Finito

by Trebor Snillor


FINITO!
My kitchen was officially finished as of Wednesday April 22. My new refrigerator with French doors completed the appliance installs. There are some very minor glitches which I’ll let pass – am wanting to end on an up note and have it behind me. Counting from the first bids and negotiations, it’s been a full 3 month process. My designer said, “It’ll feel like extremely rude cousins have moved in with you for 8 weeks”. She was right about that. We had serious bad weather while the kitchen was built and that added to the overall experience.

I’m a private person and I like a clean house, so one can imagine how far this took me from my comfort zone. It was extremely trying. But the contractor was sensitive to that – he had the house professionally cleaned as soon as the major rebuild was done.

WHY A KITCHEN NOW?
I’ve been in the house 24 years – just now doing a kitchen. I honestly didn’t want the predictable upset of a remodel. Here are the lovely features of kitchen past (built in 1945) which compelled me to take the risk:

o Cabinet doors breaking apart, falling off hinges
o Tiny dented refrigerator with tall ugly cabinets overhead
o Holes in cabinet wall, allowing rats an entry
o One drawer – exactly 1 drawer for silverware.
o Cracked, stained sink
o Ceiling sagging from water damage
o Cheap light fixtures, non-grounded outlets

I won't go on – that's enough! A short time prior to the remodel, I was watching the 70's sitcom “Good Times” which depicts Chicago projects on the south side. Esther Rolle had a nicer kitchen than me! My 1945 kitchen didn’t even measure up to the ghetto. It was a call to action. My remodel cost a lot, I’ll admit. But here are some things to note.. It’s technically a transfer of assets, I should get the money back on resale. I’m in a primo East Dallas area – a new home purchase would’ve cost me 10 times what a kitchen remodel cost me. (To stay in this area, which I do like). In retrospect it’s an easy decision to make.

On closing, and maybe to make the reader envious I will list some features of Kitchen 2015:

o 60 /40 Sink
o All new wiring, pvc pipes, insulation, sheetrock, floor joists
o Canned lighting in ceiling
o Custom pot/pan drawers
o Glass front cabinets on north wall
o Italian quartz counter - Torrone Lucido
o New stainless Whirlpool appliances
o Porcelain tile floor
o Solid maple cabinets / dark walnut stain
o Under cabinet illumination

Come visit Chez Robert and check out the kitchen.

© 2015 Snillor Productions