Today was costly.
We dropped Smallsteps off to her grandparent's for the afternoon and then headed to IKEA, which isn't normally the most expensive places, but after 3 hours of sitting in front of a screen, we ordered most of our kitchen. We are getting the cupboards and fridge and freezer from there, but all the other machines (microwave, stovetop, oven, dishwasher) are coming from somewhere else - as well as the worktop, sink and fittings. They had nearly everything, except for the freezer (which should arrive at the end of the month), so we will be able to keep our schedules with the tradespeople on August.
While cheaper than a lot of the specialized kitchen places, buying a kitchen is always going to leave a dent in the finances, and there is still more to come. Once the builders, electrician, dishwasher, sink, tap and incidentals are covered, it is going to be less a dent, more of a crash.
What we are likely also going to do is sell our old kitchen. It is pretty good to sell old stuff in Finland, which I prefer, as it means that it doesn't end up in as landfill. The kitchen is twenty years old, so I don't think we would get much for it and even if we give it away, it will mean someone will come and pick it up from us. We also have a passable oven unit and a relatively new fridge that can be included in the package, or sold separately. Even if it pays for a couple hours work for the electrician, it would be a win.
I like this kind of renovation work, as it really makes a difference to the way we live, as the kitchen is the heart of a home. A well appointed space doesn't only make it practical and encourage home cooking, it also becomes the gathering point for friends and family when they visit. At the moment, ours is not the kind of place anyone wants to spend any extra time in. This kind of design is what I enjoy, because it changes behaviors and the entire flow of the family shifts with it.
Yet, the space we have to work with while large, is not the easiest due to the positioning of the doorways and the height of the window - which is about 20 centimeters too low. This means there have been some large compromises made in the design, but hopefully it will still fit our needs and add value to the home, at least for the next ten years before it start to date again.
However, one of the benefits of buying from IKEA is that as long as the structural bones are in good order and well planned, updating is quite easy, even if not using IKEA. There are companies that build doors, drawers and extra by using the IKEA frames, which makes a "new" kitchen, simple and relatively cheap with minimal effort. However, this is more to consider if we are ever looking to sell this place - which we aren't.
The next challenge we face for this project, are the countertops, as there is a long lead time on them and unfortunately the excuse now is "they are made in Ukraine". It is amazing how much of everything we consume is made there these days! I call bullshit on it - but that is the way it goes. It is very likely that we are going to be "counterless" for several weeks after the kitchen is installed - so that means sinkless and stoveless too. Not the end of the world, just annoying.
We are planning on wood benches for the warmth, but the selection isn't great at the moment on these things, as apparently, people are moving away from solid wood and into either stone or laminate. With the growing cost of materials, laminate is by far the cheapest option, but stone is over twice that of wood, plus it requires specialized measurements, cuts and installation - adding even more price. At one place today, the cost of stone (composite stone material) was starting from 1200€ (ugly) per square meter and over a thousand for installation, which means adding north of 5000€ to the total - which is outside of our budget.
But, it is getting there slowly and after a year with very little renovation work after I had a stroke, it is nice to get back into the groove a bit. In the living area, there is only the kitchen and the office left to do and it will be nice to see what "daily life" looks like - at least aesthetically. Of course, once these are complete, the next projects become the garden and basement, but they will definitely not be this year, nor probably next.
These larger projects take a little while to recover from financially, so as much as I would like to say "It is done", it is going to take years to get it all complete and by that stage - it is time to start it all again.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
