The Move

Since we've now lived in our new home for 3 months, I figured it was time I blogged about the move! We've been busy working on our house...we forgot how much we loved little projects around the house. It's still a work in progress, but we hope to finish the upstairs soon.

The biggest change has been in the kitchen. This is what it looked like when we moved in...very 80s looking. We knew IMMEDIATELY that the carpet had to go. Who puts carpet in a kitchen?!?! Even though it's small, we knew we could work with this. We planned for new appliances, new counter tops, and new cabinets....along with the new floor. However, all of these changes were not in our immediate budget. Well, the movers changed at least part of that. As they were unloading, Justin and I were closely monitoring their progress. Suddenly

...I become concerned. Where was our refrigerator?!?! So...we questioned the movers. "We forgot it," they informed us. Well, when life hands you lemons...so off to Sears we went. We talked and looked and measured, knowing that we had a small space. We had looked online and decided that a counter depth fridge would work best in our kitchen, but knew they were way out of our price range at the time. So, we went with intention to buy the cheapest one we could find, since we figured it would soon be replaced. We measured...and measured again...and looked...and discussed...and then we stumbled onto our "dream" refrigerator. (Yes, we have dream appliances!) Stainless steel...side by side....water and ice on the door....big. It was on clearance for not much more than the cheapest tiny white fridge they had. Well, you know how I love a bargain, so we measured...and looked...and discussed...and measured again. After determining it would fit in our small space, we gleefully headed for the cashier and made our purchase. We explained our situation and convinced the delivery person to deliver it that day. Two hours later, it arrived, all wrapped in plastic, shiny and new. Immediately I became concerned. It was HUGE. Very, very huge. They brought it in the house, and I started to panic. "It's not going to fit" I said. "It will fit" the boys said. Well...it did fit. Barely. We stepped back and looked at our new shiny, gleaming appliance in the kitchen. I fought back tears and frustration. We measured...3 times. How could this be? "This refrigerator is big...your kitchen really isn't designed for this big of a refrigerator" the delivery man said. "If I were you, I would move these cabinets over here, and then put your refrigerator here." Brilliant. Not in our budget...but brilliant.

(Pardon the amateur drawing, but hopefully you see what he meant.)

With that, the delivery men left, and we were alone with our ridiculously huge fridge. We stood and stared for what seemed like forever. "What do you think?" Justin hesitantly asked. I just looked at him, unable to speak. I walked over to the fridge and opened the doors. I couldn't get through. I opened the dishwasher. It nearly touched the fridge. I looked at the opening where our oven would soon go. My heart sank. What were we going to do? We discussed returning it. We discussed selling it. We discussed moving the cabinets as suggested, but quickly dismissed the idea. For the next couple hours, we were quiet as we unpacked and tried to maneuver in our kitchen. Suddenly, Justin said, "I can do it." "Do what?" I asked. "Move the cabinets" he replied. I asked over and over if he was sure. He assured me he was, so I told him to do it. We emptied the cabinets (less than one hour after putting the stuff away) and the work began. He was nervous. I was nervous. We did not want to replace cabinets...but several hours later, the job was done.

I know it's hard to see in this picture, but we couldn't be happier with the results. Not only did we get to keep our refrigerator, but the kitchen is much more functional now. (I've also refinished the cabinets and we replaced the floor, but more on that later). We still have some work to do in there (including the counter tops) but that will be coming very soon. This project has given Justin the confidence to tackle more projects and do more things himself in the house. I couldn't be more proud of him. I honestly didn't think he could move cabinets, but he proved me wrong, and I'm so glad he did!