Sunday, October 28, 2007

The accidental kitchen renovation

We weren't planning on renovating the kitchen just yet. It just kind of happened. And it all started with the dishwasher.

I went away one weekend with the baby and came back to a new stainless steel dishwasher and a man with a plan. And much to my surprise, the plan included buying two more brand new appliances. The new dishwasher didn't match with the nearly two-year-old stainless steel stove and our old white fridge, so those needed to be replaced. Then, it turned out the new stainless steel fridge wouldn't fit in the allotted space.

No problem, Jim says. We'll just knock out the walls, reroute the plumbing and dryer vent, rebuild a wall and install shelves in the newly opened space. Cool! I'm so glad I have a husband who can do these things. Incidentally, this is the same man who replaced Masonite siding with hardyboard on about 75 percent of the exterior. It took him three years to finish it and paint the entire house. Hopefully, the kitchen renovation won't take that long! He probably saved us $30,000 in the process. Now that he's torn down walls without bringing down the entire house, I have a few more ideas for the kitchen.

When he was done rerouting the plumbing, though, he gave plumbers their props. He acknowledged that they earn every cent of their pay. The plumbing didn't go as smoothly as he'd hoped. Two of the joints had leaks and he wound up having to start over on one of the joints. So now, he's moving on to rebuilding the wall about three or so inches to the right of the old wall.

All the appliances arrived Saturday. The refrigerator is quite luxe, if I may say so. It has ice and water in the door, a water purifying system, pull-out bins in the freezer. Jim calls it a very expensive Brita pitcher. And, no kidding, there is an ice cream shelf where a half gallon of Breyers fits perfectly. The oven is a double convection oven and the stove is smoothtop with four burners that expand into eight.

Here are some photos of the new appliances and some of Jimmy's handywork.

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