While I was visiting my family in Ohio, I got a text from my husband: Water leak in the wall behind the kitchen sink. Water is off and floor is soaked. I came home to find the water restored, but the kitchen floor was torn up and my husband was working with disaster recovery and insurance to sort things out.
At the moment, we have no usable kitchen and are subjected to the deafening roar of the drying fans.
We aren’t sure what all exactly we are going to do to get things back in order… New flooring through much of the house, because it was all the same as the kitchen and that was ruined. New counters too, at a minimum.
And then comes the questions… Well, if we are doing that, then we could change the sink and definitely a new faucet. And we’ve been looking at upgrading to a gas range, so this would be a good time. Oh, and if we are doing all of that don’t we seriously want to consider the cabinets? Are these the cabinets we want to live with for the next 20 years? It’s an unexpected opportunity to make some changes we would like to a house we plan to stay in a good long while.
Argh. I wasn’t looking to do a kitchen remodel this summer. I haven’t even been thinking of a kitchen remodel in the next few years. I haven’t been dreaming of a new kitchen, poring over magazines and websites. I don’t even like to cook. I don’t know exactly what I want.
But first, and foremost, I just want the NOISE of these fans gone. Then, maybe, I can think about what to do next.
I love the way you frame a household disaster as an unexpected opportunity! If you were happy (or at least satisfied) with your kitchen, don’t use it much, don’t know what you want, and hadn’t even been thinking of redoing it for several years, maybe you should just do what it takes to put it back together nicely and let life get back to normal…and let “quiet” reign again. But I’m sure you and your family will make the right decisions for yourselves. Good luck!
Oh, Kat, sorry to hear about the water, but you’ve managed to put a positive spin on it! We redid our kitchen three summers ago, and it was worth all the time, effort, and money. But, I have to admit, I do love to cook. Good luck sorting it all out.
Now I on the other hand have been dreaming of a kitchen re-do for the last 10 years. But I don’t want to have the problem you had to be forced into doing it. Right now I would just love new counter tops and backsplash. Maybe when we are done paying for college 🙂