Post 2: Ready, Set, Renovate

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What to do with this unusable space?

After spending the past two years cooped-up in my house staring at my walls (thanks COVID), combined with a looming five-year mortgage renewal and no desire to move anytime soon thanks to the crazy high housing prices, I decided it was a good time to invest in my house and tackle some items on my wish list to help make my house feel more like me!

I had a twelve inch bulk-out that created a little space in my kitchen that I couldn’t really use. Originally, I thought I would add a small pantry to the fill the space. I engaged a local closet company for an estimate. The conversation evolved into the idea of adding a small counter and making it more of a small wine/coffee bar with a few cabinets for some extra storage. I was ready to move ahead with this design, but when I got to talking about the materials that were available for my budget, I was not happy with my choices and budget started rapidly increasing.

My kitchen before the renovation

I started looking around my kitchen and noticed that my cabinets were peeling, my cabinet boxes weren’t in the best shape, I lacked storage, and disliked the laminate counters and the backsplash I inherited with the house. I investigated refacing the cabinets, but decided that wasn’t a great option for me, so I set my sites on a full renovation.

Champagne taste on a beer budget

With my heart now set on a full kitchen renovation, I had to secure the finances to fund my project. As fate would have it, my mortgage was set to expire in less than a year. I reached out to a mortgage broker to discuss my options and decided to take advantage of my looming mortgage renewal, refinance, and take out some equity. With my funds secured I set a renovation budget. Spoiler alert, it didn’t go as far as I hoped it would! 🙁 As the title says, “champagne taste on a beer budget.” This is a phrase my mom said to me on several occasions, and it is very true.

With a “modest” budget in mind, I engaged a local kitchen design company in Burlington who drafted the initial design for my kitchen renovation. Something didn’t feel right with this designer. When I got the first set of designs, she made some major measurement errors and didn’t really have any great ideas for how to work with my limited footprint changes, so I decided not to proceed. My renovation plans were over before they started.

Rookie Tip: Trust your instincts! Something didn’t feel right, and I couldn’t bring myself to take the next steps to proceed with either of the companies I had originally engaged. I decided to put my renovation plans on hold as I was clearly not ready to make the commitment. I am glad I waited and didn’t have to compromise on my vision! Finding the right people to work with is important as you need to put your trust in them to make your dream a reality. If you have doubts before you begin, it is a huge red flag that you should listen to.

A fateful lunch with a friend

Discouraged by my inability to find someone to give me the kitchen of my dreams, I put my renovation plans on hold. Then one day in August, I was having lunch with a friend that had recently renovated her kitchen and basement. I knew how amazing they both turned out and had only dreamed of having something similar. I figured I didn’t have the budget for the company she used, so hadn’t asked earlier. Not having any viable options, I decided to ask my friend for the name of the kitchen design company she used.

A timeless encounter

I came home from lunch with my friend and immediately contacted Debby at Timeless Kitchen and Renovation. I met with Debby the following week and she had some great ideas to solve some of the issues I was experiencing with my kitchen. My list of pain points included the fact that I couldn’t fully open my fridge to empty out the ice maker and had been dragging my fridge to my adjacent living room to get the ice tray out, the need to declutter my counters, and my desire to add storage or pantry with a counter to the back wall of my kitchen.

Debby also made the recommendation to carry the kitchen floor through the entire lower level, from front door to kitchen patio door. As I didn’t have budget to remove my hardwood, she suggested I look at laying vinyl tile over my existing floors. This was something I hadn’t considered. In my mind the updates stopped at the edge of the kitchen, but I was intrigued with the idea of getting rid of my honey-oak wood floors, which I disliked immensely.

Debby provided me some initial design plans and because I had seen the results of my friend’s kitchen, this was a big help in deciding to proceed with my renovation. I selected Debby at Timeless Kitchen and Renovation to give me the kitchen of my dreams.

Here’s a little tease of the first set of designs.

Rookie Tip: Working in the field of customer advocacy I know what an important role an advocate can play in influencing buying decisions. Hearing the positive experience someone has had with a product or service you are considering helps you feel confident about the decisions you are making. These days you likely wouldn’t buy anything online without first reading the reviews, why would you spend a lot of money on a home renovation without doing the same? I sought out referrals for the companies or products I was vetting throughout my renovation. The proof is in the pudding. Seeing the work first hand was a huge factor for me deciding on the services I hired and the products I purchased…all recommendations from people I knew and trusted.

Sorry, this was such a long post. A lot led up to me finally deciding to renovate my kitchen. The others will be shorter. I promise!

Next post I will cover my love of Pinterest and the importance of creating a mood board.

Thanks for reading,
LA