As you can probably guess, the room I was the most anxious about getting done was the kitchen. I knew coming into the house that it was going to be awhile until I had a full kitchen. This wasn’t my first time seeing Randy do his renovations and knowing what the procedure was. I went in with a plan of attack considering I’m still being very mindful of my weight loss process. Setting up a makeshift kitchen was high on my priority list. Thankfully, we made smart moves and got things not only into a flow that worked for us food wise, but that also got the kitchen moving along at a pretty swift pace. What followed ended up being the best kitchen that either one of us has ever had.
Beings that Randy is not a novice to the house flipping process, he has established a pretty set method to kicking off the operation in a new house. Before move in, he does whatever wood based floor work he has to do. This meaning he refinishes what needs attention, or lays down new flooring in the main areas of the house. He also takes care of at least one full bathroom and the master bedroom so that there are both completed areas to bathe and rest in. After that, he moves in and begins the renovation process while living there. The last house that he worked on, which was completed fully within 6 months thanks to the pandemic taking all of his extra curricular activities away, was beautifully done. But the first few months had him living off of an air fryer and a coffee machine with not much else.
I made it clear as our move in process began that living off of take out alone and only an air fryer wasn’t something I was really down for. I wanted us to be able to make some healthier meals, not that air fryers aren’t healthy, with a variety of cooking options. So a portable burner was purchased, the instant pot was set up quickly and so was the air fryer. A microwave was also set up and before long, our dining room table looked like a station set up for a quickfire challenge on Top Chef. Our laundry room, which is home to a large stationary sink, was our new kitchen sink and resulted in some prep being done on our washer and dryer most nights.
A new grill/smoker with a side gas burner was also purchased which aided in some more healthy dining choices. Now don’t get me wrong, there was definitely a few gluttonous evenings. After all, we live close to a University and have a plethora of fried and cheesy based options. But we’ve all been there with moving that it’s wayyyy easier to grab a extra large extra cheese pizza then making dinner. And we were moving. Except we knew that it was going to be weeks until we had a full working kitchen. So the amount of extra large, extra cheese pizzas had to be greatly reduced.
The kitchen we started with, to recap, was not bad persay, just horribly dated. As stated in the overall introduction to the house, nothing had been updated in a very long time, if ever. The refrigerator was the only thing that clearly had been changed out. Otherwise, all other appliances and furnishings were from the 70’s.
We decided on our first viewing of the house that we wanted to rearrange some things. The range/oven we wanted to shift over to where the sink currently was. And the sink we wanted to move over towards the window.
There was a small shelf with shallow storage underneath the current window, but to use served very little purpose. One thing Randy has mastered with flipping houses is finding new ways to increase storage and make the space seem bigger.
If we moved the range out from next to the fridge, that would not only open up space for extra counter tops and storage, but we could shift it a bit and add a pantry, something we had both come to love.
Before we moved in, Randy gutted the entire kitchen along with the help of our good buddy, Pat. The cabinets, the floors, the appliances, with the exception of the fridge: all gone. We were starting from ground zero.
The range also had been previously electric and beings a chef, something I was not a fan of. My previous home had an electric range and I could. not. stand. it. Things took forever to heat up. If you turned a burner off, it stayed hot longer then you’d want. And there was a lot less control. So immediately, a gas line was planned to convert over from electric based burners.
The electricity was something that also had to be addressed. Randy is comfortable doing a fair amount of electrical work himself so Handy Randy did what he does best and handled it all himself, running new dedicated lines to the kitchen.
Water, gas and electricity were handled and then we came to a bit of a stand still. Both of us had loose ends to tie up with our respective houses. Last minute cleanings and moving came into play as we entered the two weeks leading up to settlement. Take out was frequent that week and I was fine with it. Whatever was easiest with everything going on, worked for me.
If you’ve ever moved, you know how stressful it is. While Randy’s went off without a hitch, mine ran into some issues. After a few speed bumps and hiccups in the process, we were finally good to go!
Settlement was completed and the kitchen resumed its process. Flooring had to be taken care of and within a weekend, it was completely done. After a very interesting encounter with our kitchen cabinet delivery guy (Who clearly didn’t realize it was 2021 as he assumed I was single since a man wasn’t there to help me and that I couldn’t lift heavy boxes), Randy started slowly assembling our cabinets.
He finished up ceiling spackle after removing some very impressive fake Styrofoam “wooden” beams and textured pieces. Soon, the walls were painted and we were ready for cabinets.
With the help of our friends, cabinets were moved into the place and drilled into the wall. Somehow, Randy managed to also mount the higher cabinets up himself.
I stayed patient through most of this process. Well, I’d actually venture to say all of it. The one thing I was not a fan of was that our fridge for over a month was out in our garage. I know, I should be grateful that we even had a fridge during this, which I completely am. The newer fridge that was left in the house wasn’t in terrible shape. So we decided to keep it and move it out there to use as an extra freezer and more space for when I had food styling jobs. However our new fridge that we picked out needed to wait a bit to have the water line set up. So most mornings, there were multiple trips going in and out of our garage with milk for coffee, fruit for salad water and yogurts, ingredients later for dinner.
After 4 weeks, it was getting a little old. Then the day came. The day when the refrigerator, water line for water filter and the ice machine included, was set up. When I tell you I happy danced, I HAPPY DANCED. It was all coming together! The dishwasher and stove followed and girlfriend was super happy. We then entered a small holding pattern.
Counter tops were selected and measured for but we then had to wait for delivery. We were getting so close! I was good at this point though. We had a fridge, a range/oven, and a dishwasher. We still had our stationary sink to wash things and space to prep and serve on.
Our counters came and were installed without a hitch. And not only were they installed, but our real kitchen sink was installed as well.
So recap, fridge: check! Dishwasher: check! Stove/oven: check! Cabinets: check! Counters: check! Sink: check!
We were both so excited and happy that everything was coming together. Shortly thereafter, Randy did the tiling that we had selected for our walls and backsplash. The decorative tiles were put up behind our range and the subway tiles were placed around the neighboring walls.
Something Randy set up in his last house that he really came to enjoy was a coffee station. Having a designed area just for our coffee items was something we both really liked and wanted. We figured though if we were covering our favorite beverages in the morning, why not cover something that we enjoyed in the evenings? Therefore, a wine glass rack and a wine bottle rack were installed in that area as well.
Before I knew it, the nicest kitchen that either of us had ever had, emerged. We were both in love with how clean, modern and well that it came out. I had assisted with choosing out many of the fixtures and stylings that were in his last renovation.
But this was the first time that we both collaborated on everything and knew that the plan was to stay in this house for a few years instead of just flipping it right away.
To say that I am a lucky lady, is an understatement. While I am confident in my writing and wording of things, words won’t accurately convey how thankful I am for Randy, his abilities and his drive to complete things. I’m beyond excited to prepare food, host holidays, and shoot photos in what is now our fully completed kitchen. We still have decorative tiles that we will be placing on the side of our peninsula counter once the adjoining family room is done. But for now, we have been loving using our range top, organizing our fridge each week with new groceries and reorganizing our items. Meshing together two very full kitchens was not easy. But we did it. And I can’t wait to mesh more stuff as we make our way through the rest of the house.
