Saturday, June 5, 2010

Kitchen Remodeling


We live (when we aren't sleeping) in our kitchen, so I imagine if you are going to splurge, it might as well be where you keep your pots & pans.

My first kitchen re-do happened in 1972. I was fresh out of college and had no business getting a house, but my father helped me buy one. He had just hired me as a neophyte and he liked his salesmen in debt. Anyway, the house needed some TLC and my idea of remodeling was a gallon of paint and a couple of scratch & dent appliances. Done! How nice does a kitchen need to be to grill a hamburger and fry a breaded tenderloin?

Then, I got married. I was able to keep the genie in the bottle by buying new homes over the next 36 years which had nice kitchens, but never "the kitchen". Then, I weakened. I let the genie out to help us buy some new counter tops. The levies were breached! It became a total tear out.

After kicking the tires at a couple of kitchen "specialists" (a.k.a. "We know you have a wife and we are going to take ALL of your money") we ended up at Lowes where the corporate saying is "Let's build something together". The only thing I was building was some marital tension. Let's just say I lost the argument two months earlier when I mumbled "counter tops".

So, for the past month we have been living in transition. Julie has been packing her lunch pail heading off to the salt mine while I have been babysitting the contractors while "We are building something together". First, I need to say that everyone involved has been very nice and knowledgeable with their assigned tasks. However, this must be the industry were they employ all of the adults with attention deficit disorder. They show up late, leave frequently, forget necessary items, and generally make a German-heritage obsessive compulsive person like myself-NUTS!

We are now in our 6th week. Our kitchen is functional, but not yet finished. Most of what is left is cosmetic stuff that should be done by the end of the week. But now, the Mrs. is changing the room colors. That is equivalent to BP trying to find a new way to stop "The Leak". I'm betting BP will finish first.