Debut of the New Kitchen

The kitchen was the largest project to improve our new house, built in 1971, before moving in. Since we thought both the old kitchen in-place and the tiles were awful, we gutted it all.

We started with this in February:



After the first phase of gutting all the wall and floor tiling:



Then the new tiles were installed after a week: white for the walls and grey for the floor:



Model: Satchmo

Finally the black and steel kitchen set was installed:



The best part about the remodelled kitchen is that it includes a dishwasher. It took me about 10 years to get one since all my other apartment situations were too small to accomodate one or I lived with people, mostly students, who were not interested in installing a dishwasher. No one cooked enough to feel the need for it.

The dishwasher is such a great appliance! So many precious minutes of evening time can now be spent in a different activity, other than doing the dishes. I have a new appreciation for this machine which helped in the women's liberation movement.

Don't get me wrong. My husband did the dishes too, but not as often as me.

We are enjoying cooking in a new and modern way in our new kitchen.

New House Progress

The work is underway on the new house. The kitchen has been gutted. Tiles have been ordered. They will be laid next week. Some light bulbs have been installed to have some sort of temporary illumination for evening visits to the property. We got a quote for changing the locks, and then the fabbro never called back to do the work. In the end, we thought it would be better to change the locks once the workmen have all had their access. A sofa has been ordered which will be custom-made for us and should be ready in a month. The original painter backed out since he was more of a friend who wanted to help and pick up some money than a professional and the walls, full of holes from former tenants, proved complicated. So now we are having the tile men move on to do the paint job next, since they also offer painting services and are doing a good job so far.

The interesting and quirky part to this new house is that we will have hardly anything done by Italians. The kitchen work and painting will be the product of Romanian sweat. The sofa is being made by Albanians. Most of our furniture will probably be Swedish design from IKEA. Only the locks and lights will be done at the hands of Italians. So much for Italian design and quality. Either we can't afford it or don't like it.