I'm excited! The weather is finally getting warm. My little house is getting spruced up. The siding has been repaired. The phone has been fixed. The Leland Cypress trees (damaged from the snow) have been trimmed. And, I've finally resolved the kitchen cabinet challenge. But, not without some trials and tribulations. I considered painting them, but want the cabinets to extend to the ceiling. So, I bought a table saw and built a topper cabinet. Actually, it looks pretty good and now I've reduced my fears of table saws (albeit, not entirely.) When the time came to build a cabinet door, things got more hairy. I couldn't find a router bit to match the old cabinet doors, and the mismatch would drive me insane. Next step....look into cabinet refacing. I can build the cabinets up, replace the doors and reface the exposed surfaces.

As I was searching online for door options and refacing companies (just to see what it costs), Long Fence and Home called me. Typically, I don't answer my home phone unless I recognize the number, but the sales calls are driving me crazy! So, I decided to start answering the calls and get off their phone list. (An unlisted phone number and the "Do not call list" is a complete joke.)

So, since there was something serendipitous about it, I agreed to let them give me an estimate. Here's what I asked for:

The cabinets are Imported Polynesian Hardwood. The solid doors are about 1/2" thick. When I opened a sample door, I was sold. In my entire life, I have never felt a cabinet door so heavy and solid. The quality was amazing.

I didn't like the really long handles in the picture, so I chose some smaller versions. I don't have enough cabinets to go with the 2-tone, so they are all dark wood. The kitchen in the picture is too dark for me, so I chose a quartz counter top that is lighter in color but with red flecks to match the cabinets. They gave me a nice price (I think), so I signed the contract. It's a lot more money than I wanted to spend, but I'm tired of struggling with this kitchen. I have 3 days to cancel the contract, so I'm headed to Home Depot to check prices, installation fees and the quality of the cabinets. If I stick with the contract, installation starts in about 2 months! The agony of the wait.

The remodel doesn't include the back-splash (I want glass tiles, which I'll do myself) or the floor (I haven't decided what I want...tile or wood, which I may do myself). I'll take pics and post as the installation progresses.

It feels good to finally make some progress!!