When we started our house hunt in Phoenix, we did not intend to choose a house that needed a new kitchen. It's funny what you end up falling in love with. Both with our house in DC and this one, it was just a feeling. I walked in and knew almost immediately, without seeing much, that it was going to be hard to convince me NOT to pick this one. We'd seen lots of houses with beautiful, upgraded kitchens and bathrooms, but there was something about this one...the bones were exactly what I wanted (and the backyard ROCKS). Eventually (or what we're calling Phase 2) we'll tackle some bathroom projects, but for now, we're focusing on Phase 1: the kitchen. Now, it's certainly not the ugliest kitchen on earth. But my biggest issues are the original cabinets that I'm fairly sure had been painted over 752 times, the countertops that are the same tile as what's on the floor, the white appliances, the soffets, and what seemed to me the wrong configuration. So basically everything.
Our relator had warned us that the Phoenix area is particularly known for contractors who don't finish what they start, aren't licensed, etc (people who lost jobs and are now claiming to be all inclusive contractors to get work), and obviously this made us wary. But we got a couple of recommendations for local people and kept them handy. We also have friends in DC who renovated their kitchen and used Home Depot. Frankly, I felt more comfortable knowing there would be a company backing the process and making sure that their sub contractors were accountable, so we started at Home Depot. Long story short, we hit the jackpot with our designer, Michelle. From the first meeting, we knew she was the right person to be working with us - our personalities meshed and she's no-nonsense. A few measures and lots of sit downs with materials later, we had our plan (I'd already been compiling loads of pictures and ideas on Pinterest, so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted). Good-bye 1985 kitchen!
