The Long Saga of the Kitchen Remodel

When I moved into my house in 2008, I fell in love with the kitchen. Sure, it's small, and the decor screamed 1990, but it had affixed counters and cabinets, a double sink with a window over it, and a ceiling fan, which my previous house did not. It was the only modern room in a 102-year-old house, and it worked for its purpose. It was a joy to cook in.

But as the years went by, I regretted how very dark it was. Then I found out how cheaply-made those counters and cabinets were, as the particleboard counter disintegrated, the drawers failed, and the cabinet shelves sagged. When we replaced the dishwasher, it couldn't be braced because what was left of the counter underneath was so soft. Meanwhile, the edges of the flooring started to roll up because the trim was falling apart. We gave up on the recessed fluorescent lighting because the tubes were impossible to replace. Whoever installed them left too little room to remove the covers without breaking them. The ceiling fan/light was okay, but a centered light alone just throws shadows over your counter work. A note on the "before" pictures. Keep in mind that when a remodel is scheduled but you have to wait for the contractors to rip it out, you tend to cease any real cleaning.

Be warned that this story is kinda long, but you can skip to the pictures easily. I actually edited out a lot of it to moderate my displays of rage and misery. Writing the long version was cathartic, but it doesn't all need to be aired.

I hated how the microwave was so big and low that I couldn't see the oven controls without a flashlight, and I had to pull the stove out to use the canner. Also, I ended up with a white refrigerator, a black stove, black microwave, and a stainless steel dishwasher. It's a long story, as a different person picked out each appliance. The unbraced dishwasher eventually stopped working.

After years of thinking about it, I plunged into a kitchen remodel in June of 2024. I don't care for most modern kitchen aesthetics and didn't want to latch onto this year's trend. Besides, the rest of this old house is furnished with an eclectic collection of antiques downstairs. I couldn't do a turn-of-the-20th-century kitchen because it's too small and I loved having counters. But I could take it back far enough that it looks more retro than trendy.

One thing I have always wanted was a checkerboard floor. I love the look, and when I searched for images, mint green kitchens showed up frequently. The more I looked, the more I liked. For years, I have been collecting antique enameled kitchenware in primary colors, mostly white, and saw how a mint kitchen would work perfectly with stuff I was already using. I couldn't buy cabinets in that color, but hey, I can always get someone to paint the cabinets, right?

The main purpose in choosing a color was to lighten the place up. The cabinets I had were overwhelmingly dark, no doubt chosen to match the dark wood door frames and ceiling beams. Something in me hates the idea of painting over finished wood, but I had plenty of wood trim in the rest of the house. The door frames also had damage from cat scratches, and painting them white would make it easier to cover those sins in the future. My wallpaper was kinda pretty, in the forest green and plum colors of 1990 or so. I was tired of it. The wallpaper underneath was midcentury orange. Nostalgic, but traumatizing. But when we started tearing out the wallpaper we found a third, older layer that was red and blue. And it covered the entire kitchen ceiling to floor. That pattern with those colors would have driven me crazy. In my mind, I labeled them 30s, 60s, and 90s, but I don't know for sure.

Gus and Abner chucked the old cabinets over the side of the deck. It's only about eight feet high, but those cheap cabinets pretty much exploded on impact. The particle board fully disintegrated after one short rainfall. Meanwhile, they primed the walls and replaced the fluorescent lights with LEDS, and I got a taste of how light can make a such a big difference.

A full kitchen remodel is very expensive. You pay an arm and a leg to the construction guys, and the other arm and leg for the cabinets and counters. Then you realize that doesn't include lights, outlets and switches, a sink, faucets, pipes, knobs and handles, flooring, backsplash tile, or any appliances you replace. Add in the services of an electrician and a plumber. Finding the right flooring was frustrating, because everything that looked good was either unavailable in my area, too expensive to ship, or had terrible reviews. I eventually decided that reviews are crap, because people who are happy with their purchase don't usually leave reviews.

