So, I have successfully survived the first stage of our kitchen remodel!
I had a couple of friends (one a contractor) and my father-in-law join me on the weekend to get things going.
The first stage, demolition, was quite easy, it showed just how poorly the original cabinets and countertops had been put in. I think the guys had quite a lot of fun smashing things up (okay, I did too).
We chose to use off the shelf cabinets from Home Depot. These are the ‘American Classics’ range and we picked the satin white finish. Our kitchen is so small that any wood tone would have shrunk it down even more. The benefit of using off the shelf cabinetry is that we paid ONE FIFTH of what I was quoted for custom cabinetry in the same finish. You do have to work with the sizes of cabinetry available, and we were fortunate that those sizes worked perfectly in our space.
The next stage was clearing the way, measuring, leveling, measuring again, and then putting in the cabinets. We started with the top corner cabinets and worked out way out, this ensured that we kept level and square. After the tops were in we went to put in the bottom cabinets, and got a quite a surprise… 5 layers of vinyl, 1 layer of hardie board and a layer of tile… I guess every new owner decided just to floor over the existing floor, which resulted in an inch of flooring! So, the guys stripped the floor back to the base… in remodeling you always have to expect the unexpected, and allow for it in your budget!
So, after a day of hard work we have kitchen cabinets in, although we are still waiting for a custom pantry before we finish off the toe-kick and moldings.
Today we are having granite fabricators come and measure our countertops.
Stay tuned for money saving remodel tips as well as suggestions for meals you can make in a temporary kitchen!
Food columnist Emma is a dear friend of Gidget’s and a wife and mom, who lives in Southern California.
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looks fabulous!