November Update

So I haven't posted for a while. The kitchen floor is in, matched great with the original hardwood. The cabinets have started to go in. The butcher block is temporary, probably can't get the granite countertop until May. 

The creme color cabinets are mostly from the kraftmaid outlet. I had to buy a corner cabinet (lazy Susan) from Lowes & Ben, my Amish cabinet builder made me a couple fillers. The violet cabinets are part built by Ben & some from outlets that Ben converted to complete this section. The frig will get violet panels for that built in look. My carpenter here, Josh, has done a fantastic job of putting all the pieces of this puzzle together. I love the crown. So patience is paying off. The bad news is that Ben just told me the custom pieces he's building me for the oven &range top won't be ready until the 2nd week of December, so it looks like no kitchen for me for Thanksgiving :( 

Oh well - everyone tells me - it will all be worth it. I made my 4th trip to the outlets yesterday, didn't get a lot, some trim and a spacer. The mouldings were $5, I couldn't believe it! Until next time...

Saturday November 9th, 2013

Today I'm so grateful for music & more specifically - Amos Lee. For the past 9 years I have followed his career quite literally by having seen him 9 times in 5 different states. His lyrics & voice speak to my soul. So thank you Mr. Lee; if you haven't heard him yet, give him a listen.

Not enough hours in the day.

So thanks to cousins Josh & Justin all the bulkhead is gone around the old half of the kitchen. I've got all the wall tile down, the floor tile is not coming out as easily.

It's pretty gutted at this point. Getting a variety of estimates. Currently look for hardwood floor installer, floor sander and re-finisher and buying/installing granite. I've got a few names for the floor work, but if you have any other suggestions, let me know.

I'm really searching for good prices on granite in western Pennsylvania. If anyone out there has recently had granite counter tops installed, I would appreciate any recommendation you can have. This is probably one of my hardest challenges in my budget. Please comment below or send me a message w/contacts. I'll post/share who I end up going with, happy to share in the deals I find.

Thanks!

Two Days, Eleven Hours and More than 700 miles...

The past two days have been a little hiatus from the Kitchen to take my youngest on a couple of college tours. But, even on the road the project is always on my mind. The night before we left I was browsing the internet for red oak solid hardwood flooring. I have a mixture of red, white & a little cocoa oak floors throughout the house, I've decided to have someone try and match it to finish out the kitchen. You'll remember I'm combining my prior dining room & kitchen into one larger kitchen. Back to the floor story. So I was looking all over the internet for best prices & there was this store called Menards that had a great price. I discounted it because I never heard of the store & it was't around the Pittsburgh area. On our great adventure we were traveling from Dayton to Toledo and I couldn't believe it when I saw this store right off of the highway. So, you know I pulled over and yes I bought the flooring, which made for an interesting ride home. The story gets better for my budget. Not only was this better than any price in Pittsburgh, but they were having a promotion where you could get an 11% rebate. Of course there was a catch, the rebate was a voucher for a future purchase. So I talked to the manager, told him I wasn't from the area, couldn't use the rebate & asked if he would give me the 11% off my bill and destroy the rebate, he said sure! The deal got even better when I found a faucet onsale for over $100 less than any place I could find online & I got another 11% off. See it never hurts to ask! I included a pic of the faucet below along with the coppper hammered apron sink I just got delivered, and yes, I talked to the rep when I ordered that offline, asked if there were any promotions going on & they gave me 15% their price, making the sink over $100 less than anywhere I could find it online... Let me know what you think of the faucet & sink, ok if you hate it don't tell me, lol :)  Also, as I'm typing this I'm wandering if I'm using than/then appropriately. One of my co-workers, Laura if you're reading this I'm referring to you, says it's her pet peeve when someone messes that up, & I always seem to. Feel free to correct me/educate me on that...  I'll stick to cooking.

