This week we are having some minor renovations to the kitchen and baths which causes havoc throughout the house, especially the kitchen. What does this really mean to my cooking and the blog? I can’t cook because the kitchen is out of order, taped off, covered in plastic. Aacckk!
Kitchen rehab has occurred in steps over the years. Since we’ve lived in this house (11 years) I’ve replaced all the appliances at least once. We’re set now with high-end Bosch oven, convection microwave, cooktop, and dishwasher. Appliances – done!
Now that we were switched over to stainless steel appliances, it only makes sense to change the kitchen cabinet pulls, all 52 of them! Easy enough to install, harder on the pocketbook. Each pull cost about $3.50 – you do the math.
Next, hubby added sliding drawers to all the lower kitchen cabinets. Lucky for me he is quite a handyman so he was able to make customized pull out drawers for a fraction of the cost than if we had purchased them pre-made. Done!
Under the counter lighting removed for the latest remodel phase, looking for replacements. I have only two days left to find them, wish me luck.
Then there are the multi-thousand dollar wine fridges we installed. It all started with needing wine fridges for our ever-growing wine collection. The coat closet was a consideration in this remodel because we only wear coats six months of the year and drink wine year around, so out with the coats and in with a wine closet. But that wasn’t enough because red and white wine need to be stored at different temperatures.
Closet storage aside, we still needed two wine fridges for the kitchen. We bought a couple to fit under the counter, BUT they didn’t fit exactly as we wanted in the kitchen island (of course). It was necessary to extend the island counter. While we were at it, we decided it was time to put granite counter tops throughout the kitchen. You know where this is going, right? New kitchen sink and faucet were added too. The wine fridges were actually not that expensive, it was the granite and other things that drove up the price of this phase of the remodel.
Wine fridges – done! Granite countertops – done! But then there are the kitchen walls. When we moved into this house, it was wallpapered. We lived with it for a while and then painted over it to better coordinate with the new granite countertops. Now, it’s time, yes, it’s time to take the wallpaper off the walls and just get this over.
Fast forward to today. We have a crew in the house removing wallpaper from the kitchen and bathrooms. This process should take a week and we are hopeful the time estimates are correct. (Although I’ve been told to double construction times just in general.) Everything is masked off in the kitchen including the fridge!
So in the meantime, we are eating out and reheating meals from the freezer. (Doesn’t everyone have tomatoes, parsley, and a toaster oven in their dining room during construction?)
Blog posts this week will continue – I had a few in the queue, however, after a week of not being able to cook, next week’s blogs may be sparse. Anyone have a kitchen I can borrow for a few days? I promise to leave some cooked morsels behind.