If you give a mouse a cookie . . .

Have you read the children's book that goes like this:  If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask you for a glass of milk.  When you give him the milk, he'll probably ask for a straw.  When he's finished, he'll ask for a napkin.  Then he will want . . . and the mouse goes on wanting more and more until his host is worn out.

I am that demanding little mouse and worn-out host rolled into one.   I had a big dream for a brand new kitchen, but a small budget with which to make it come true, so I decided to try to compromise, and not go brand new everything.  Since cabinets are the biggest expense in most kitchen remodels, I'd risk disaster and paint my dated oak cabinets instead of replacing them.  Then I got to thinking, which is always a dangerous thing, and decided if I had fresh-looking cabinets, then I might as well spruce up the chipped counter tops as well.  But wait, the backsplash was a continuation of the counters, covered in the same laminate sheeting.  This looked like a permanent road block and gave me pause to reconsider, but what the heck I said, my kitchen is ugly anyway, so what did I have to lose?  My range/oven, that's what,, but I'll get to that later.  The renovations did not stop with "the disaster", beause the new look would be incomplete without new hardware.  On and on I go like that crazy mouse.  

This kitchen project has turned into a much bigger job than I planned, zapping my entire summer, but on on the plus side, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm almost done.  I am thrilled with the new look. Mind you, I'm a very inexperienced handy ma'am, but after pouring over websites like this, I found the courage to tackle the work myself.   

So far the project rings in at about $2000.00 in all.  That sounds like a lot, but when I look at the BEFORE and AFTER photos, knowing that kitchen makeovers normally cost in the tens of thousands, I feel it was a small price to pay for such dramatic results.  I made two major flubs in the renovation.  Did I mention the range?  I used high-temerature paint used for woodburning stoves and grills to paint the range top (so it would blend in the the newly painted counters), but it didn't hold up.  Everytime something boiled over the new paint would crinkle away, and because I followed the instructions on the paint can and roughed-up the original surface beforehand, simply scraping the black paint away wasn't an option.  It looked awful, so I had to spring for a new range. 

But if you paint kitchen cabinets, then you're going to want a new range . . . the saga continues. 

Stay tuned for photos.

0 Comments | Post Feedback

Beginning of Renovation

I didn't think to take a picture before I removed the dark oak cabinet doors, which made the kitchen look gloomy and dated. I had already started painting the upper cabinet frames and pulled down the back splash in the picture.

Post Feedback:

You need to be a registered ThriftyFun user post feedback. If you are registered, login using the form at the top of this page. Click here to register.