My Latest Headache: The Kitchen Remodel

I feel like I'm living in purgatory. I'm right between where I never want to return and where I hope to be and it's weird.

Let me explain. Exactly one year ago (take a week or two) we moved into our new house. We had lived in 2 different townhouses (i.e., large apartments) for 2 years with half of our belongings in storage in a state 1,300 miles away. So finally being able to buy a new house, a house with a great layout and tons of potential, was fantastic.

We love our new house and have worked hard over the last year to make it a home. I'm an okay decorator--I've done a decent job I think--but there are still so many things that we still want to do to it. Major things. Major things like totally remodeling the kitchen and designing and entirely new backyard. Like any good decorating issue, the problem has been money--there just isn't enough to do everything I want to do exactly when I want to do it.

I hate that.

So I've had to wait and be patient--neither of which I am very good at. However, there are times when it is good to wait, especially when it comes to a remodel or major decorating job. It forces you to do lots of searching and research for what you want to do.

Which is why I am in purgatory. But heaven is just within my grasp. This summer we are going to start our major kitchen remodel and I couldn't be more excited. What's wrong with my kitchen you ask? Well, nothing really, except there is nothing about it that I would have ever picked out. It doesn't feel like my kitchen and for a room that I spend the majority of my time in, well, I want it to feel like I belong there.

So I've been a good girl, doing all of my research, deciding exactly what I want to do. If money were no object the job would be easy. But when you are trying to stay within a budget and save where you can, well it gets a little trickier. You have to make choices and let me tell you, there are a lot of them out there. Add in the fact that you would like to try to use as many eco-friendly products as possible and you've got quite a project on your hands.

Somehow I've let the vast possibilities get the best of me. There are so many different things that I could do or would like to do that I am having trouble deciding. The good thing is that I am blessed with a husband that wants to make me happy (within reason) and pretty much leaves all of the decision making when it comes to the house up to me. (That won't be the case when we start the backyard remodel next.)

Now it's time to start pulling the trigger and making some decisions on what I want so we can get an idea of what we'll be spending. I am further blessed that I have an extremely handy husband that will be doing most of the remodeling himself, saving us a ton of money on labor costs. So where do I want to spend my money? I want this to be the kitchen that I love for the next 15 years (FYI--in 15 years the kids will be gone and we'll be moving to the beach, thank you) so I want to make good choices that I will still love later on down the road.

So basically I'm trying not to let my head explode with ideas and possibilities. If I could just hand him the picture and say, "Do this" then everything would be fine.


photo courtesy of discourseanddesign.blogspot.com


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