domestic and economic planning

So the economy is sinking faster than…than…a thing that sinks really fast!  A boat with a lot of holes!  or something.  Anyway, so yeah.  The bailout failed…for now.  As someone who has very little vested interested in the stock market, I’m finding it very difficult to care.  I find it hard to believe that it’s OMG THE END OF THE WORLD!  ARMAGGEDON!  4 HORSEMEN!  BABIES EATING OTHER BABIES!!!  Somehow this is going to correct itself – I’m hoping for a smaller bailout that includes something in it for US.  I’m not in forclosure or anything (KNOCK ON THE BIGGEST PIECE OF WOOD AVAILABLE), but if my hard earned tax dollars are going to fix the mistakes of some dumbass in an overpriced suit, I want something OUT of it.  Use of their washroom.  A former excutive to do some work around the house.  Something like that.

As it doesn’t look like things are going to improve any time soon, our dreams of buying a house have dimmed somewhat.  That puts a lot of stuff on hold that’s kind of depressing for me.  Stupid economy!  To console ourselves during this difficult time, we’re talking about embarking on a project that never fails to be simple, successful, and guaranteed to bring us closer together as a couple.

Yes…we want to do a kitchen remodel.

What?  Why are you laughing?

Our kitchen is tiny.  TEENY tiny.  And ugly.  Sooo very ugly and inefficient.

old pic – new fridge and oven since then, but you can see the layout and the problems

Hardly any usable counter space, and you can’t have more than one appliance open at the same time.  It would be nice if both Kev and I could be in the kitchen at the same time.

A couple years ago, we expanded into the living room because we were in desperate need of more storage space.

Hasn’t been this clean and organized since

That got us to thinking that maybe?  We just needed to go all the way.  We move a doorway and push back part of a wall, and we can convert the whole kitchen/dining room into one big eat-in kitchen that makes MUCH better use of the space available.

We were inspired by one of our neighbors, who’s spent the past two years gutting and remodeling his entire condo.  His kitchen is amazing…though, um…the decor is a little weird.

the tile work is gorgeous…the olive drab distressed cabinets and moose antler light fixture?  not so much.  and this guy is SUPER GAY!  what was he thinking???

We’re not going to do EXACTLY what he did – just the bare bones.  And we’re going to do as much using Ikea as possible.  And before I get innundated with comments like “OMG NOO!  IKEA CABINETS FALL APART AFTER A FEW YEARS!” let me just say that these cabines only have to LAST for a few years!  Just until the economy improves just enough to sell this place at a profit!  Once the paperwork is signed, they can collapse into dust for all I care!

Ikea has a kitchen planner software that you can download for free and plan your kitchen.  It’s fun!  Almost like tetris!  Fit everything together neatly in a way that makes sense.  Then click on the “add up the total” button to see what the package is going to cost.  Once you come to, go back and replace your faucet with something less fancy and pick uglier cabinet hardware.  MUCH better.

See?  Fun!

Since we’re not planning on buying new appliances – all ours are only 5 years old – we’re figuring we can get this done for under $3000 if we do most of the work ourselves.  FINGERS CROSSED.

Hopefully, we can start in the spring – this is assuming that my job contract gets extended OR I get hired for a permanent position, something that I recently got a vague hint COULD happen.  Woohoo!

At the very least, it will make interesting blog fodder, so you my readers will SURELY be entertained.

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