To start, the money I would need to fork over to afford another 1000+ sq foot 2-bed condo in town is about as much as my share of the exterior work required for this building. And any condo I buy would need all the work I will have just finished doing on this place. To top it off, it wouldn't be a 2-floor unit which is pretty unique. I am going to try to convince strata to put off the siding work as much as possible to see if we can outlast this construction boom. Surely downtown Victoria will run out of space for new buildings so that we can get our work done!
So, I am staying put. That means I can realize those plans I originally had for my kitchen. Despite losing the aggressive timeline imposed by hitting the late fall market, I am still planning on going ahead with my kitchen as soon as I can.
After a trip to Harbour City Kitchens (HCK), I learned that their cash and carry section is pitifully understocked, and there were no done up 'reject kitchens' that go for a rediculously affordable price of $2000 -- I guess there is a lot of construction going on. Who would have thought? So, I have about a 2-month wait from the day I order my cabinets.
I spent the week measuring and coming up with 1st choice, 2nd choice, and 3rd choice options for the cabinetry. I'll go in on Saturday to price out those options and hopefully settle on a new kitchen for no more than $3000. I wonder how realistic that budget is? If my budget is super tight (I don't think it is), I am going to have a hard time choosing between lots of drawers for the main kitchen or going simple there so I can also get a few more pieces to install above and next to my fridge which is currently all alone in a large empty corner. Anything not on the curent footprint, as well as lots of drawers are, I fear, nice to haves that I may never get.
My measurements took into consideration that I have decided to cover the walls with floor to ceiling tongue and groove waincoting...just like my bathroom. The walls are just going to take too much work to smooth out properly. If I am able to afford all the cabinets, there actually won't be that much wainscoting visible so I am not as reluctant to install so much of it. I priced out wainscoting and it went something like this:
- Finishing Store: non-pine boards that I can hand pick (read: no knots and no waste) = $800+
- Rona: pine bundles that I can't hand pick (read: lots of knots and ~10-20% waste) = $200+
- Home Depot: pine bundles that I can't hand pick (read: lots of knots and ~10-20% waste) = $260+
The walls and appliances will be/are white, so I don't want white cupboard doors too. The style of door I've settled on is like my bathroom (minus the cherry), is very affordable (will confirm on Sat), but doesn't have a very high-end finish. So, to spruce them up and add some colour I am going to look into getting them sprayed a light neutral colour.
In the meantime, I have finished installing the drywall over the large wall openings and have put up a very thick (read: messy) coat of drywall mud.
Stay tuned for the results of my visit to HCK.
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