more project updates

I took down another cabinet today and moved some more furniture in the kitchen.  It really opened up the space and made it bright and cheery. 

R and I got to talking last night and decided that we really do need new cabinets and the center island.  Case in point:  I made BLTs for dinner last night.  I had just finished with dishes and couldn't even cut the tomato and lettuce on my counterop because the dishes were drying on the counter.  LAME!  So after the children were in bed we took some measurements and lucky for us the cabinets are nothing custom...just standard sizes and should be easy to remove the old and install the new. 

We did a mock project estimate and I am very pleased.  The prices are from Home Depot online and Menards is generally cheaper but does not have online shopping so we are going to check there as well as a liquidators that Dad frequents before we buy anything.

Against the wall
sink base $103
base cabinet $116
Wall cabinet $94
Wall cabinet $81
counter top $63 (we are not going with anything too fancy here...just standard laminate because when we actually fully redo the floors and doors and take out windows we will replace this counter to go better with the new flooring which is yet to be determined).

center island
base cabinet $116
counter top $34

The cabinets come preassembled.  We will just need to stain them and put on the top.

Project total: $607 plus stain, screws and odds and ends.  I have not yet decided on hardware for them such as knobs or handles but I really like our current doors.  They do not have any knobs or handles on them and it gives the kitchen a minimalistic look which I like.  I may just leave them as is with no hardware or I might found some that I like.   If I do go with hardware it will be something minimal though. 

I am budgeting $750 for the project because we may or may not replace our sink.  There is really nothing wrong with it but I am letting the plumber (aka my dad) decide if we should replace that so I am leaving some room in the budget for a new sink and any little odds and ends things that I may have forgotten.  I am hoping to head to Menards later today so I can price cabinets there.  We won't attempt this project for a month or so yet but the prospect of a redone kitchen makes me smile.



~Jess~