Remodeling fantasy meets financial reality

Call it an occupational hazard. There’s nothing like a vast convention center chockablock with shiny appliances, gorgeous cabinets, and luxurious countertops displayed in picture-perfect vignettes—like those at the 2007 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference I recently attended—to remind me about the inadequacies of my own kitchen.

Mind you, I like my kitchen. Really. It’s pretty and has a very efficient layout. But the overall space is tiny. Some other issues: The decent-size pantry is off the dining room; the sink, faucet, and laminate countertop are showing their age; and the wood floor could use a sanding and a coat or two of polyurethane to perk up its finish.

So whenever I’m a trade show or researching the stories you read every issue, the fantasy of a kitchen remodel starts dancing in my head—again. The one where we knock down a load-bearing wall and move the kitchen back to its original location, giving us not only  a bigger kitchen but also a sizable eating area. Then all I’d have to do is buy new appliances, cabinets, countertops, and flooring for the enlarged space. (Who’s concerned about money at this point anyway?)

But with one child in college and another one on his way in the not-too-distant future, my fantasy will remain just that. I’m all too aware of how expensive and messy remodeling a kitchen can be.

But maybe I will get around to sprucing up that floor. It is pretty small, after all.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Comments

[home remodeling PA]

this is really true...

[M.E. Gedgaudas]

14 July 2008
What are the names / brands of clear polyurethane floor finishes that are not yellow and that will not turn yellow in time ? The polyurethanes I have are all yellow to start with; I want water-clear product.

M.E.G., Los Angeles, California