Kitchen conspiracy

kw: remodeling, home maintenance

Our house was built in 1952. The first owner remodeled the kitchen in 1976. That's 36 years ago. The appliances are on their last legs. Now, wouldn't you know it, we find we can't get away with just replacing the appliances.

Item: The 17-cu-ft refrigerator is 66.5 inches tall, 32 wide and 28 deep (including handles). The nearest sized unit is 29.5 wide and 33.5 deep, and is 18 cu-ft. To get a unit less than 32 inches deep we'd have to go to a 10 cu-ft refrig. it would look silly in the space. We've almost decided to get the 18 cu-ft unit and take off the handles. Then it'll only stick out 3.5 inches more than the current one. I think we can live with that. It won't quite block the kitchen door.

Item: The counters and other appliances are 24 inches deep. The kicker is the stove. It is 29 inches wide, which was the standard in the 1970s. All new stoves are 30 inches wide (except for a few that are 24 wide), and it is also hard to find one only 24 inches deep. The current trend is 26 inches or more.

So, do I go for a half remodel, with new lower cabinets and counters? It'll come to some $20,000 in this area, appliances included. If they'd kept the same standards as before, I could replace the appliances for a couple thousand. Instead, I have to spend ten times as much. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!