Remodeling

Back in January, I took out a home equity loan with the idea of redoing my kitchen. When I bought my little fixer-upper, I'd decided that I could tolerate the old, dark kitchen cabinets, which featured huge hardware that looked like door knockers for some Medieval castle - at least temporarily. But once I'd replaced the floors, stripped the wallpaper and painted, those cabinets took on a tauntingly hideous appearance! Since my house had gone up significantly in value, I decided not to wait until I could save up for new cabinets, but rather to simply take on some more debt in order to have exactly what I wanted RIGHT NOW! (It's the American way!!)

I set up the equity line, but didn't use it right away. Although it may not seem "frugal" to be borrowing against a home 18 months after moving into it, I am actually fairly tight with money. Some people call me "cheap". I suppose they could mean that in another way, but I don't think so. Doing some research, I determined that Home Depot had by far the least expensive cabinets. (For the record, I'm told Lowes has good prices too, but I don't have one close by.) I ordered the cabinets in late March. Around that time, a friend mentioned that her family was having some financial trouble. Her husband works in construction and business can be slow during the winter months in New England. I decided to help out by hiring her husband to install my new cabinets. In late April, the cabinets delivered and I waited for my friend's husband to find an opening in his now very busy spring schedule. The cabinets have been living in my basement for six months.

When I designed new kitchen, I REALLY wanted to squeeze in a dishwasher, without having to move the gas line or do any major plumbing work. Try as I might, I could find no way to fit in a dishwasher, so I ordered the cabinets based on a dishwasher-free kitchen design. Over the past six months, I have asked people who came to visit if they could see any way to fit in a dishwasher, figuring I still had time to change plans. No one came up with anything that didn't require reworking the plumbing or gas line. CRAP! Then my Prince Charming came along and said, "I bet if you put in a single bowl sink instead of a double bowl sink, you could fit a dishwasher between the sink and the stove." A narrower sink? Why hadn't anyone ever thought of this before? We measured. It seemed like it would work, but it also seemed too simple a solution to have alluded everyone for six months. I took my plan back to Home Depot today to consult the experts. Sure enough, a dishwasher will JUST fit with a narrower sink. Because I've held the cabinets for more than 90 days, I'm stuck with the ones I already purchased. I eliminated a three-drawer unit that would have gone where there will now be a dishwasher. I had to buy wider wall cabinet to go over the dishwasher. I had to buy a narrower sink base - the hero of the new plan. And I had a six inch space to fill where I'll put a set of spice drawers. Having given up on the original installer, my neighbor began work on this project on Saturday and installed the cabinets along the back wall. He'll finish the installation when I get all the other pieces in - probably in about two weeks. Within the base units in the already-installed section is a wine bottle cubby. It was one of the few "fancy" cabinets I splurged on when I created the original design. I'm not exactly a wine connoisseur, but I thought it would make me look classy to have little cubbies of wine bottles in my kitchen. Too bad that piece is already installed. I could have used it in that six inch space next to the sink. It would have saved me having to buy the $300 spice drawer filler!! Oh well...I'm getting a dishwasher! It's worth whatever money I had to waste to squeeze it in there!!

Some of those same people who have called me cheap have also questioned my sense of style. I really wanted the kitchen to be red and white. Red is my favorite color. I bought white cabinets. The wainscoting is white, the upper walls are beige. I have some vintage Coca Cola signs hanging on the cabinet-free wall. My curtains are red and white checked. Three guesses what color countertops I ordered. The original kitchen designer I worked with tried to talk me out of it. I didn't budge. Someday, when I sell this house, some potential buyer is going to walk into my kitchen and say, "Red counters???" Who cares!! It's me!!

I'll post photos when the work is done!