Thanks to historically low interest rates in the Summer of 2003, we were able to re-finance our mortage under some very favorable conditions. We took out some cash to remodel our kitchen and dining room. This is a major remodelling: new cabinets, new appliances, new floors, granite countertop, new tile backsplash, new lighting, add a gas line for the stove, and remove a soffitt. While we're at it, upgrade the electrical service in the kitchen to the current building codes, replace the circuit-breaker box, and, what the hell, upgrade the electrical service to the entire house to 200 Amps.
The house was built in 1959 and, as far as we know, the kitchen was original. I've owned the house since 1989 and actually lived with this old kitchen for 14 years!
Here's several pictures of the old kitchen and dining room.
After a great deal of research (mainly done by Ira) we made a plan that we could afford. It took a good 3 months before we could get good estimates! We hired a general contractor for demolition of the existing kitchen, electrical and plumbing upgrades, and cabinet installation. We contracted separately with a granite fabricator (for the countertop), a flooring installer, and a tile installer (for the backsplash).
We ordered the cabinets and new appliances in August. To minimize the time that we would not be able to use the kitchen, we decided not to start demolition until the cabinets and appliances had arrived. The cabinets had a 10 week lead-time (!) so we were not able to start the project until 3 Nov, 2003.
4 Nov, 2003 Here's a few in-progress shots from just after the tear-out of the old stuff.
4 Dec, 2003 Here's a few shots of the installed cabinets.
23 Dec, 2003 Here's some pictures of the granite countertop.
5 Jan, 2003 Now the Tile, lights, and other trim has been installed.
12 Jan, 2004 Finished!
We were without a kitchen for 72 days. This isn't too bad considering the magnitude of the changes that we made, but it still seemed like a long time! All the upfront planning that we did really paid off.