6 months after

When we moved into our house in December, we got the most disgusting kitchen ever.  It was gross, along with almost everything in the house.  Our first big project was to get rid of the hideousness (non-functional 3 burners on the stove, which may or may not have had to do with a likely rat infestation in the cabinets...ugh...makes me want to hurl...then there was what were supposed to be white cabinets and white tile countertops, which weren't). 

Before - you really need to see it up close to really see the hideousness

We picked out everything and coordinated everything in a matter of 6 weeks.  It wasn't just picking out the cabinets and countertops.  We moved appliance slots around, changed the cabinet layout, picked out appliances, found a cabinet supplier, found the specific cabinets, blah blah blah.  Considering we were still getting settled into the house, had full-time jobs, had a toddler, and were in the process of selling our other house, it was a lot to take on.  And a lot we could potentially screw up.  Oh yeah, and we were changing things even the day of demo.  Our contractor must hate us, but hey you can't be picky about your customers in this economy.  Right?

After the first day

After - new spot for the stove and fridge (I can't take a straight picture to save my life)

It's been six months with a functional kitchen.  I lovvvve it, but of course I'm comparing it to the rat infested, made no sense cabinet layout with tile stained by curry.


In our last house, we did a bathroom remodel.  That was agonizing.  It took forever to find a contractor.  The one we hired was Barney Fife-ish; he fell through the ceiling and took forever.  In the end, we were somewhat pleased but would have done things differently if we had to do it again.

So I was thinking that a kitchen would be even more regret-filled than a bathroom.  I was worried because we did a lot to that dang kitchen.  There was 1 big glitch during the process.  We ended up getting a different granite than we (I) thought we were going to get.  It's close though, albeit darker.  I sometimes "lose" things in the granite because there is some gray/black shades, and silverware and food can kind of blend in.  Or I'm getting blinder, which is certainly a possibility.

After 6 months, the granite color has worn on me, and I don't think it's THAT bad anymore.  I have only 2 complaints about the remodel.  1)  I really don't like our microwave.  The one in our last house was much better.  This one is supposed to have all sorts of sensors and crap.  When I put in a potato and hit the potato setting, I get a potato that's warm; however, you cannot cut it with a fork because it's still hard as a rock.  It takes a lot longer to heat things.  Wah wah, I want my late 90s Kenmore back.  2)  The other complaint I have is with our sink faucet.  We have a double sink, and the faucet gravitates to the middle.  So you turn it on, and it sprays the divider between the sinks, and water goes everywhere.  You have to force it to one and side or the other, but it slowly slides back to the middle anyway.  Grrr.... And the nozzle is hard for me to put back in. 

No other complaints though.  The new layout seems to work pretty well.  If people are sitting at the bar, I think it can be a challenge to get into the pantries behind the bar.  But there's really nowhere else to put the pantries, so I guess we just have to deal with that.  I like where the appliances are.  All in all, I'd say the kitchen remodel was a tentative success.