Thompson Family: Kitchen Remodel

We knew the first big thing we wanted to remodel was the kitchen when we bought our house almost two years ago. I took a year and half of getting ideas from Pinterest and Houzz to plan our dream kitchen. I knew it would be a big project, and I wanted to make sure when it was over there was nothing I wished I would have done differently. The initial idea generation was a lot of fun, but the anticipation when my designer/good friend, Susan Johnson, and I started to make the final plans was even more fun.

The beginning of this January was when things really set in motion. I choose the countertops, cabinets, floors, backsplash, appliances, paint color and signed contracts for all the different contractors I would be using. All of this was very exciting, but I kept hearing from friends who had remodeled their kitchens, and from Susan, how stressful it would be. I also heard that no matter how carefully you planned there would be bumps in the road. I took this to heart and really tried to get into a “Zen” mindset once it started…

For those of you who know me well, know that I am a NEAT FREAK!!! So I was quite proud of myself when I had to move all of the stuff that was in my cabinets into my dining room and my family room and I didn’t let the mess get to me knowing it was a means to an end. The first week went really smoothly, the demo/tile guys were great. I thought, “wow, what was everyone talking about?” Other than having a microwave for my only appliance and our favorite pizza delivery on speed dial, it really wasn’t so bad.

Then came week two, the day the cabinets were going to be installed. I had met with my cabinet maker multiple times in the previous month and had explained exactly what I wanted. He had sent me CAD diagrams that reflected both the design and the measurements of what I had told him. Long story short, almost none of the measurements of what they started to install were correct. I caught all of this within the first 30 minutes of the three hours it was supposed to take, I was very nice when I called the cabinet maker to discuss all of the issues. Our “relationship” ended the next morning after I had to ask him to leave when he started to yell at me in front of Amelia and Max. Thankfully, the owner of the company was more than accommodating and most everything was fixed.

From this point on, I was a little more skeptical of the men that would be coming and going out of my house in the weeks to come. The yelling incident made me especially nervous given that Mike travels during the week and I felt vulnerable knowing that a 6’4” 300lb bearded man was very angry with me and knew that Mike wasn’t home during the week.

Other than all the painting taking twice as long as I thought and them causing a small kitchen fire (can’t even talk about that…) things were looking good. I was so happy when the last worker packed up and I had my house back to myself, not to mention having a beautiful working kitchen and not having to use my bathroom faucet as a kitchen sink.

I did not realize that most people hire a general contractor for a remodel this large, and that I would be assuming this role. I’m not sure that I would have changed things because I learned so much and now know how to fix/install a lot more than I knew before this project started. However, I’m also not sure I would ever do it again, unless it wasn’t my money and I was being paid J!

And finally the before and after picture, my favorite part.