IKEA

Several years ago I took my children to Europe. We began the trip with a week in Paris where we stayed in a tiny apartment in the Marais.  The apartment had an IKEA kitchen. The orange cabinets and gray counter tops were not my taste, but I really liked how functional and efficient the small kitchen performed.  I decided if I ever remodeled my kitchen I would consider doing an IKEA kitchen. Now with a son in college and a daughter not far behind I wanted to be both practical and cost effective.  

Addison downloaded the kitchen planning program on IKEA's website.  It isn’t the most sophisticated software, but it allowed us to start the process.  Our nearest IKEA is a two hour drive, so we wanted to have some of the planning done before making a road trip.  After a few days of playing with the layout and researching appliances, we headed to IKEA. We met with a planner and ordered the kitchen.  It was to be delivered in ten days.  

Back home the demolition began and so did the surprises. To maximize space we removed the bulkhead only to discover there was no drywall behind it and the wires were running at an 45 degree angle with no slack to allow them to be put behind new drywall.  We had hit our first road block.  I called an electrician.

The infamous light/fan

Addison in demolition-mode

New wiring

We discovered we needed to upgrade the wiring in order to support the new appliances, as well as, give us more length to get the wires in the walls.  Given that we needed an electrician for the wiring and the walls were open, I also decided to upgrade the lighting in the kitchen. The first thing the electrician said when he saw my kitchen was, “That thing has to go”. He was looking at the hideous ceiling fan that is also a light. I couldn’t of agreed more. I knew I had found the right electrician for the job.  

Old cabinets

While we had planned to do the remodel ourselves, and the electricians definitely put a big dent in the budget, there are times when it is both necessary and prudent to call a professional.  This was one of those times for the peace of mind and the safety of the house. Who wants to worry about faulty wiring in a new kitchen?