Clean Sweep, the Not-Born-to-Run Kitchen Edition, Part One

Yes, it's time to come clean, so to speak. You've seen bits and pieces of the NBTR headquarters over the years. Well, here it is, in all its glory, I present, my kitchen:

Yes, the floor is missing a few pieces.

Not enough cabinets resulted in this delicate solution of baskets and a metal shelving unit.

About oh, 8 months ago, Number One Daughter started stripping the wallpaper, step one in our "oh-we-surely-can-remodel-this-ourselves" phase. There was no step two.



So, a while ago, the top drawer sort of fell apart. It's amazing what you can get used to.





There you have it: 75 square feet of what has to win the prize for the "kitchen in most need of repair."

And I'm sure I would have lived with this depressing miserable workplace for a long time to come if I didn't have a crazy goal to rent my place out and move into the city. And if Number One Daughter's imminent departure weren't so...imminent.

I started saving and squirreling away every spare penny, and talking to contractors (fun! Not!). It's not like I was looking for a dream kitchen here. I had no interest in over-improving the place (a good thing, given my budget and the free-falling condo market). ALL I needed was 7 in-stock Home Depot cabinets, a new floor, new light fixture, and new countertop. And I didn't want to spend more than $5,000.

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

After MONTHS of looking, I finally settled on this firm, which works primarily on Capitol Hill, but which agreed to come out to the hinterlands of Bethesda to do this job.

Wait 'til you see what happened next. You WILL NOT BELIEVE IT.

Stay tuned....