The kitchen renovation -- I can talk about now that it's (almost) over

I want to eradicate the month of November from my mind. The kitchen renovation took place, my house was upside down for four weeks, I had no running water on the main floor and my family ate take-out food, restaurant deliveries and prepared meals from the supermarket. The microwave and the fridge were in the living room, the dining room became the storage room for all the kitchen crap. When the TV was on, the fridge motor came on and we switched the microwave to reheat anything, we blew the fuse. We must have done so maybe 20 times before we got the message. Same with the coffee machine, the fridge and the microwave. Every time I needed water, I had to get it from the laundry room in the basement.

This was the kitchen after the demo crew finished gutting it out -- this is the outside wall (there was zero insulation, construction standards of 1935 -- who cared about insulation in those days?), where the sink and cabinets used to be (on the right, the passage into the living room):

On the right, this is where the fridge used to be:

And this side opens on the left to the dining room and to the entrance hallway.

And admire the new fashion of placing fridge and non-working dishwasher in your living room:

 
This is after the outside wall was properly insulated and drywalled:

And the new wires for the electricity are being installed:

  

I was at the mercy of the kitchen designer, the demo crew, the contractor, the electrician, the plumber, the cabinet installer (he was the installer from hell, by the way), the appliance delivery people. All these people SAY they will arrive AROUND a certain time, but in fact they were there when they promised maybe twice. The rest of the time, the traffic (hello? did you not know there is traffic on the 401 to get into Toronto? Is that a novel concept?) delayed them, another client demanded their attention, they were called on an emergency or they were simply washing their hair and decided they would not show up that day. People, I was cooped up at home most of the time for 4 1/2 weeks while my patient and ever resourceful husband went to hunt for food that did not require anything other than re-heating.

In the middle of this crap, my sister passed away. In a way, the kitchen renovation was beneficial because my mind was so focused on trying to get stuff done and people moving that I did not have time to think too much about how incredibly depressing and sad it was. She was 43, for goodness sake, she worked like a dog all her life, and she never got the chance to have time to herself. She was not exactly fulfilled in her marriage (far from it) and admitted it more than once, but always maintained she would rather have a mediocre marriage than to be divorced. Anyway -- if there is a lesson to be learnt: don't delay forever what you want to do in life, sometimes the end happens way faster than planned. She was full of regrets at all the things she did not get to do in life, and now it's too late. Anyway, enough said.

Last night, for the first time, we cooked a meal in our brand-new kitchen. It was an epiphany -- it made it (almost) worth the aggravation, delays, screw-ups and general shittiness of the whole experience. I guess it's like giving birth. You swear to yourself you will never go through that again as long as you live, and a couple of years later, you do it again because you have forgotten most of the bad stuff and you only see the end result. 

So this is what made this four-week hell worth it -- this is what the side where the outside wall is looks like now:

Yes, there is a glass cabinet door missing; it was cracked, courtesy of the kitchen designer who screwed in the knob too tightly. And the Viking induction oven on the bottom left? A knob fell off the first time the electrician was checking it out. A. knob. fell. out. On a $6800 oven. Can you believe it? I only have to wait a month or so (if I'm lucky) for the replacement part. This is the other side of the kitchen:

The floor is the same hardwood floor we have in the rest of the house. We had the floor done everywhere on the main floor (except the kitchen, which was tile) two years ago, so we just got more of it from Home Depot to have the kitchen done the same way. I didn't want tile anymore, I find it too hard on my back, especially in summer when I walk barefoot in the house. We put down some Ikea rugs in front of the stove and the sink to protect it. Sub-zero fridge bought at half-price because it was last year's model and my favourite: getting rid of the microwave on the counter and installing a microwave hood over the stove. Love it. 

The observant among you will notice something missing -- yes, there should be a second shelf on the right, underneath the first one. That's because they stacked the two shelves together when the halogen lights were on and abandoned them under a drop sheet while they were painting. The painter started smelling burning and couldn't understand where it was coming from. Eventually, they located the two shelves with one halogen light cracked from the heat and the other one happily burning a hole through the one it was resting on. Another 10 minutes and we had a fire in the house. So now I'm waiting for that replacement too. And for the glass backsplash which was measured 3 times, but because the installer was so bad, nothing was level and another installer finally came to straighten the lower cabinets in time for the counter to be installed. He has to come back today to level the top cabinets and measure (again) for the backsplash. Yeah, that will be another two weeks or so, but who's counting? The main thing is that I have a working kitchen again and it's beautiful.

And my husband has now got a place to store his bottles of wine, between the two upper cabinets. Alcohol is what keeps you going when you are frustrated beyond measure. That and for me, knitting. Been doing some of that, among the chaos. What, you want to see knitting? You'll have to wait until I take pictures and I block stuff. No, I couldn't block stuff -- no running water, remember? And. so. much. dust. EVERYWHERE.

Everybody has nightmare tales about their kitchen renovation. I now have mine too -- woohoo. I think I'll just have another drink and try to forget the pain of it all. In my brand new kitchen.

Comments

[Julie Schilthuis]

The kitchen looks amazing!!! You must be pleased.

[Grace]

It looks like all of your renovations were worth the hassle and yes, you will forget the hell you went through. Hopefully it will be years and years before you decide to do it all over again though.

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. My friend's aunt also had ALS and passed away nearly a year after being diagnosed. ALS is one disease that I fear. With cancer there often is hope. ALS tends to be a death sentence.

Hugs to you!

[Kitchen Renovations Toronto]

Sounds like you had a fun November =) but it turned out beautiful! Hopefully you've gotten your replacement knob? Condolences about your sister. It's definitely important to enjoy your life every day you live it and do the things you want. Congrats on the lovely new kitchen!

[Christina]

I only just found your blog. Will you be updating it in 2010? How is the knitting coming?

[Manon]

I will definitely be updating, as soon as my guilt trip overcomes my procrastination. The first is finally going to win. Plenty of knitting, some travelling, and everyday life. I promise!

[Nolan Anderson]

Luckily, the whole renovation is over now. I understand you feel a little bit fazed about the place being under that. It also surprises me a lot that your place is so old that there's no insulation on the wall. Well, it's a relief that you have them now. The new kitchen also looks spiffy.