Step One - The Nesting Continues

After getting the outside of my house whipped into shape, I moved indoors.  Before I tell you what I've been doing there, let me make a confession.  The biggest changes I need to make are in myself.  If only it was as easy to whip my butt into shape as it is my lawn.  Yes, I need to work on a lifestyle change - healthy eating, regular exercise, etc. and I've been using home improvements as an excuse not to get busy.  But for now, I'm still focused on upgrading my nest.  Excuse me, I need to grab some M&Ms before I continue...

Ok, back and ready to describe how I'm blowing through my retirement funds.  For years I've wanted to update my kitchen and bathrooms.  Since I bought my house in 1994 I've done some improvements but the kitchen and bathrooms were in desperate need of being brought into this century.

After getting a number of quotes, I was ready to get moving on the kitchen.  Have I mentioned that taking on household improvements is a great way to meet men?  I've been visiting Home Depot and Lowes regularly - who knew that's where guys hang out?  I've had more guys than I can list press their phone numbers into my hand.  Yeah, they just wanted to give me a quote but you never know.

A photo of the look I'm going for.  No, it won't look just like this, but hopefully will be similar.

Back to home improvements.  I was happy with the way my kitchen functioned.  I like the layout.  I'm way too cheap to replace perfectly good appliances with new ones, just to change their color.  So, the big changes are new counters, cabinets and backsplash.

I did a lot of research about what's involved in a kitchen renovation.  I spent hours on the internet obsessing over photos of kitchens.  I had big dreams.  But then there's reality.  Stuff is expensive!  And there are so many choices.  You wonder what retirees do all day?  This one spent hours in tile stores, looking at granite, cabinets, and photos of completed kitchens.  Obsessing over kitchen organizing tools.  Colors, shapes, textures.  Obsessing.  Really, every time I walked into a friend's house I examined the edging of their counters.  They'd open a cabinet and I was peeking in to see how they'd organized it.  I needed to obsess less and do more.

This is how the kitchen looked when the reno started on March 28.

The 1983 kitchen!

The cabinets were removed and new ones hung in just three days.  A few days later, they did the template for the granite counter top.  In another week to 10 days, the new counter will be in.  Then back splash and finishing the crown molding, etc. on the cabinets.  It  should be done by the end of April.

I'll post photos as soon as I have a functional kitchen.  In the meantime, I'm obsessing over bathrooms.  On May 2, my contractor will arrive with a jack hammer to start work on the master bathroom.  Yup, this is how this new retiree nests.