So far, we've repaired the AC, purchased drapes for privacy and to keep out the beating sun, busted a hole in the wall/ceiling and begun repair work on said hole, purchased area rugs and a new set of box springs, purchased much-needed bathroom items like rugs, towels and towel bars, bought a dining room table and chairs, bought two storage racks and carpet for the garage (we bought a cheap remnant when we got the rugs), and probably more that I cannot remember. In fact, I know there's more I cannot remember.
One of the biggest things we wanted to do is upgrade the kitchen. There is actually nothing wrong with the contents of the kitchen, it's just that there isn't enough of it. I had two concerns when we bought this home (1) kitchen cabinet space, (2) closet space. Well, we can fix the kitchen. Thankfully, the original homeowner left the book that contained all necessary information about the house - flooring, cabinetry, lighting, etc. We had two critical pieces we needed to figure out before we could entertain purchasing more kitchen cabinets. We needed to match the Corian and we needed to match the cabinets. There was no guarantee that we could match one or both at all since these homes were built 3-5 years ago. Amazingly, Craig found both. The exact cabinets and the exact Corian. It's a good thing builders pretty much make their homes cookie cutter because it does make finding replacement "parts" easier. Another good thing? Our builder chose the cheapest cabinets (surprise, surprise), so our out-of-pocket expense for the cabinets is really, really reasonable. In addition, we are working through a cabinet distributor who typically only works with builders and contractors. We are getting the cabinets for about 50% off retail...at the builder's price. Talk about a complete blessing!
To put things in perspective, here's what our kitchen layout looks like.
These are all the cabinets. The only ones you cannot see are the tiny ones above the fridge, which are completely inaccessible anyway. I think I put wine bottles in there when we moved in because I can't drink while pregnant. I'm pretty sure we'll discover the wine when we move out. There are seven cabinets and that includes under the sink - which is only half usable because of the dishwasher, garbage disposal and sink plumbing lines. One is a corner cabinet that is really large, but is also difficult to get to the back. There are three drawers and one of those is so small that it can only hold three dishtowels and a set of hot pads. The new cabinets are going to go on the wall to the right of the entry way. See!
This corner is intended to be a breakfast nook. We have a bistro table there right now, but I'd much rather have the cabinets. The table will go on Craig's list and hopefully pay for part of the upgrade. We're adding a total of eight more cabinets and three drawers! I'm so excited I can barely stand it. Craig placed the order this morning and the cabinets should be in before August. There is a great chance the remodel will be finished prior to bringing home our baby!We wanted to dive into this project sooner rather than later so we can enjoy it longer. Another plus? It will make our town home more appealing when trying to resell.
I'm really, really excited!
4 comments:
You've already got more cabinet space than we have in our kitchen. Our solution? Give away/sell our unused stuff! Oh, and we got a pot hanging rack from IKEA.
Really?!? I feel for you. Wow, our kitchen has about the same cabinet space as the apartment. I don't like my counter tops cluttered too much, so appliances not used daily (or that are too cumbersome to lift like the kitchen aid mixer) are put away. I also don't have any room for platters...they are still in boxes! With a baby on the way and the things babies need (bottles and sippy cups, glass stuff, etc.) we needed the extra space. I really surprised your house doesn't have more cabinets...it's an actual house and ours is just a townhome!
I am wondering where our bottles are going to go since all of our cabinets are full. I got some storage pieces at Ikea and put them along the wall to give us extra space, but we started out with more than you. Plus we had upgraded our cabinets so that we had the taller top cabinets installed.
yay for new/more cabinets!! We've got just barely more than you here--like 2 cabinets and one drawer.
I installed some cheap 96-inch shelving on the opposite wall of the kitchen for an open pantry and have about 4 boxes' worth of kitchenware that is scheduled for an early fall garage sale!
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