New York Renovator

I found this very cool photo site devoted entirely to houses of old: 50s Pam’s Photosets on Flickr. This one startled me, because it looks something like my kitchen here… well, before the cabinet doors fell off and the drop ceiling came down… and before the orange laminate countertops warped from age (yes, we really need a new kitchen!).

Pam has loads and loads of really neat photos, not just kitchens! There are photos of older houses, old promotional items, vintage appliances, old advertisements, and more. It’s a fun (sometimes scary) trip down memory lane.

I admit, I do snicker a little when I see magazine writers and designers creating “modern” kitchen designs of the future. I have seen “modern” kitchens that were prophesied from the 1950s and 60s; robots that buttered your toast, sensors that watered your herbs, las vegas slot machines that popped out your breakfast cereal, etc. But trends seem to move a lot slower than magazine editors and designers think. And I think that “cozy” and “warm” will always be important to home buyers, no matter what century.

So this is their latest idea. These look rather cold and austere to me, what do you think?

Honestly, I don’t see how any normal family could function with something like this. There are only two stove burners (I often use four and wish I had more), no oven, a tiny sink. Where do you put dirty and washed dishes? Where do you carve the turkey or mix the cake batter? I just love the plants, though. I wish I had enough sunlight in my kitchen to enable me to do it. Maybe someday I’ll get my new kitchen…

This was interesting, too.. but people aren’t robots. Too cold, too drab.

Hat tip Web Urbanist.

My local news source linked to a Move.com article detailing some exprected trends in kitchen remodels. To be honest, I really question the trends. They seem extremely extravagant. Now I know, I know, I live in Upstate New York, not exactly within the realms of the Beverly Hills/Manhattan Home Re-Do specialists. And I admit, I do view “trends” with a wary eye. To me, “trends” are less about “what’s hot,” and are more about “stuff that corporations are marketing to consumers.”

Here are some of the trends that are being marketed to us this year … everyone is buying so we have to have it too … becoming popular:

1. Granite countertops.

Are they kidding?! There was a flurry of news reports in July and August, claiming that granite countertops emit radon. I blogged about it, too. Besides, granite is THE most expensive countertop you can buy (unless you want gold plate). I am highly suspicious that granite countertops are the new “trend” at the same time that people are losing their 401Ks and manufacturing jobs continue to be outsourced (by the way, do we still have any manufacturing companies in the U.S.?)

2. Personalized, decorative tile backsplashes.

Again, this is a highly customized feature. I seriously doubt that people are going to want to spend 5 times more for decorative tile for their backsplashes.

3. Glass front cabinets.

Not terribly thrifty, but glass front may eventually be cheaper than solid wood. Still, it’s another semi-custom feature. I think consumers are going to lean toward more stock items, things that are durable and easy to maintain.

4. Stainless steel appliances and white appliances.

When did white appliances go out of “trend”? I think 99% of us have white refrigerators, right? Stainless steel appliances have come a long way. I think they used to be priced right around $2500 when they first came out; I saw one at Lowe’s for about $1,500 recently. Still… a refrigerator is a refrigerator. Does it really matter if it has a micro computer memory chip to make the perfect ice cube? Do you think you’d pay $1000 more for a fridge because it has stainless steel covering? Not me, anyway.

5. Turquoise and pink colors.

*screams in horror*

I FINALLY got rid of all the turquoise and pink paint from when they did it to my house in the 1950s! Noooooooooo!

“It’s any color pink. Pink is the hot shade. Bubblegum, raspberry pink, cherry pink… all those pinks are big. The other big shade is turquoise. Turquoise jewelry is hot and we’re starting to see that in fabric and wallpaper design. It’s just now starting but it will get huge.”

Ladies, if we want the men to pitch in in the kitchen, JUST SAY NO to pink.

6. Round or oval tables.

7. Hardwood floors.

Again, #6 and #7 are in moderately higher echelons than the other existing choices– rectangular tables and vinyl flooring. I have seen some very nice hardwood-looking resilient flooring at Home Depot. The stuff is amazing– my local Walmart actually installed it recently on their floors. The stuff is beautiful and incredibly durable. It’s called “Trafficmaster Vinyl Plank flooring.” It installs in strips, like laminate flooring, but it has sticky tabs that make it stick together. When I re-do my kitchen, I’m using that stuff. It wil last forever, and be a breeze to maintain.