The kitchen had several layers of flooring stacked up. The original wood floor, then asbestos tile, then OSB, then vinyl, and Gus put down leveling board and vinyl tile on top. This meant he had to shave the bottom of the pocket door to clear it. But it looks good.

Then Gus and Abner wanted to be paid, then disappeared. There was a miscommunication about what they were willing to do, and it didn't include more than two weeks work. Always write down what the job will include. I was devastated, because who would move my appliances back in? Where does all this trim go, and how do I attach it? And who is going to paint these cabinets now that I've spent all my money?

I waited another three weeks for the cabinets, plus another two weeks to get an install date. The six-week wait turned into a ten-week wait. See, every step depends on another step. The countertop crew had to wait for the cabinets. The plumber had to wait for the counter. The dishwasher installers had to wait for everyone else. And you can't stack the appointments; each completed step must be inspected and measured before the dispatcher for the next step will look at the calendar and find an opening two or three weeks away. I was getting pretty tired of microwaved food and washing dishes in the bathroom. When the cabinets were finally installed, there was one damaged drawer and another that was the wrong size. However, in the ten weeks since the initial order, that color had been discontinued. So now with mismatched drawers and that one old primered shelf, I was committed to painting no matter what.

When I began this project, I joked that I would be happy as long as it's finished by Thanksgiving. Gus laughed and said it certainly wouldn't be that long, especially since I had already ordered everything. That was in June. By October, I was hoping it might be done by Christmas.

Then the counters went in right before I left town for family stuff. As soon as I got back, I lucked out and the plumber had a cancellation the very day I called him, and he spent all day getting my new, non-standard size cast iron sink installed. He also hooked up my stove and put my refrigerator in place. Suddenly, I was cooking again! But it took a while to find my pots and pans. Still a lot of work ahead. The dishwasher wouldn't be installed until November, but I was used to doing without a dishwasher. I was very happy to no longer wash dishes in the tiny bathroom.

The dishwasher installation day finally came, and the installer found that the dishwasher reserved for me had been sold to someone else. He managed to run down another unit, but couldn't install it until the plumber made some more alterations. I love my plumber; he came the next day. So I called the installation company, and they said they'd call me back when they could schedule the installation (in two weeks, I'm sure). But I had the private number of the install guy, because he had called me about the "stolen" dishwasher. So he came back the same day to finish the installation! Always work around the bureaucracy when you can.

I toyed with the idea of just not painting the new cabinets, but by golly, that was the whole idea in getting this project going in the first place. Besides that, I had one unique and very dark solid wood unit I kept, and it was already primed (the slightly mismatched drawer wasn't really a problem). So I spent days reading and watching tutorials about how to paint kitchen cabinets and bought an orbital sander. After a week of prep work on the doors, mainly due to me being terrified of screwing up, my favorite house painter became available and painted all the cabinets in two days!

What about the microwave? I haven't yet found anyone to re-install the big one. My daughter gave me a small countertop microwave she didn't use, that's all I really need. Maybe someday I'll buy a smaller microwave to go over the stove, because installation comes with a new purchase. I rounded up my food, dishes, and cookware and found a place for everything and more, since I got rid of so many things I never used. I hung new curtains, a new clock, and a paper towel holder. It's done!  

 

To recap: it was in June when I hired Gus and Abner, but they were booked for a couple of weeks before they could start. I ordered the cabinets, counter, dishwasher, and sink on June 29th. I did the last bit of painting on November 20th. Five months. But we got it done before Thanksgiving!  

I'm no photographer, but some pictures distorted the color and made the bottom cabinets look a little different. The time of day and the number of ceiling lights made no difference. It could be my camera, because they look fine to the eye.  

Let's see one with both before and after.

When I talked about mint green, several men in the business cringed and said I'd change my mind. Most women really like it. One family member was tactfully honest. When I asked if she liked it, she said, "What's important is that YOU like it." And I do. I love my new kitchen.