Kraftmaid Outlet, Warren, Ohio

Early in July I was visiting my friend Michelle's house, she had recently had her kitchen redone and I was checking it out for ideas. While I was there, talking about my limited budget, there was a craftsman who worked for the company she hired to renovate her kitchen. He said something that changed my course & gave me hope. I had priced out cabinets at both box stores & the quotes were as high as $25,000 for cabinets only (no installation) of course those numbers made me think I was never going to redo my kitchen. So you're wandering what did he say...."Have you tried the Kraftmaid Outlet in Ohio?" What, I had never even heard of it! So that was a Tuesday and Saturday morning I was up at 4am & on my way.  Now, let's back it up, I spent three days on the internet doing my homework. I paid $13 for a guide, best investment ever. Here's a link to the website where I  bought the guide. The Cabinet Shopper  Now this guy actually makes money shopping for other people, this outlet shopping is no easy task, takes organization, patience and flexibility. I really prepared for the adventure & was willing to be flexible for the cabinet styles.

The address for the outlet is 3418 Elm Rd Warren, Ohio.

The outlet is only open a few Saturday's a month, I think the next one is August 10th. Buy the guide or do your homework if you think about going. You have to get a numbered wristband between 6:30 & 7:10 am. At 7:15 they randomly choose a number, for example 87, the numbers 87-237 are let in. Then the next 150 people are let in 30 minutes later. The first time I went I got in the first group, the next 2 times I was in the 2nd group. Now in the summer I hear not as many people go and not as much stock, but each of my 3 visits, no more than 300 people showed up so it only took 2 rotations. You must get there by like 7 to get your numbered wristband. Once your inside there are 2 ways to shop, one is by a large group of kitchen cabinets in the back, they are grouped and it's sort of like a silent auction, the price is fixed by group, but you put your name on a list at the main table, I was #3 on the style I picked and the first two passed & I got it.

Just to give you an example, my group was $1200 this is what I got for that...

3 12" wall cabinets

3 36" corner wall cabinets

1 36 x 94 pantry

1 9" cookie sheet base

2 27" wall cabinets

1 18" wall cabinet

1 above the refrigerator cabinet

On that trip I also got a 36" 3 pot/pan drawer ($95)

3 pieces of beautiful solid maple crown molding that matches the style, ($10/each = $30)

1 roll out tray for the pantry ($15)

Total for that trip including tax was $1427.11

Now one of the tips I learned from the guide was to tip everyone that handles your cabinets (about $1/cabinet), give them the tip first, they will handle with care. The guys are really nice. I tipped each time and they even helped to load, they're not supposed/have to do that.

Fortunately, one of my dear friends, Megan, had pity on me and woke up at 4:30 and came for the trip with me. It is really helpful to have someone with you the first time you go. I'll explain why soon. Shout out to Kristi for coming w/me the 2nd time & the third time I flew solo. I mentioned buying groups above. The guide gave me a floorplan and showed styles of cabinets by wood/style, by aisle. The first time you go make sure you have your blueprint/footprint, know your measurements and bring measuring tape! I had been to a couple of designers, knew my measurements and took a gamble. Once I bought that grouping above, I needed to come up w/a plan to make it all fit and fill in the empty spots. To buy individual cabinets you put your name on a label or painters tape. If I saw a cabinet I wanted, I put my name sticker on it, if I'm the first one there, I put a #1 after my name, if someone else's name is there, I put a #2 by name, and so on. They start writing tickets to purchase @9:30, if I'm ready to buy my stuff, they call the person above me's name on the intercom, they have 10min to show up & say if they want it, if they don't, you get it. The night before the first trip, my daughter made me like 100 strips of painters tape w/my name on it so I could peel off & just write my number. This is like the bridal crazy store where they run in, sort of, no one's knocking people over, but everyone's on a mission. Once I bought that first set, I had a purpose, to target that style, color etc. My cabinets are called IGM - Irish Glaze Mocha, Kraftmaid now changed the name to Biscotti w/Cocoa glaze, exact same thing, just new name. They are plywood on 3 sides and solid Maple on the front, no particle board, they are really solidly built. 

Here's a pic....

