{ Our New Kitchen }

Upon returning from Utah my pregnant nose made a most unpleasant discovery. I could smell something in our kitchen that didn’t smell quite right. We have thoroughly cleaned before we left, but I still spent days sniffing around trying to find the culprit. I finally confined the area to right next to the dishwasher. I tried looking under the dishwasher and couldn’t see any leaking water and then tried pulling out the dishwasher. Not an easy task for a very pregnant woman. After using some not so nice language towards our dishwasher which I couldn’t manage to get out, I broke down and called a water damage service to come take a look. They had this cool device that they laid on the ground and it could detect how much moisture was on the concrete beneath. Sure enough right around the dishwasher-100%. He tried looking under the dishwasher and could see the leak right away.

The next day some guys came and took out our dishwasher, ripped up the vinyl flooring, and cut out part of our cabinet that was damaged. We spent the night and next day with a huge very loud fan and dehumidifier in our kitchen to dry everything out. We felt lucky that the damage was contained to a rather small area, but the reality was that a lot of our kitchen would need to be redone. Lucky for homeowners insurance we were able to fix it up and even upgrade a few things without too much out of pocket considering the whole expense.

It was very interesting to see how the whole insurance process works and what they would and wouldn’t pay for. We ended up having to replace the cabinet next to the dishwasher, and to get the cabinet out they would have to rip up the countertops-so new countertops, new flooring throughout the whole kitchen, eating area, pantry, and all the way into the laundry room, and a new backsplash. We also ended getting a new dishwasher, but on our tab this time. It was seven years old and would have cost $200 to fix or $300 for a new one, so we opted for a new one.

Now here comes our dilemma. Our house is still up for sale and we still want to move, so what do you pick to put in your house? When everything is already ripped up, it’s tempting to just get what we would want-granite countertops, tile flooring, a nice tile backsplash, but by doing so we would also dump a lot more money into it than we would ever get back in this market. Unfortunately, insurance only covers the quality that was there before, so any extras would come directly out of our pocket. In the end we decided to still get formica countertops, we tried to pick something that looked more like stone, vinyl flooring, and then we upgraded and paid the extra for a new tile backsplash.

The next month was spent without a dishwasher-oh how spoiled we are these days to have one, eating off of lots of paper plates, and waiting for the next subcontractor to show up. I can say now though that I know how they install laminate countertops and how they rip them off, how they install a tile backsplash, how they rip up and install flooring, and how much I love to have everyone else doing it while I watch. I have to give those guys credit, some of those things are backbreaking work, and take real talent to pull off. Though, I am not a huge fan of laminate countertops, I just loved my counter guy. He had been doing it for 30+ years and was super professional. There was not one thing he left undone, and he totally cleaned up after himself too! He was definitely a top notch guy.

So, here are all the before and after shots of our kitchen:

Our kitchen countertops before. Not horrible, but a little dated and the laminate backsplash with the metal trim always bothered me.

Our countertops and backsplash ripped off and our cabinet taken out. At first the insurance company wanted to just replace the one side of the cabinet, but I insisted that they replace the whole cabinet. I am glad I stuck to my guns because when they pulled out the whole cabinet later, there was damage almost all the way to the other wall that we couldn’t see before.

Our new countertops

The new backsplash which I loved the moment they put it up. So much better than before!The backsplash on the other side of the kitchen, awaiting to be grouted and sealed still.

When all is said and done, we were very pleased with how it turned out, and we learned so much, and do love it much more than what was there before. All the workers joked as I would ohh and ahh over what they had just installed that now that I had a new kitchen I might not want to move. It does look nice, but then I walked into my front room and tripped over piles of toys and decided, yes I would still like to move.

Things we learned through all of this:

• How much we love having a dishwasher and what a treat it is to not eat on paper plates.
• How fun it can be to pick out new stuff to put in your house.
• How hard it can to pick out new stuff for your house.
• We learned how we work together (Aaron and I) when picking out stuff. Aaron is pretty easy going and says he doesn’t really care, until he sees it and then maybe starts to care more. He works well when I narrow down the choices to a few things for him to see. Still he(okay we both) have a hard time seeing the vision until its done. I joke that when we build our new house, I will just invite to see it when we actually move in to it, then he won’t know what he’s missing by seeing all the choices he could of had. Not really, I really do love his opinion and it’s so much fun going to look at stuff together.
• That I never want to remodel a house and live there at the same time. So hard with young kids! I have a new respect for anyone who does this.
• Cleaning macaroni, spilled cereal, and basically anything gooey that was dropped from Scott’s highchair, off of a cement floor is really difficult. Okay, let’s be honest, it’s downright impossible.
• Having a darker floor covering does make all the difference. My light colored floors drove me crazy! They showed every little speck of dirt on them. I guess now the dirt is still there, but now I can just plead ignorant?
• Last but most important, we learned that Heavenly Father loves the family very dearly that will buy our house and wants them to get to enjoy a new kitchen. It was this knowledge that helped me trudge along for a month without a dishwasher and see the light at the end of the tunnel. At times we are so excited to get into a house with  more room for our growing family and for it to have all the things we want that we forget that Heavenly Father loves the family that will live here just as much and wants the best for them. Sometimes that means sacrifice for us. A sacrifice that has been such a blessing to give. I am very grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that never ceases to teach me things, even through a kitchen redo.

The finished kitchen