KITCHEN PROJECT

We are finally redoing the kitchen and it is desperately needed. Eric had this house built in 1992. It's a tiny house for one and then I moved in ten years ago with four dogs, three cats, and a house full of furniture. I should not say this is a tiny house built for one. It's a lovely small house built on a cul de sac which literally is a small insular enclave-quiet and protected from the hustle and bustle of the city surrounding it. There are 18 of these houses on this cul de sac. It's quite dramatically different from the neighborhood around it. The truth of the matter is that there have been families who reared four children in these houses. I have to admit that has always amazed me. I'm never quite sure where they put them. I think the truth is that Eric and I simply have too much stuff-----way too much stuff. Most of the children are now grown and return with the grandchildren. Most of the neighbors are retired and elderly and spend their days working on their yards. It's a quiet neighborhood and well groomed yards and well maintained homes.

During the house building phase (before my time) Eric and the builders had a number of differences. They won some of those differences and he won some. A major bone of contention was a pantry that the builders put standard in every house. Eric did not want it because they put the pantry the only reasonable place for the refrigerator to go. He lost. The pantry was installed. It has been a major source of aggravation since he moved in. He had this huge refrigerator (very nice), but because of the pantry placement it made it impossible to get the refrigerator doors wide open to clean the refrigerator or find food stored in the back of the refrigerator. Major hassel. I am not prone to cleaning refrigerators anyway and this made it even worse. So, the pantry will be leaving.

My major complaint about the kitchen is that it does not "function" well. It's a big kitchen, but every time both of us are in the kitchen we are bumping into each other, falling over each other, etc. There needs to be separate work areas. And, there will be before the summer is over.

About a year or so ago, we had the new range and microwave installed. The new refrigerator was delivered last Friday. The new dishwasher was installed yesterday. Scott, the kitchen remodeler was here yesterday to measure for new cabinets and countertops. The cabinets and crown molding that goes around the top of the cabinets must be ordered and that takes about three weeks for delivery. Meanwhile, I need to order the undercounter ice maker. We don't really need that and it's a terribly expensive luxury that Eric WANTS. The new refrigerator makes ice lickety split and makes it so fast that we can't keep up with using it.

Will be posting pictures as the renovation progresss. It's going to be a mess. Thankfully, all the plumbing and electricity works. We are going to have some additional electrical sockets added and lights put in under all the wall cabinets, but there will not be a lot of electrical or plumbing work required. We are both very eager to have the kitchen completed. Eric's been dreaming and planning for this kitchen renovation since he bought the house in 1992. I've only lived here since 2001, but I've been dreaming and planning since I moved in. Unfortunately, it's going to take many weeks.