After is Worse Than Before...Much Worse

Well, my beautiful kitchen...the only spot in the house that was pretty much done.. the one me and hubs redid from the ground up 2 years ago when we moved in here (see posts here and here) now looks like this:

Leak...slab leak...broken pipe....jackhammers...plumbers....ruined floor.... Everything had to be removed and now I am sort of shell shocked trying to decide which contractors will complete the work. What I will change and what I will keep. Now that we have to do it all over, there are some things I will change:

1. A lot of "I told you so's" on this one... Change the Laminate (that I adored and looked exactly like wood) to Tile. The laminate was proine to swelling and shrinking when wet. And yeah, it happened by the sink--not pretty. I really hate tile, hate the grout, but I am going with a cream colored Spanish stone-look porcelain with a 1/8 grout line that is on the darker side.

2. Leave certain things to the pros. Our butcher block counters were gorgeous and functional, and they are going back in. But this time I will have a real carpenter who knows what he's doing join the wood. First time around there was a junction that just wasn't right. I could have lived with it, but now that its being all redone we will do it right.

3. Don't over-improve. We live in a modest 1969 suburban split level home in a solidly blue collar middle class area. Travertine, granite, sub-zero, Viking and custom this and that just don't belong in here. The simpler the better and keeping true to the house is my mantra. That doesn't mean slummin' it, just not going overboard.

4. Keep calm and carry on. I've had no kitchen for 3 weeks with 3 kids and a hungry hubby. Yea its been challenging, but I went right out and purchased bulk paper plates, plastic cutlery and plastic cups. We still have the microwave and I discovered these great veggies that steam in the bag. (I think they are saving our lives right now, with all the pot-pies and General Tso's orange chicken we're consuming)



I'm trying not to lose it knowing we will likely not have this all done until after the holidays, even though I was planning and hosting our family Christmas Eve this year. Oh well, next year.

Well those are my survival tips when your home is being remodeled. Maybe this will now give me the courage to jump into our bathroom remodel.

Make it a Great Day!
Ann