Well, that’s my take on what the talking heads are saying about kitchen trends. I’d really like to know what you think about all this. I read these “trends” lists with a skeptical eye, but I do wonder if it’s just me being too cheap, or do I really have a pulse on the average homeowner’s thoughts? Let me know!

About a year ago, I blogged about my plight with can openers. They hate me! When I married, I got three can openers as wedding gifts. Before my first anniversary, they were all dead. I have tried buying various models, only to see them defunct within a few months. I reverted to my very old hand can opener, something my grandmother gave me when I was single. Her can opener has lasted me years– decades! But last year, it started to fail. The spinner wasn’t spinning. I bought another hand-cranking can opener (all made in China, now), and it broke within a month. Again, I bought another, and it broke. I was at wit’s end!

My sister read my post and came over one day, carrying her can opener. She said she had two, and I could have one of them. (Ain’t she sweet?) She showed me how to use it and treat it real nice (remember I said can openers hate me). But this was a can opener like no other– it didn’t have any flowery names like “Sunbeam” or “Can Opener Delight.”
This was a honking towering big black monster with a growling blade. It was a BLACK & DECKER can opener!! The father of all can openers!

Nonetheless, I had a pretty bad track record with can openers. But I was reminded that although can openers hate me, my power tools do love me. I immediately bonded with this can opener because it has the same name as my jigsaw and my screwdriver set (very reliable). Black & Decker make monster power saws– a can opener by them has got to be good, right?!

Well I’m happy to say that the Black & Decker has performed exceptionally well. It tolerates my nuances, my quirks, my sloppy can-holding technique… and still the B&D bites through my canned corn like it’s a stick of butter. I’m pretty impressed. I think the end of this story just may be “and they lived happily ever after.”

I saw this neat little gadget at HipCompass. It’s a handheld water sterilizer, called the “SteriPEN Adventurer Handheld Water Purifier.” When swished around in a glass of dirty water, it’s supposed to destroy the DNA of nasty microbes. It uses ultraviolet light to do so. Interesting! I don’t know if I’d be so brave as to try out the water to make sure the gadget works. And it’s $78 at Amazon, gulp. So next to travel insurance, this could be quite the expensive little carry-all. They have bigger filtration systems, too.

Water filtration is on my mind because Health Nut Wannabee Mom had a great post about bottled water versus tap water. She wrote about the benefits of tap water versus the expensive bottled water. And I agree, tap water can be just as good or better than bottled water. But it really depends on your source. If you live near a bunch of landfills or toxic waste dumps, you can be assured that bottled water is a better choice than tap water. I wrote in the comments:

Tap water has so much junk in it. It’s basically sewage liquid, run-off water, and ground water that goes through a treatment plant. My tap water is loaded with chemicals. I know there’s flouride, chlorine, and lead in it, and God-knows what else. In Arizona and Nevada, there’s tungsten in the tap water which has led to a leukemia epidemic there. The water in Albany, NY, was recently tested and was found to have exceedingly high levels of Cialis in it. How on earth did Cialis get in the public water supply? The water is treated WASTE water– people who took Cialis (and I guess there are a lot of men in Albany who do) pass the drug into their urine. The urine goes through the septic system, to be recycled and treated for our drinking water. The chemical treatments might remove cholera and typhoid, but not a lot of the prescription drugs that people take.

There are increasing levels of chemicals — purposely added, and some are there from industrial waste run-off that I just don’t trust tap water…

I’ve been puttering around, looking at water filtration systems and wondering if I want to install something when we redo the kitchen. I guess I just don’t trust the tap water anymore. More to think about…

I must be one of the most tolerant homeowners on earth, or perhaps the stupidest, lol. You know how you get so used to something that you tend to not notice it after a while?

I went into the kitchen this afternoon, to fill the tea kettle with water for tea. I noticed a new leak spurting out of our 1970s faucet. sigh. It made me look at the sink area with new perspective. This backsplash behind the faucet is absolutely terrible. Disgusting.

