Prosperous soul in the making

PurpleFairy26

badmemory said:

My kitchen is only 6 foot wide & I am hoping for floor to ceiling shelves with sliding doors in front.  Just hoping I can find someone that will do that without trying to tell me what I should want!

When we had ours done last year pretty much everyone I spoke to about designing it kept telling me about what I wanted and not actually listening to what I was actually telling them. Finally persevered with one and got there in the end. They thought it most odd I didn’t want wall cabinets and kept telling me I’d be short of space (and they obviously short on the cost of said cupboards 😉) despite the fact I was moving from a small box kitchen to a large extension and I’d worked out what was in the original cupboards and where they would go in the (my version) of the new kitchen. So glad I persevered. 8 months on I have absolutely no regrets and wouldn’t change a thing. So do stick to your guns. 

savingholmes

badmemory said:

Just make sure that when he says "Mum if you are going shopping will you pick up **** for me" that you hold your hand out for the cash.  Got to love DSs! but sometimes they do need a reality check.  Why is it that you always have to remind them - well about anything really.  I always think they get worse once they get older.  Mine at 13 did his very few chores once asked - by the time he was 15 I became a nag.  Puberty has a lot to answer for!

I agree. I have a 17 year old and a 22 year old and they both love to challenge the status quo.

MovingForwards said:

Phew, thank good DS came through and it will work out better with you not subsidising his expensive diet. 
Got my fingers crossed for DD.
I'm so sorry to hear the kitchen didn't quite go as planned, but your new and improved ideas sound great. Do let us know how you get on with the undersink space improvement, as it is such a waste of space how they are done; that's one of the reasons I want a handmade kitchen when I get mine done, plus wanting cupboards which go to the ceiling.
Your kitchen is going to look so good when you have finished the transformation 🤗

The doors aren't on yet - but already the spaces are looking better. I decided to get rid of over half of what was in our plastics cupboard - a 1200mm wide space!! This has then enabled us to do a big move around of stuff. I've moved what was a ground level tin cupboard to a head height one - and that has made a world of difference. I can now see everything I've got at a glance in the bottom layer of the top cupboard. I've then put all my baking stuff at the top like the food processor, weighing scales, liquidiser etc. I'd put a picture up but then you'd know I was the one with all the tinned tomatoes LOL.

badmemory said:

My kitchen is only 6 foot wide & I am hoping for floor to ceiling shelves with sliding doors in front.  Just hoping I can find someone that will do that without trying to tell me what I should want!

Hope you find someone. I'm only getting trades in to do what we can't so - electrics, gas and the worktop cut out. The rest we are doing ourselves. We haven't refitted the doors yet but it already looks so much better being more organised. I'll try and post a composite picture at some point.

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil - I am costing options still to send stuff back. Need to measure one of the boxes and see if another provider would be any cheaper. 
PF - glad you got what you wanted in the end. 
I've changed the BQ order and that's now coming 20/8. However - the new 1k3@ order won't checkout LOL. I rang up for my refund earlier and they are processing the £40 and sending me a £20 voucher for my trouble - so ideally I will wait for that to arrive but if my basket crashes meanwhile I'll cry as it was really stressful to do. My BQ order went from £488 to £300. It turned out I'd forgotten to order one of the lengths of counter - big oops!! So good job I went back and redid it. But my new spend last night was £140 - but sending drawers back that cost £120. My new spend on units etc and some more storage is due to around £412 and that's before appliances. Still in the budget envelope I set myself but creeping up. Hopefully it will all work out.

I need DH to put the drawers and doors back on - or at least help DD. We are having a takeaway tonight as we are all passed it! 

MovingForwards

I went through all the plastics when we moved as I only had one of them half cupboards for it and other things. Couldn't believe how much had been stored up! 
Being able to see everything makes a difference, that's why I adore my pantry. No photo either as I've got all the lentils, cous cous and other dried items.

