explained to me that he would have to replace all the plumbing due to the age of our house and it would make no difference if he replaced it in the existing small kitchen or the huge empty room we rarely used.  Then, I started listening to him.   And this is what I got.


A kitchen that is almost triple the size of my old one.  HELLO!  While, yes, our budget did go up, only slightly though, we are getting everything we (I) want in a kitchen.  This room originally was a half bath, walk-in closet, and my sewing/computer room.  The original kitchen was to the left of the new kitchen.  What you don't see on this plan is what we will put in the old kitchen area.  A bathroom with a shower and laundry area AND a small sewing area for me.  Well, a sewing nook.  A person has to give and take.  I decided to give my sewing room to take a new kitchen.  I still will have a decent size work space, but I will miss my old sewing room. 

So there you have it.  A year in the planning and eight weeks of craziness.  Our house is a complete disaster area.  We even have dust on the toilet paper.  Instead of hairballs, our cat is hocking up dust balls.  Our kids look like ragamuffins.  Okay, you get the point, remodeling is rough.  In the end, it will be worth it.  I hope.

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