I started a project a few weeks ago that seems to be taking on a life of its own.

You know the type!

It’s the one that dominos into another…..

and another….

and another….

…..until you have either lost your mind OR you wonder why it took so long to start the project to begin with!

I am definitely in the middle…….leaning towards losing my mind!

Hoping to come out the other wondering why I didn’t bite the bullet sooner! 😉

I have dreamed about gutting and expanding our kitchen since the day we moved in over 14 years ago.  I even started a savings account that I dubbed the ‘kitchen fund’.

Unfortunately, the account is not growing very much.  Boo!!

The water heater and furnace have gotten in the way; along with car repairs, hockey fees, property taxes, and a few much needed family vacations.

You get the drift, as you have been in the same boat I am sure.  Yours may not be labeled ‘kitchen fund’, but it is for a specific goal that you dream about. 

At the rate we are going,  I will never have enough for a full expansion and gut job. 

I have resigned myself to this fact, and I am totally okay with it.

Doesn’t mean I have to live with it!

I can still make some modest changes that will hopefully reward us when we go to sell the house in 10+ years.

But in the meantime, we will get to enjoy it. 

At least when it is done!

The current project started with this big ole’ cabinet I found at the Restore months ago.

This cabinet is designed to go over the refrigerator, extends to the ceiling and is deep enough to cover most of the fridge.

Our current cabinet is the same width, but only 12” deep and maybe 15” high, and does nothing for the space, or the eye.  It just sits there.

I originally wanted to flip the refrigerator with the cabinets on the left so that we would not only gain more useable counter space, but then I could frame in the fridge to make it more custom.  Two things got in the way of that goal:  The kitchen island is to big now and there isn’t enough clearance to get the fridge in and out if it is moved over; and I was told that the water line would have to be snaked through the bottom cabinet.  That freaks me out, as I have a fetish against water and possible mold pestering under cabinets, unknowing until it is too late.

So the fridge is staying put.

I am also not getting the built-in look……for now!

This is a trial run to see if PT will like it.  I have spent months trying to convince him that the big cabinet will look good.  He doesn’t always share my vision, but most of the time he likes it after a project is completed.  This one was a hard sell…..which is why this cabinet has been sitting in our garage for many months.

My neighbor helped me swap it out when PT was at a Reds game.  Not only did we have to remove the bottom cabinet, but we had to loosen up the top one.  All in all, it was a beast to hold up while he drilled it into place.

He told me that it was level.

I believed him.

Then again, I believed him when he told me that he measured the boys bathroom toilet when he installed it, and now we can’t fully open the door as it hits ‘said’ toilet.  😉

I reminded him of that as he came back the next night to help me fix the cabinet.  I also told him that he does this stuff on purpose just to see how I will react.  He actually smirked!!!  Told you he does it on purpose! 

This time I wasn’t letting him off the hook.

It is level and we are in business!!

BTW….I was able to get that cabinet for $17.50.  It was originally $35, but since it had been sitting at the Restore for over 20 days it automatically went to 50% off.   Yeah!

Next up for the kitchen?  Convincing PT that the cabinet looks great, and either build small cabinets on top of the remaining ones (extending them to the ceiling), OR just building up the molding so they look a little more pronounced.

Have you tackled a DIY kitchen renovation?  Tips and advice for me?

                                                     Shaunna