Other areas of the countertop are peeling or warped. I don’t know how I can tolerate it. It’s been this way for about a decade, slowly rotting and getting worse every year. I guess I’ve blocked it out of my consciousness — probably for the retaining of my sanity– because the decay just struck me again as very repulsive. And for a fleeting moment, I wondered why I haven’t fixed it yet. What, am I crazy, letting this go on and on for years??

Then I remembered. Oh yeah.

We do want the countertop replaced, but I won’t do it. Know why? Because this crappy slab of 1972 orange laminate sits on top of crappy 1972 plywood cabinets. Almost all of the cabinets have either fallen apart or are warped. Now, why don’t I just get new cabinets, then? Well, the cabinets sit on top of a severely cracked and broken up 1972 tile floor. OK so replace the flooring, the cabinets, and the backsplash. Nope, because behind the cabinets are 1855 plaster walls, with most of their plaster behind the cabinets missing. In winter, when we open a cabinet door or drawer, the wintery outside air blasts into the room. Wild, huh? I won’t even mention the mouse problem we have here, lol…

OK that’s pretty bad, but maybe I could just replace the walls, the flooring, the cabinets, and then get the new countertops!

Um, nope. Because within the walls is 1920s knob and tube wiring, 1940s plumbing that is not properly vented, and there’s no insulation between the studs. Not to mention that the only kitchen window is broken. I’d have to entirely GUT the room before I could get new countertops. Otherwise, I’d be spending $800 on new countertops for nothing– a shaky foundation. I refuse to set a brand-new countertop on top of disgustingly broken, unlevel cabinets that rest on disgustingly broken, unlevel flooring and against disgustingly holey and broken up walls with disgusting and inadequate plumbing and electric.

So that’s why I tolerate it. Most people would have their moving boxes out already; but I do like the house and I’ve put my heart into my gardens. I just need to gut this ol’ house! Ugh!

So, how are my gardens doing this fine, sunny day!

Remember those really cool (and super-expensive) granite countertops that were ALL the fad a year ago? (Actually, they are still very popular, but concrete countertops is what is filling the wealthy homes now). A NY news story says these granite countertops have been known to emit radon and, most likely, radioactive material.

Karl Konarzik is testing this East Amherst kitchen for Radon. While the homeowner’s worry is possible Radon in the granite countertops, Karl puts his testing device in a cabinet.

While some other radon tests have been conducted on the surface of the granite counter tops, Karl told us, putting the testing machine at face level is a more accurate way of testing the radon’s effect on your health

Radon is an odorless, colorless gas that emits radiation that is found in granite, marble, and other rock formations.

Oopsie! Who came up with granite countertops, anyway?? Always seemed extravagant and inefficient to me. But then again, I’m a dish-dropper. Hehe.

Several weeks ago, I drove to my local library and saw a beat-up old minivan in the parking lot. It was very beat-up; most of the frame had been rusted through at the bottom. Paint was peeling from the doors, and all the paint was completely gone from the hood, exposing the raw ugly metal beneath. The side-view mirror was bent, and the tires were well worn. I don’t usually pay any attention to cars, but this one caught my eye because it had a bumper sticker on the back bumper. It read:

Don’t let the car fool you. My treasure is in heaven.

It made me literally laugh out loud.

I’d been moping about my kitchen remodel this week (er, rather, my lack of one). But the more I thought about it, the more I remembered a certain psalm. It’s a psalm I remember often, actually, especially when I sometimes skim news headlines. It’s Psalm 73. I’ll quote excerpts.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge[a] with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.

11 And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.

It spoke to me not to be envious for new kitchen remodels or covet fancy Wilmington real estate. I do what I can do, and belly-aching about my current plight is not going to help anything. I trust in God, and He’ll take care of things. I’m certainly not saying that new kitchen remodels are bad, or that people are evil who get them! But if my happiness hinges on the amount of stuff I can get, then I am very very poor indeed.

I really want to own a new kitchen and a renovated house. But I do not want those things to own me. I will continue working for and toward those goals, but just like that bumper sticker, “my treasure is in heaven.” LOL, I should get a sticker like that for my back door for all to read who enter!

Don’t let the house fool you. My treasure is in heaven.