Motivation

We moved into our first home when it was exactly 10 years old (in 2007). After years in somewhat tolerable apartments on a grad student budget, we were thrilled. We weren't in love with the kitchen, but it was a major improvement for us.

  
Shortly after moving in we made our first major purchase: replacing the dishwasher. The original Hotpoint model was in rough shape. For a few years the LG dishwasher worked well, but then it needed several repairs, which were complicated by the previous owner's installation of a tile floor. Accessing the dishwasher required shimming the counter to provide clearance over the lip of the tile floor. This was a major undertaking and would often result in salty language and a beer to soothe nerves afterwards. Nate developed a relationship with that machine akin to that of the father in 'A Christmas Story' and his nemesis, the furnace. 




The frequent repairs (and hassle of extracting the dishwasher from under the counter) was a major annoyance, but we could cope. Then the drain line disintegrated and we had water damage through the subfloor into our basement - which ultimately led to our kitchen renovation moving forward several years.

Mr. BC expressing his feelings about the evil dishwasher

Other issues we wanted to address:
-The existing layout has bottlenecks
-The cabinets are getting worn out (and look dated)
-There is additional water damage under the sink and at the laminate backsplash (and we have a constant battle with crud around the lip of the top mount sink)
-The space for the refrigerator is too small for most current models (and there is no water line)
-The gas range was wearing out, and we wanted a double oven
-Tearing out some of the soffits would provide more storage space

Individually, these might seem like minor complaints, but we really felt like it was time to make our kitchen more user-friendly and appealing to us.