Oh, the hu-vanity!

June 16, 2010

Beth sure is tricky.  We were taking CJ to drum camp yesterday morning and Beth said she would buy me a cup of coffee.  She might even throw in breakfast if I wanted.  Coffee for us is a nice $1 cup of half Cappuccino, half French Roast from the AM PM store at BP.  Just in case you are one of the many folks mad at BP for the oil leak, I am mad at them also, but I think they need the money to pay for the clean up.  Therefore, I give them $5 a week for coffee.  Anyway, Beth bought my coffee and lured me out on the road for breakfast.  As it turned out, breakfast was at Ikea.  They serve a small breakfast for 99 cents in their cafeteria.  I was driving, so I really wasn't completely fooled, but I knew we needed to see "our" kitchen one last time.

On previous visits to Ikea, we had seen a model kitchen they had that we both swooned over.  The main pieces of desire were the dark cabinets and the granite counter-top.  Something about the color combination made us want it in our kitchen.  However, the more we have talked about redoing our kitchen and bathroom lately, the cabinets in the kitchen have been designated for a white assignment.  We figure either the cabinets would be white and the floors darker, or the floors lighter and the cabinets darker.  We have quite a few cabinets for such a small kitchen, and in a kitchen in a previous home Beth had made the cabinets look very nice painting them white.  Currently, they are something of a maple color.  They are tired.  Our floor is also an exhausted vinyl linoleum that has started to peel up and has lost its appeal anyway.  We really like the idea of a Pergo-esque wood floor in some sort of mocha or dark color.  The search will continue and we are still working on building resistance to the sticker shock.  We have designated the money we may have spent on vacation this year for the home remodeling of the kitchen and bath.  Since our vacation was not a trip to Europe or the Far East, we didn't designate as much money as it seems people want to redo your kitchen or bath.  I will keep you updated on the kitchen as I know you are intrigued.

However, we have made progress on the bathroom.  Gone are the whimsical dreams of the $800 vanity that Beth found on-line.  I think she was partly sold by the guest service person who helped her on the phone.  I personally hate it when I go to try to buy something and the salesman doesn't seem as interested in selling me the item as I am in buying it.  For a package of toilet paper, no problem.  For an expensive new floor, I want some butt-smooching.  Ron at the flooring store was not interested.  It may have been past his bed time even though it was noon.  He is another example of someone who would have liked to retire at 65, but still needs to work due to this wonderful economy.  Anyway, Sarah at the vanity on-line place was so nice that Beth was ready to plunk down $800 for a vanity.  It started when Beth was surprised that Sarah answered the phone right away and you did not have to go through an automated menu to get to a real-live person.  Sarah told Beth she could punch 1 on her keypad if she wanted, but she would still be right there.  Polite sarcasm, love it.

Anyway, as we went through our 4th store yesterday (yes, I do love my wife), we decided that the $200 vanity would work just marvelously.  Couple with the $170 sink top we found at The Home Depot, this Lowe's vanity would give us the look we are hoping for.  We also have a family friend who can handle the installation.  Friday is new bathroom day.  Maybe I can figure out how to take a before/after photo so you can not only see how the look changes, but what it will be like to go from a 30" tall vanity to a 34" tall vanity.  This should be a nice change for CJ as I see him continuing to grow, but if Beth and I start shrinking, it could be a problem.  Bummer.