My New Kitchen, Am I Happy With It? Is It Worth The Expense?

For those who have followed the saga of my new kitchen and those who are wondering if it's worth going through all the hassle and expense, I must say that I'm really glad that we did it.

We moved in this house over thirty years ago, and although it was custom designed from head to toe in every way, I must admit that there were elements in the kitchen that were problematic from day one. I did have some really good things which I enjoyed from day one until the very last day.

We have a strictly kosher kitchen, so two sinks on two different walls were a necessity for me. Yes, there are people who manage with side-by-side sinks and double sinks, which I had until then. And when we were living in London on shlichut (doing Jewish Zionist youth work) we only had one sink, for which I needed bowls and had to be more organized.

Another really good thing I had in the old kitchen was a "table" jutting out of the wall, large enough for all the kids to sit around. In the middle of it was a raised section with heat-proof tiles, the same as we had on the walls. And instead of table legs, there was a closet where I kept tablecloths and other kitchen items. Today, that's my heat-proof cabinet for candlesticks. We just had the "table" part sawed off. This piece was my design, so I'm really glad that it could be transitioned and used even now.

In addition, we had plenty of closet space. Another of my demands/requirements/designs was a wall of closets, not very deep, with bookshelves on the side. And that remains in use to this day. The only change is that I got rid of all my cookbooks and sundry books that had been gathering dust. Now, I have mugs and coffee accessories on the shelves.

There were some basic, serious design/planning mistakes in the old kitchen. The refrigerator is on the far left, while refrigerator doors open to the left.  Decades ago, it wasn't a problem, because one could easily have the door switched. Nowadays, unless you have plenty of space and money for a four-door model, it's extremely hard to find one that can have the door switched. Ours is now over ten years old, and it was almost impossible to find one. Our refrigerator is now on the right side of a wall.

One really bad mistake our contractor did was to order the kitchen cabinets to fit our old appliances, the ones we had when building the house. I caught the mistake before the kitchen cabinets were brought to the house, and we gave the refrigerator more space. That's because I had already bought a new wider one. But we ended up with the super small niche for the stove/oven, which was awful. First of all, by the time we had to replace the old one, they don't last forever, there were very few that size still on the market. And in all honesty, I was getting very frustrated baking in super tiny ovens. My dream was to have two full-size (by Israeli standards obviously) ovens, one for meat and one for parve/dairy. BTW, the meat oven hasn't had any chametz, so kashering it for Passover isn't problematic. And the second oven has never had dairy baked in it, so it's really parve.

In addition, the original kitchen was designed for a young family with five children and lots of visiting kids and family. Today, we have an "empty nest" and entertain mostly for Shabbat meals.

Luckily I was able to save a bit of money by not paying a professional kitchen planner. My son-in-law and I planned it, with one little tweak by the guy I found to "do," or more accurately be in charge of all aspects of the renovations.

The old kitchen had upper cabinets to the ceiling on all the walls. Now we have almost none, and amazingly we have more storage space. The lower cabinets are drawers, except for the "island." And instead of an awful impossible to easily access corner cabinet, we have the meat sink there.  And under the sink there's space for the large meat oven trays and the "platta," the large electric food warmer used on Shabbat, plus the covers for it.

I replaced the old "children's table" with another custom designed piece. The new island has the dairy sink and facing the dining room table is a cabinet full of Passover dishes. That island also has a spot to sit and countertop space for dish-drainer and food preparations. 

Of course I now have two full-sized ovens. They are on the left, where the refrigerator used to be. And the fridge is where the old stove used to be. I feel like there's tons more counter space than before, although it may just be an illusion.

The color scheme, wall tiles, formica etc are attractive, as far as I'm concerned. I haven't seen this combination anyplace else. But since aesthetics are very individual, that's not important. I also liked the old kitchen, and the wall of closets that remain blend in all right. There's an option to replace the doors, but I decided that the expense wasn't worthwhile.

Two things my husband kept asking people before we got started was:

How long did you have to suffer without a kitchen?
And did you have to move out of your house while the renovations were going on?

So to answer those questions, it took two weeks until we could begin using the new kitchen, and we never had to move out of the house.

During the two weeks we didn't have a kitchen, we managed without really cooking in the house. I prepared more sandwiches than I had for a long time. We ate out and at neighbors. I also heated and cooked a bit at neighbors and brought the food home. I also used the electric "hot plate," which had been my "stove" for two years. Since it was precarious when mounted on the laundry room sink, I used it only when very desperate. Two weeks aren't forever.

Now cooking is such a pleasure. And I love baking in my new ovens.

Yes, getting a new kitchen was certainly worth the expense and the hassle. 

Following are a variety of photos taken in my new kitchen.

The plug/wire for the light has been fixed since then.

Here's my recycled closet

Morning Dilemma

Sometimes it's hard to choose just the right mug.

Each one's a story, and I can remember most of them.

The advantage of drinking my coffee from the larger mugs is that I end up using less sugar. And the advantage of the smaller mugs is that it makes my French Press seem larger, as I have more "cups" of coffee.

Do you have a "regular" mug or cup everyday, or do you like variety?  Why? Which is your favorite, and why?

Recycled Furniture

As you all know by now, we've redone our kitchen. And as is well-known, it's not a cheap project. It cost a lot. Besides that I had a problem even finding suitable professionals to do the job. I wanted a few non-standard things in the kitchen, and I didn't want to knock down walls, change windows etc. We had to use the space that we had. One thing I did was to keep an entire wall of the old cabinets. It's from floor to ceiling, and I call it my "pantry." Since it wasn't connected to the plumbing or cooking, there was/is nothing wrong with it. I just made sure that the rest of the kitchen included its color in the color scheme.

