My new kitchen

It all began with wanting to open up my pocket door. My kitchen felt tucked in a back corner of the house and I wanted it to be more open.

So I called Randy and he dropped by and he took it all down in under an hour!!!

But. Once I did that, where the wall was taken down, it exposed the subflooring where the wall was! So I knew I needed to replace the kitchen floor --- which I wanted to do ever since I pulled up my carpet and finished the hardwood floors.

The kitchen was the same kitchen from when it was built in 1956. The doors were no longer closing properly. The shelves inside the cabinets weren't very high and I had to lay the syrup bottle and cereal boxes on their sides so they could fit. (You know what I'm talking about if you're living in a mid-century home and have the original kitchen cabinets).

I was on a tight budget and didn't go overboard with any high-end remodel, but I did buy new cabinets, counter tops, flooring, crown molding, light fixtures, subway tile for the backsplash, an over the range microwave, dishwasher, garbage disposal, sink, faucet, new plug outlets, and updated wiring in the kitchen. Basically it went from being gutted to all things new.

And it feels good.

I helped lay down the new floor. It was hot that day and very tiresome. But so rewarding to be able to say "i did that!" I also put the backsplash tile in myself and grouted it. I put the light fixtures in, too (with a help of a good friend) and before too long, I will select glass for my two cabinets on both sides of my sink.

I'm glad I didn't realize what how much work would be involved. Whenever I watch one of those inspiring HGTV shows, the transformations are so exciting and they are changed immediately after only a few moments after a commercial!

However ... in real life, it takes days and weeks and the changes each day are so miniscule, it is hard for me to experience that "wow!" factor I longed for. But this is what I'm excited about. I now get to enjoy the kitchen instead of waiting to sell the house and either redo it before I sell... or give the new buyer credit to update the kitchen. I learned a lot in doing this and the next time I will do some things differently so I'm grateful for the lesson as well.

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