Hi all. I haven't blogged for a long time but it occurred to me that the blog would be a better place to post about this than the forums.
We have been in our house since 1994. The kitchen was remodeled 2 years before we bought the place. Coming from where we were (a rowhome in Philadelphia) we thought the kitchen was great. Bright, roomy, lots of counter space, etc. After living here a while, we came to recognize some of the issues with it. The layout created a pinch point between the fridge and counter so we're always in each other's way. The previous owner did the work himself and used economy grade supplies so a lot of things just weren't done well and things haven't held up great. So we finally decided it was time to start fresh.
We have a good friend who does kitchen and bath remodels for a living. We've seen a lot of his work and know he does a quality job so we are using him. We've been refining the design and browsing materials but we're now getting ready to actually start the job. He begins on 5/27. We don't have the absolute final design quite yet because until he does the demo, he won't have exact measurememts, but it should just be minor tweaks from what we have.
We've looked at cabinets but haven't finalized those yet since we need the exact measurements. We looked at countertops a few days ago but want to go back for another look as we think we've modified what we want as far as color is concerned. We checked out flooring in a very general way but until we settle on the countertop we can't decide on the floor.
We've been working to clean out the cabinets and the basement storage area where things will go while the kitchen is under construction. We can't totally empty things out yet since we still need the kitchen for 11 more days.
I will try to remember to update along the way.
May 16th, 2025 at 12:05 pm 1747397112
May 16th, 2025 at 06:30 pm 1747420217
I'll plan to make an entry soon.
May 16th, 2025 at 08:32 pm 1747427551
Yes we'll have a temporary kitchen with our fridge, microwave, and toaster oven. We also have an air fryer and an electric griddle we can use. The main obstacle is not being able to wash things normally. As long as we can wipe off most of the grease and food residue we can then clean them up in the bathroom sink or tub. We'll eat with disposable plates and silverware so we don't need to worry about cleaning that stuff. And of course there's always takeout and restaurants which I'm sure we will do a lot more than normal.
May 16th, 2025 at 08:42 pm 1747428177
May 16th, 2025 at 08:45 pm 1747428342
Yep. Every time we tell someone we're doing it, they all say it will be great. And we respond, "Yes, when it's finished."
The kitchen is the most disruptive remodeling job there is by far.
May 17th, 2025 at 01:54 pm 1747490073
Ultimately, I decided to refinish the existing cabinets in a nice shade of gray (as the cabinets, counters and backsplash were all white). Just doing this one thing made a huge difference, along with an upgrade with a new s/s sink and faucet with the removable spray hose thing.
I HAD also wanted to upgrade to quartz countertop at the same time, but I backed out of doing so with a company that wanted me to sign no fewer than 3 waivers in the fine print, one of which absolved them from responsibility should they damage the backsplash while installing the new counters. Well gosh, I think they SHOULD be responsible of they cause damage. It's kind of galling they wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen in a written contract. So I never had it done, which is too bad, becus the white laminate, while in good condition, is very hard to keep clean.
May 17th, 2025 at 04:19 pm 1747498797
May 27th, 2025 at 05:28 pm 1748366900
May 27th, 2025 at 05:38 pm 1748367522
Sure. Let me figure out how to add them.
May 27th, 2025 at 05:42 pm 1748367725
https://imgur.com/a/MIRB0vv
May 29th, 2025 at 10:49 pm 1748558975