Thursday, January 22, 2009

Kitchen Remodel Thoughts

It's 2009, which means it's finally time to think seriously about a kitchen remodel. The Mister and I decided last year that we would make a go/no-go decision in early 2009 whether to tackle a remodel this year. Last night, the go decision was made (call it our contribution to help stimulate the economy). It means I have to start doing the actual leg work, talking to companies, and getting the "budget" thing figured out (money, isn't that always the top issue?). No more window shopping for the sake of looking. Now it's for the sake of buying!

I've been planning my dream kitchen for...well, ever since we bought our first house, so over a decade ago. There's a hip-high pile of magazines, fliers, binders and white papers on my office floor at home that I've collected over the years. Dream in the making. And now, that dream feels almost within reach. The Mister has been extremely supportive (as he should be) in my OC-ness the past couple of years (OC = lots of prelim planning and wishing = endless yaking about this and that + countless home improvement shows).

I'm filled with excitement mixed with equal part anxiety. Kitchen remodels (or any home remodel) is the poster child of "the devil is in the details." There are so many decisions to make, so many options to choose from, and so many things could go wrong. Maybe it's because I've watched one too many home improvement shows but I would like to think my project will be more of "God in the details." I couldn't count the hours I've spent on research but I do feel somewhat confident in the layout I want, how it needs to function, and what appliances I want. That's "somewhat" confident.

Boy, just talking about it gives me indigestion (I'm sure my lunch has nothing to do with it). I'm also debating whether to start a new blog to document this progress or not. We'll see. If it's interesting and people want to follow it, then maybe I'll put the time into a new blog. We'll see.

4 comments:

KirkK said...

Hey CAB - I feel your pain....we did 2 of our bathrooms, and I started pricing out what I wanted for our little 1950's kitchen....and stopped when I hit 50k....why couldn't I have gotten a double-wide?

CAB said...

Yeah, 50K doesn't come close to my low end at this point. Although I am willing to compromise on cabinets and flooring. But appliances alone will be around 30K as it looks right now. And I'm guessing cabinets would be a bit more. Then let's not forget about that granite AND stainless steel counter top I've been eyeballing. If I'm lucky, I can keep it around 70K, including pushing out a wall in the family room.

We're going to take a trip up to Vista this weekend to Ferguson's showroom so I can take a look at the BlueStar range and price that against the Wolf range. I think I better bring along some Tums.

Anonymous said...

Geez... I feel lucky that the only appliance I need to replace is the dishwasher. A kitchen remodel has been on my list for years, but I can't get over the cost to redo the cabinets, floors, and counters AND I don't know how to live without my kitchen for months at a time.

CAB said...

Hi Leanne, I'm so with you. We have an outdoor natural gas grill with a side burner so that will help. Maybe getting a hot plate, too. We're going to keep our old fridge in the garage until the new one is put in. We're also going to look at doing some of the work ourselves, depending on what we end up with as far as cost. Any little savings will help. Ugh!