Kitchen Remodel Day 1

Decided to document my kitchen remodel experiment. If I don't post for more than 3 days, assume that I've cut off my thumb or the ceiling fell on my head and call 911. This is what our kitchen looks like now. The appliances are all new except for the noisy microwave. The kitchen carts and pantry we bought from Ikea as a short term fix to the lack of storage.

Some of the problems with the kitchen are

1. Ugly Soffits: Not only do they make the kitchen look smaller, the cabinets below them are too low and so we cant putthings like a coffee machine or a blender on the counter top and still be able to lift the top.

2. Cabinets: Designed badly. The cabinet on top of the dishwasher for example is too wide to really be a single door cabinet. You have to stand way back to open it without it hitting you.

3. Old sink

4. Partial remodel: The previous owner or renter very half heartedly decided to try and improve the kitchen and the only visible thing done is the addition of the metal shelves next to the refrigerator.

5. Need Paint: The house originally had a Microwave / Range combination from the 1960s which was as big as the fridge. Once we got rid of it - the wall behind needed paint

6. Flooring: The kitchen has an ugly wood floor which doesn't match the rest of the house. I am not sure if I'll get to this.

Plan of action:

The first thing I want to do is tear down the soffits. I borrowed David's reciprocating saw for the purpose. I plan to start this tomorrow. Once I do, I will have to hang dry wall on the ceiling and the top portion of the wall. To do this, I might have to tuck in some pipes / conduits. Once drywalled and sanded and so on, I should probably paint before putting up the ne

w cabinets. I wanted a yellow color, Beks wanted a green. We still haven't decided what to do. Planning to get cabinets from Ikea for the base portion of the kitchen. I wonder whether I should tile the backsplash before the cabinets - probably not to know exactly how high they will be. We initially wanted to put a butcher block counter top but finally will probably end up getting granite to keep the resale value of the house if we ever decided to sell it. Till Beks left, we were thinking of open shelves on the top to make it look more open. However, now I think that glass doored shelves might do the trick. We can get higher shelves which go all the way up to the ceiling once the soffits are removed. The shelves again might be better for resale value.

Progress:

I started off today by emptying the cabinets. Eager to get started, I also took down the first one. This is what the kitchen looks like now - and also the living room where I've dumped everything from the kitchen: