Urban Pioneer: Tug of War with my Fridge

By Andrea, the Urban Pioneer

I've talked a little about the kitchen, hitting the low-lights, but let me dig a little deeper and tell you the oh-so-frustrating story of my refrigerator.

On a warm summer day (yes, we do have those in Minnesota), I moved in to my little piece of Urban heaven.  My furniture was in place, boxes were piled in the 2nd bedroom for safe hiding and I loaded up the fridge with food.  When I returned after a weekend at the lake, I found the fridge had slow cooked all of my groceries sitting at a balmy 87 degrees.  The food went into the trash and off to the appliance store I went.

My new fridge arrives, new food is purchased and I go on my way.

If only it were so easy...

But the 2nd fridge didn't work either!  Fortunately, this time I didn't load it up with food, so my loss was minimal.  A quick call to the appliance store and I believe a new fridge will be at my door sooner than later. Wrong again!  Due to an address mix up that "could not be fixed while an order was still in process," it took three weeks to get a working fridge delivered.  When the new one showed up, it fit through the 1911 doorway, but not into the space reserved for the fridge in the kitchen.

My refrigerator in the 'freezer using' position

After a month or so without a working refrigerator, I decided to keep what I had knowing plans of a remodel are in my near future.  In the meantime, I have to push and pull the fridge into place, depending on if I want to get in the freezer or get out my kitchen door.  I'm looking at it as extra security... but redoing the kitchen and finding the fridge a home sure would be nice.

(Up)Date Night Part 1: Meet the Roushias

The (Up)Date Night crew made a stop to Bryan, Ohio for our next installment.  Tami Roushia and her children recently moved and wanted to make the 'new to them' house their home!  Tami is a Personalizer, looking to make her kitchen reflect her likes and style; the kitchen was nice, but just not her taste.

More than a coat of paint

By Gale

If you are contemplating buying your first home, with all the enthusiasm and nervousness that comes with that decision, then you can better appreciate the challenges of my friends who are upgrading from a tiny condo to their first “real” house.  The price was right, the neighborhood older and established with good schools nearby - perfect for a couple expecting their first child.

When they fell in love with the house, they did not clearly see all of its flaws.  It was indeed a surprise to discover the cabinet doors that would not close, the chipped kitchen sink and the badly worn countertop.  They relegated the other rooms to a “coat of paint change”, while the kitchen needed real help.

I gave them advice about how to fix the non-closing doors without too much effort and focused their attention on the sink and countertop. The dreams of granite vanished when they priced it out. We discussed how to get the best deal for their tiny budget. And the answer is a new high definition laminate countertop and an integral sink. Both are meant for hard wear and tear, a factor of life with a small child and even busier schedules.

A visit from the countertop fabricator gave them the confidence that this could be done in a short time, while they were handling the painted facelift in another room. Within two weeks, they have a new kitchen without the agony of tearing everything out. The countertop gives them a whole new look and there is a little leftover to buy those bar stools that they saw on sale.

The moral of this story is to shop wisely, understand what your budget will give you, and then find the best person to help you accomplish this change.

Remodeling when time's not on your side

By Gale

Meet my dear friends, The Procrastinators (most of us know who they are and sometimes we are all just like them). They are filled with good intentions and great plans, but they never seem to find the time to actually move ahead with their objectives. As a consequence, things look a little worn out at their home. The cabinet doors do not shut; some of the hardware is non-functional, two burners of the cooktop stopped working some time ago. Let’s not even talk about the countertop, which looks like it has been through a war and then some.

Their biggest problem is simply finding time to get these projects done. They want to fix up the kitchen, for example, but are afraid that any disruption will mean they cannot continue to use the room. We had a heart-to-heart talk recently, and I point out that if they focus on the parts of the kitchen that need to be upgraded (or replaced altogether), then the actual process of remodeling will move along smoothly.

If you are simply replacing appliances or cabinets without moving them around, then the inconvenience time is reduced to just a few days (not weeks or months as they imagined), that is, assuming you have a contractor who can come when you plan. But surprisingly, even a countertop replacement takes only a day of inconvenience. The fabricator measures the space and then brings the new countertop two weeks later. In the meantime, you have use of the kitchen.

They were relieved and headed off to look at all their choices. I gave them a new mantra:

“To make it work easily and quickly, simply find products that will fit into the same size space in your existing room."

The second piece of advice is even less complicated: Always have a tape measure available, along with a little notebook with your measurements written down. When in doubt, measure and remeasure.

The Urban Pioneer: The Kitchen Should be Condemned

by Andrea, The Urban Pioneer

Oh the Kitchen. When I purchased my little piece of urban heaven, I turned a blind eye to the kitchen. The location, the charm, the garage all won me over and allowed me to forget about the kitchen.

So what makes it so bad? Well, take a look at some of the pictures.


We'll start with the lighting. You could put Heidi Klum under these lights and she would look like a troll. Not only is the lighting bad, the refrigerator blocks what little natural light comes in from the north facing window.

The cabinets are in sad shape. The sink was apparently used for paint clean up and someone forgot to clean it. And the floor sticky tiles keep peeling back.



And oh the countertop...we are talking late 70's early 80's yellowish laminate, the cornerstone of every girls dream kitchen, ha!

So what's next? Deciding if this kitchen can be saved or needs to be completely gutted. What do you think?

An open kitchen starts with an open mind

By Gale

We all agree that the kitchen is the most important room in the house. It is the best reflection of you and your family’s lifestyle.  Do not be swayed by the opinions of others. However, while that is easy to say, it's not so easy to do.

Recently I helped a friend who had fallen in love with the image of an open plan kitchen, and she was trying hard to fit that idea into her older closed kitchen. The clip she had saved from a magazine was really gorgeous, but like a jigsaw puzzle, the piece has to fit into the space allotted. And that is where her plans for the dream kitchen fell apart.  Here are some things to consider if you are pondering opening up your kitchen:

• What walls are you planning to eliminate to create the open plan kitchen? Are they load-bearing walls or can they be safely removed without affecting the structural integrity of your house? A good contractor or designer can help you determine that.

• If you are knocking down a wall, how much cabinet space are you losing as a result? Where are you planning to relocate what is stored inside those cabinets?

• Do you have to move plumbing or electric outlets to achieve your goal? Check on the cost of doing so before moving ahead.

• Will your cooking or cleanup space be visible from the adjoining room? If you are a messy cook, think about creating a visual barrier such as a raised counter so your guests cannot see the clutter.

• Does the new color scheme work with the existing colors in the spaces beyond? You should coordinate the colors from one room to another; they do not have to match but should be in the same family. This applies to countertop selections as well as cabinets.

Obviously, this doesn't cover all of the considerations you should take into account when opening up your kitchen, but this should serve as the starting point to getting you the dream kitchen that you want.