Your kitchen budget spend so far is still a lot less than a new one.

Enjoy your take-away 🤗

savingholmes

Thanks MF. The Chinese food was very tasty. Still not sleeping well and when I woke up I knocked over a glass of water narrowly missing an extension cable. I have a call with a senior manager today followed by a video call so I need to get ready pronto and tidy up the background LOL.

Why is it always the way that the new spend shows before the refund does? Still waiting for my emailed voucher to appear too before placing my 1k3a order although if it doesn't come soon I might just go for it and put it towards the next order instead as it is one of my favourite shops (for its contents rather than to go to). 

I currently still have 3 shelves spare in the kitchen. Unheard of! That's before my new cabinets. I'm hoping to empty the utility cupboards into the kitchen so I can create some kind of solution to get our fresh clean washing off the floor !!! I am going to see if I can use our existing cupboard with a box inside for each person or something similar. Alternatively I might remove that cupboard altogether and put shelving up so we can fit whole baskets up high. Wish me luck!

savingholmes

DH has booked the wrong week off!! So I need to look if I can change mine. My new kitchen stuff is now ordered and will be delivered 11/8 from Ik** and 20/8 tthe new worktops from B** so now need to see if I can get a joiner and electrician sorted and check back with our plumber re the gas hob.

MovingForwards

I never understood why the spends show before payments in, put it down to strange banking glitches.

Hopefully your sleeping will settle when your mind clears more.

Argh, why did DH do that! Good luck getting yours altered and hope your meeting went well.

Ideas sound good with the allocated space.

savingholmes

Meeting went much better than expected. Beforehand the manager favoured 3 options ahead of mine - but at the end of the meeting with a consultant as well - they went with my preferred one so I was really pleased. If the work comes back within target budget -it will mean a new and much more interesting piece of work for me which would be fab. Have to wait and see now.

I've spent the last 3 hours mostly harvesting, washing off the harvest, planting out and talking to our neighbour. They have 3 interested buyers but it is down to who sells their house first. I harvested 6 beetroot, 3 pea pods, About a pound of plums. About 25 tiny red tomatoes, 5 cauliflower and broccoli florets, a bucket and a half of potatoes. 3 tiny carrots. 5 apples. Lots left to harvest but nowhere to put it yet so leaving it there for now. My beans have beautiful flowers but aren't really producing pods - although you can eat the flowers! I've planted on some spinach, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, marigolds and lavender. Some of the plants could be peppers I'm not quite sure. Time will tell. I spotted a cucumber as long as my hand on the plant - not sure how I'd know when that's ready to pick. I feel wiped out now! Feels like it's been a very productive day though.

It looks like I should be able to swap my holidays although I can't confirm until my boss is back in next week.

Our car that we bought for £750 last October seems to have a problem with the oil sump plug - and that's why it is losing oil. It is collecting in the pan underneath. The mechanic said the hole was bigger than it should be and to fix it we need to find someone willing to drill out a bigger sump hole and who can then find a plug for that. Moral of the story seems to be don't change the oil. Everything was running fine until then (and until DS started using it).  No idea how to resolve that.

My neighbour is going to give me details of a cheap electrician so we can sort kitchen electrics and other bits and bobs. DD has taken a break today - gone to see friends and now the gym so no kitchen progress.

savingholmes

I did get out for a brief walk with the dog at lunchtime. It has been really humid today. I was able to have some home grown tomatoes with my lunch. I've let to have tea as my legs are like jelly after been stood etc for around 3 hours!

MovingForwards

Work sounds promising!
As does the neighbours sale, plus the contact.

Potentially the bottom half of the sump can be replaced with one from a car in the scrappy, possibly 3bay etc. Ask DH to look online to see how that section is put together.  Some piffe (?) tape, the white plumbers stuff, wrapped round the sump plug will act as a temp measure.

Your crops sound fantastic. If you have a delicate liner paint brush, use it to cross pollinate the beans.