Reality TV??

Our house could be on one of those reality tv shows. Home repairs up the whazoo! We (I should say Gary) is getting pretty darn close to finishing the basaement. He made a decision not to hire out the work and made it a "do it yourself" project. He's awesome...works tirelessly day in and day out...and it looks really great.

Yesterday "we" tiled a section of the basement floor. I had to mention it was a we project...as I did help! I got to get water for the thinset...and clean the tools when he was done...assist with handing tiles...you know - the important stuff. I took him out for a dairy queen to celebrate us doing a great job together. We do work well together.

So...you would think that was enough construction work around here. Wrong! I've wanted to redo our kitchen since we bought the house. Our kitchen is really, really big...but the layout is horrible. The following two pictures outline a very small cooking area...see the small amount of counter space!

Here is where the room explodes! Note the large eating area. I'm sorry about the poor lighting but photography is not my best subject. I love this big old table, every family should have one as you cannot destroy it. Just sand it down and you are good to go! It easily seats 6 with room to spare. We can do 8 using smaller chairs.

To the left of the table is the built in (floor to ceiling) wall unit which is REALLY deep. We have to put the couch in front of it because ... it is basically a junk collector and have no way to hide the disaster!Hmm... this picture actually looks nice. Don't be swayed... the room needs work!

We had a professional kitchen designer come over and draw up plans. I'm scared because although it sounds grand...he won't talk money "yet". Ha ha ha...fool that he is. We do not bend easily and have decided not to spend more than $20k in the kitchen. $20k sounds like a lot...but we all know that it isn't much when it comes to remodeling.

My husband decided to "think outside of the box". I almost had a heart attack when he grabbed a red marker and started drawing "his" design on the floor. OK... it was a dry erase marker but I didn't know that at first! We came up with a plan... a new design!

Step one - call our friend Kevin! Kevin is an engineer by profession and a finish carpenter by love. He has flipped houses and rebuilt his house on his own. It is gorgeous! We won't discuss that with his wife who just doesn't share his vision. Anyhow, Kevin has CAD software and is coming over on Tuesday to give us specs to redo the kitchen. We have friends who do remodeling work and are willing to be hired out (they do really good work). My neighbor works for a company that gives them 40% (yeah that's forty) off all appliances and she can order 12 per year. Yes, we are probably going this route.

I would love to be able to hire the designer and use his grand ideas...but we don't plan to stay in this house for more than 5 years and will NEVER get the return on our investment in this economy.

So a upgrade on appliances - check! Redo the layout (minimalistic) - check! New cabinets/counters and floor - check! New appliances - check! Hawaii... it might have to wait.