The 2nd trip I got 36" farmhouse apron sink base $95 and a 9x94 pull out can good pantry $110

Total $219

The 3rd trip I got 3 more crown moldings, 7 toe kicks, 2 more 36" roll out trays, 2 spindles (for in front of sink base), 3 boxes of brushed venetian bronze hardware, 1 onlay for a total of $232.1                                      The hardware that I got alone on that trip retails for $750

Ok, I'm being brutally honest about my costs so that if someone out there is interested in going this route, you can see how much you can save. Keep in mind, this route isn't easy, but for me, I couldn't have done it through traditional ordering.  Total for outlet shopping = $1878  Now I had to rent an open trailer for the first two trips, plus adding in tip money, buying food for my helpers, I'd put by total at $2200, now I priced my layout with the exact maple cabinets, style, color, etc...at the boxstores, now hold tight, if I would have ordered these from those stores, I would have paid about $17,500, yes you read right, I saved over $15,000 doing this work. 

Oh, I forgot to mention, to finish that side I did have to buy one corner,super susan cabinet, 3 doors that were missing from other cabinets and paint to match. I bought maple toe kicks, but I've got to paint them. I ordered those from a box store. I met a FANTASTIC designer who I could be honest about going to the outlets and she helped me make everything I got work within my footprint. 

My new kitchen will combine my old kitchen & dining room, these cabinets will be for the old kitchen side. More to come tomorrow about my plan for the dining room side.  And these aren't coming from the outlets, or any store, tune in to hear that story...

The renovation of Tina's Cucina

So my story goes... when I was contemplating college, I wanted to go to the Culinary Instittue of America in NYC, dad said get your college degree first then we'll talk, 22+years of teaching later, I'm still chasing the dream of wanting to cook for others. I have a traditional 3 bedroom ranch, small kitchen and I'm finally trying to renovate it. However, I'm a single mom, one kid in college and one more a year away from going to college, eldest studying abroad in January, needless to say - no real kitchen budget. So what's a girl to do? Well this girl decided to try and be her own general contractor. Yes, I'll hire people who are experts to do the things I can't, but I'm going to try my best, under the supervision of my 82 year old awesome father. Now keep in mind my dad was an accountant/auditor. Not your typical handyman, but over the years he has had wonderful teachers like my Uncle Ray and neighbor growing up, Andy. He's not afraid to read a manual and follow directions. Now dad's not in the best of health, he is supposed to just sit in the chair in the kitchen and give me directions, it doesn't always go as planned, but we're in it for the long haul and I'm blessed to have him here to guide me and as crazy & chaotic as it is, each time he's here, it's more time we're spending together. Above is a picture of the "Old" kitchen from what was the dining room. Below are a few more from the old dining room. So what happened to the dining room? It moved to a bedroom across from the kitchen. That's a story for another day.
I'm several weeks into the project, but I'll slowly ease you into the story, there's a lot of stories and adventures along the way including trips to a cabinet outlet in Ohio, to Amish country in New Wilmington & Valant, to hours upon hours to with kitchen designers, to me, yes me cutting out walls with a saw zaw, I am much better with kitchen tools like mixers, ice cream makers and bread machines. But if I'm going to make this happen on a tight budget, I've gotta dig deep, do things I didn't think I could do and as when I was a kid, listen to what dad says. :) Stay tuned for the rest of the story....

This pic is from the hallway looking into the kitchen.

Garden Dreams

Garden Dreams

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes

My garden is exploding right now, I can hardly keep up with all of the goodies! I went a little crazy this year, I have 14 different varieties of tomatoes, about a dozen pepper plants, White, Tuscan & Japanese eggplants. 2 different zucchinis, sorrel, and let's just say a ton of herbs, lol. The picture above is of "Sungold" cherry tomatoes, they are SO good! Carli & I can't walk by the plant without picking one & popping it in our mouth, they are so delicious! 

I'm really excited about the place I got a majority of my plants this year and for those of you who live in Pittsburgh, I wanted to share with you. It's called Garden Dreams, click on this link...Garden Dreams

Garden Dreams is an urban farm in the east end of Pittsburgh. They have a huge variety of plants, lots of unique finds and a great selection of heirloom seeds. I'm totally a huge fan. They do participate in the May Market at Forbes, but I actually went to the East End location. I looked at the website (see link above) and went through their list of plants, highlighting my "wishlist." When I went there, they were a great help in locating my choices and giving me recommendations.  On the homepage they list whatever's currently available. They also have great growing tips.

Can you tell I'm a big fan? They are "natural" and working on organic status. Like them on Facebook by clicking this link: Garden Dreams on Facebook

HAPPY HARVESTING!