Kitchen...

Cabinets. Way back when we had a pile of money from the sale of the house, we thought it would be a good idea to snatch up any bargains that came along. (Can you sense the buyer's remorse?) So one day, Chris was scanning craigslist, and came across some cabinets that had been torn out from a kitchen that was being remodeled. Chris ran off to look at them. Later, he called to tell me they were custom built and sent me some photos taken with his phone. My mind flashed back to the cabinets my father-in-law had built for our house in Nashville: beautiful, solid cabinets that could probably hold piles of lead and be dropped off  the roof and not break apart... I squinted at the photos. The hardware was ugly, but that could be replaced, and the doors didn't have that silly arch that so many cabinets have. Well, I told Chris. If you think they are worth it, go for it, I said. He called back a few minutes later and to tell me the seller would throw in the cooktop and built-in convection oven for another $200. I thought built-ins would be nice, and a convection oven at that. Okay, I told him.

When Chris got home and pulled out the cooktop, I felt instant regret. Everything was caked with grease. One of the knobs on the oven was missing. The oven and cooktop were definite mistakes. The cabinets were not nearly as solid as I had expected, and many pieces had that grime on the edges that can only be aquired from many years of use. The cabinets still had potential, though. It would just take a lot of work. But the thing that really got to me: the drawers. There were two lower cabinets with four drawers each... that were only 10 inches wide. What do you do, put forks in one drawer, spoons in another? They were nearly worthless in my book.

Over the months since we purchased the cabinets, I've been thinking and dreaming about my ideal kitchen. And some of the pieces could work nicely. A little built-in desk could go next to the big cabinet that held the oven. I could put some more doors on that to turn it into a big pantry cabinet next to the fridge. I really wouldn't mind if the cabinets didn't match, so maybe I could find better drawers somewhere. I was anxious to see how things could work out.

Saturday, we moved the cabinets to the new house. The desk/pantry/fridge setup works nicely. I had Chris set up some saw horses and sheet of plywood to mimic an island and I was happy to see that will work nicely and not feel too crowded. The rest of it? Nothing lines up quite right... So what to do? Chris thinks we ought to try to sell the whole shebang and see if we can re-coop our costs and go from there...but if push comes to shove, I will pick and choose and make something out of most of what we've got, and be proud of a mismatched, offset kitchen.