the way things were

I know!  I know!  Try not to become jealous of our ugly old outdated, or in otherwords
RETRO kitchen.  Ok, it's just ugly.   Every house we move into (that is of course a "fixer
upper") we seem to do every room, saving the kitchen for last.

WHY?  I always ask 5 years into living there. (In this case--almost 8
years!!) OH WHY?

Well, I was bound and determined (and bound and determined to convince Kyle
to be bound and determined!!!) to do a kitchen at "some point" ...."on the cheap."

The cheap I tell you!  We had plywood cabinets, old linoleum floors and in reality
NOTHING worth salvaging.  It certainly functioned and I did not NEED a new kitchen.

But I sure WANTED one.

I searched high and low on KSL ads for months and months, sent emails to relatives,
contractors and friends of friends on the off chance someone was tearing out a kitchen
that we could have the cabinets from.

Without going "custom" we needed more than a few to make it work.

As luck would have it, two days before Christmas I was surfing KSL and found
an ad I had missed in previous searches.  A full kitchen INCLUDING some appliances
(they offered ALL, we took some!) for about $750.  We decided to go take a peek.

They were solid wood, they were in GREAT shape, there were lots of pieces for
Kyle to work with and we decided to take the plunge.  The seller knocked off $200
if Kyle would dismantle and haul them away.

Of course, Kyle would.  He probably would've walked to Provo for the $200
discount.

Long story short.  We are INSANE!  We have cabinets and we are "redoing"
the kitchen.  We are trying to stay in XXX price point and see what we come up
with.  It will NOT be the kitchen of "my dreams"--BUT it will be a BIG step
up from plywood cabinets original to the house (1950 people, 1950!) and
green and burgandy tile counters.

We don't know exactly how it will all turn out--but Kyle and I are always up
for a challenge and adventure when it comes to planning and figuring and
making it all work out.

We have spent nights and days and hours and hours talking and planning
and measuring and reworking.   We let the kids paint/color/hammer the walls.

The wall between the old "dining" room and kitchen is now gone and Kyle
has worked hard to get new electrical in today.

I love it that I have a husband who knows how to do EVERYTHING...literally!

From tile to electrical to plumbing to floors, sheetrock, painting, you name it--
he does it.  Our labor costs are free, a BIG plus.

Will update with progress periodically.  We are in it for the long ride--excited
to see if we can make it all work on our shoestring budget.  So far, so good!