New Countertops
One of the cool aspects of renting is that any time improvements need to be made, we don’t have to pay for them. Not so cool aspect of course is getting the building managers to actually do the improvements. Luckily for us, we only have to beg for about a year and then out of the blue they may or may not get taken care of.
For example, last summer in the heat of the summer my patio screen door broke. It didn’t just come off the track, but it simply would not fit on the track anymore because of the way the building had shifted. I sent a note to our building manager who said she’d send someone up to fix it right away. It was fixed the following February. I am not exaggerating.
Two years ago my husband, the plumber, noticed something was up with the faucets in the kitchen and bathroom. Since he is not the contracted plumber for this building he is not allowed to fix stuff in our suite. That’s fine. Let someone else do the dirty work, right? Well, the plumber came and replaced our faucets in the kitchen and bathroom sink, and tightened up the tub faucet. It only took him like 3 months to make it to our suite to do the repairs. Of course, the kitchen faucet is still loose and every time I turn the hot water on or off the entire faucet shifts a good two inches. So, the contractor came by and decided that it was time to replace the counter tops, since they were rotting away underneath the sink where the faucets attach, causing them to move so much.
One year later a carpenter came by to measure for counter tops. Two months later, today, they are here installing them. It caught me off guard, I didn’t expect them today. I had to clear out all my cupboards and countertops in 5 minutes. I haven’t even gotten a close look at the countertops yet. I am sure they will be neutral and boring. That’s fine by me. I didn’t pay for them so I don’t really get a say now do I.
When the guy is all done and I have put everything back where it belongs, I’ll take a picture and add it to the post.
Yay to the new countertops…for my humble little kitchen.
Working with what ya got
Considering I love to cook you’d think that one of my priorities would be making sure my kitchen was totally blinged out and gourmet. How I wish it were.
Maybe soon enough I’ll get my dream kitchen.
In the meantime, for the past 4 years I’ve been making-do. I am not so good with the whole square footage measuring stuff, but I would guess my kitchen is less than 100 sq ft. I have a 24″ electric stove that runs a bit hot in the oven, but overall works good. I am also blessed to have a fairly large fridge compared to other suites in our apartment building.
Three or four years ago my husband brought home an old harvest gold portable dishwasher. It has a butcher block top which has added to my useable work surface greatly. Plus, now I don’t have dishpan hands.
Why am I showing you my piddly almost pathetic kitchen?
I guess to make a point. You don’t have to have a gourmet kitchen in order to make good food. I don’t even have nice dishes or fancy pots and pans really. I would be willing to wager that there are a sad number of homes with gourmet or beautiful kitchens that go unused or are underused.
Take a look at my gourmet kitchen:
Now I am not saying that I would take my current kitchen over a gourmet kitchen. Let’s be honest, I’d trade up any day. Hopefully when we decide to buy a house it will have a great kitchen space, or potential to renovate and make the kitchen of my dreams.
The Tasty Food Blog 