But my real favorite "savings" was to recycle the specially built "table" that was part of the old kitchen. It was my design. It was an "island table" or "peninsula," since it attached to a wall and divided the "L Plan" between the kitchen and dining area. Instead of legs there was a closet. The center of the table was raised and that part was covered with heat proof ceramic tiles, the same as on the walls. The "overhang," which made it a table was on three sides. By using a bench on the long side and chairs, our entire family of seven could even sit there, though it was used more by the kids and their friends. And after the house emptied, it became "my spot." I sat there to prepare food, eat and even watch television.

Once I realized that I would really be making a new kitchen, I immediately saw a new use for it, aka recycling. By cutting off the table/overhangs I had the perfect piece of furniture for my Shabbat Candlesticks. For about a quarter of a century we've been using an old television table. Our kitchen guy agreed to saw off the overhangs, and the carpenter sent me wood to use for a mosaics project to cover the side that had been against the wall.

Thursday night I got the old tv table schlepped out to the recycling corner of our neighborhood, and Friday afternoon someone had already taken it.

Before Shabbat, I managed to clean and polish all the candlesticks and setup everything.

I'm very happy with my recycled cabinet.

Kitchen Chaos Meltdown → Happy Ending

Yesterday was "Kitchen Chaos Meltdown Day." I'm pretty sure that almost every renovation project has at least one day for the homeowner when things hit a crisis mode and hysteria reigns. I got there yesterday afternoon when due to a misunderstanding one of the necessary "pieces" of my new kitchen wouldn't be available at all.

The exact details aren't important, but my first reaction was "mild" hysteria and then that I'd have to make an unplanned trip to Jerusalem to buy a replacement. Then all of a sudden I remembered that in the Shiloh Industrial Zone there are two stores that sell the product. OK, maybe not the exact one or the fantastic price I had expected to pay, but if I could buy it here and have much easier delivery logistics, too...  Also, the missing product wasn't something that needed the "wow factor*," so once I had calmed myself a trip to Jerusalem seemed totally unnecessary.

So, I quickly called my "kitchen guy," the one whom I hired to do this daunting project and told him about the unexpected complication and my solution. That solution meant that he had to quickly drive over to my house from whatever/wherever he was, drive me down to the two stores and help me pick out the missing product.

Apparently crises like these are part and parcel of renovation projects like mine, so he wasn't phased by the little emergency. And I was perfectly calm by the time he walked in. He drove me down.

I went through one store's showroom, and although I easily found a perfectly suitable replacement, the prices were too high. So we went to the other store. Again I quickly found something nice, and there the prices there were extremely reasonable. I definitely recommend the large hardware/building supply store in the Shiloh Industrial Zone. There's no need to go to a city to shop. That is one thing I've learned now. The product was ordered, and we're on track, B"H, thank Gd.

Here's how my new kitchen looks as of right now:

*To be honest, if you have a good eye for design and color you can easily "wow" from this simple local store.

Bye Old Kitchen, You're History

Kitchen Saga

I may be terrified, but I'm not sad about getting rid of my old kitchen. We've used it well for over thirty years. Kitchens aren't people. They are just kitchens, things.

I'm excited about getting a new kitchen. I'm terrified of the mess, the chaos.

I've been talking about getting a new kitchen for years. That's ever since I realized that there is no way I could get decent sized ovens in the old one. And I need two ovens.

The last time I bought a new refrigerator it was almost impossible to find one that could have the door hung from the other other side.

And did I mention that things got moldy in the corner closet and wet under the meat sink?

Yes, this old kitchen had paid its dues. Over thirty years is a nice age for a kitchen to be retired.

That phrase "get a new kitchen..." It's not very accurate. Because you don't "get a new kitchen," like getting a new coat or set of dishes. A kitchen must be planned, planned very carefully. And it isn't cheap. And the old one must be emptied and taken out. It's a process. It is neither easy nor cheap.

Gd willing in a couple of hours, we'll be on our way...

Arguing Over a Couple of Inches, Few Centimeters, Kitchen Saga

One of the reasons I didn't go for a less expensive, store-bought modular kitchen is that I wanted things that you generally cant find in those more standardized kitchen places.

When we ordered the kitchen in our house just under 35 years ago, it was dakva our contractor who suggested that I have the upper cabinets 50 centimeters up, rather than the standard 60 centimeters. Because of that I can easily reach both lower shelves. If the cabinet was five centimeters higher, I'd have a problem. So I told the kitchen guy I need 50 centimeters, not a drop higher.

He brought me the plans from the carpenter, and I noticed that it said 52 centimeters. And there were only three upper shelves instead of the four I expect and require.

I said: "No!"

I made it very clear that at my age, one gets shorter, not taller. And if 50 centimeters was OK for the past thirty plus years, if anything, I need lower not higher for the future. And I want my four shelves.

He explained that the height must take into account easy use and cutting of the wall tiles. They are 15 centimeters by 15 centimeters, so a trim of 5 centimeters won't work.

"Great! Make it 45 centimeters."
"Nobody does 45; I've never heard of it."
"אז מה Az mah? So what?"

Off he went to the carpenter for a new plan. They have to give me what I want; it's my kitchen.

Yes, the saga continues...