Relocating Small Kitchen Appliances

Let me begin by saying that our house was built in the mid 1930's. It's a small 2 story farm house that's been added on to over the years. In it's 75 years of existence, we are only the third owners. My husband's folks bought this ranch in the 1940's right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

My mother-in-law was a saint. How she managed to raise 4 children, work a ranch and entertain copious amounts of over-night guests in this house I'll never know. The kitchen is the size of a postage stamp..maybe a tad smaller. There is no counter space and very few cupboards.

The house has gone trough some minor remodeling over the years, most of it since we took over the ranch 15 years ago. Even so, the kitchen has always been a source of frustration for me.

When the house was designed, its purpose was to be a place for the folks to come in from after a hard day of ranch work, slurp down a bowl of stew and plop into bed. Comfort was not a big issue. Smaller kitchens were acceptable back then because folks didn't have all the modern appliances that we use today. There were no electric coffee makers, no electric toasters, no electric blenders, and no microwaves.

Every time I prepare a meal I have to move things around on the counter in order to eek out a foot or two of working space. It makes me crazy! and as the result, last Thursday I went a little off the deep end .

Here's what happened:

I decided to bake some cookies, but when I tried to put the electric mixer on the counter the toaster was in the way so I set it on top of the stove and tried to wedge the mixer in the corner. I grabbed a bag of flour and having no place to set it while I measured out the right amount, I had to set it on the stove as well. Suddenly I decided I'd lived with the inconvenience long enough.

I stood there looking around and decided something had to be done. The logical thing was find another spot for the toaster, microwave and coffee maker. Unfortunately there was no other place I could put them, after struggling for space for 15 years, I already knew that. Then in a totally "Lucille Ball" moment I knew what I had to do. The solution was simple. All I had to do was remove the corner floor to ceiling cabinet, and I'd have at least 2 more feet of counter space.
Simply genius if I do say so myself!

My husband, Bruce, was at work, which I decided was a good thing because if he had been home he would have come up with at least 20 reasons why taking out that one little ol' cupboard was a bad idea. I figured what he didn't know while he was as work couldn't stress him...much. With a joyous heart I removed all the items from the cupboard. Next I triumphantly marched out to his work shop, retrieved his sledge hammer and crowbar and set to work. Although I'd never demolished anything it was remarkably easy. I was a one-woman explosion of mass destruction!

The more I worked the more I liked the idea, and the next thing I knew I had removed not one but two cupboards. Then it was three. Next I went to work on the base cabinets. AhHah! Now I had a whole vacant wall to work with... a blank canvas with which to create a whole new kitchen!

About that time Bruce came home and stood in stunned silence . I was covered in debris and grinning wildly. I held a sledge hammer in one hand and a crowbar in the other. His head swiveled back and forth between me, the blank wall and the pile of demolished cupboards. When he was finally able to speak all he could say was " What the ... What the...?"

By way of explanation I said "I needed to move the toaster, microwave and coffee maker." By then he must have drifted into deep shock because his only response was a barely audible "ok" as he turned and walked into the living room and plunked down in a chair.

I followed him and told him that I had it all under control and that I planned on going to the Habit For Humanity second hand building materials store the next day to find cupboards that "would suit my needs."

We spent a very quiet evening.

The next morning after Bruce left for work, I measured the wall and headed out to find new cabinets. Surprise! None of them would fit into the space I had opened up. Apparently older houses have a problem with room sizes and wall dimensions being much different than those in standard modern homes.

Seriously...Who knew?

From the Habitat for Humanity second hand store, I went to two local stores that carry new cabinets. They both gave me the same bad news. Either I would have to leave a lot of unused space or tear out a wall to make new cabinets work. One store did say that there were older style cabinets available, but they were only sold on the east coast, and I would have to pay an exorbitant shipping cost and in addition there would be no way to return them if they didn't work out.

When home I got on the phone and called every store on the west coast that sold cabinets. Every one of them told me the same story. They all suggested I call a cabinet maker. By day's end, I wasn't feeling too good about my remodeling job.

Bruce came home that evening expecting to see a truck load of second hand cabinets, instead he found me trying to figure out how to fit the pieces of the cabinets I tore apart back together. He laughed. I cried. Then he assured me we'd figure something out.

The next day I was busy on the computer trying to figure out what to do with the blank wall, and low and behold I discovered Home Depot carries a line of inexpensive small unfinished cupboards in various sizes that seemed like they would work. I measured the wall, and phoned the 3 closest Home Depot stores. Amazingly between the 3 stores, they had all the cabinets in stock that I needed. I breathed easier.

Early the next morning I hit the road and collected all the cabinets . When Bruce got home I beamed with pride. I told him I'd pulled together a brand new functional kitchen for under $500.00. He was impressed....that is until he checked my measurements and told me I was 3/16ths of an inch off or some other silly little measurement. He said he was sure the main cabinet, the one I wanted the most, would not fit.

The next day was Bruce's day off work, so we started mounting the cabinets that we knew would fit. Although I'd been in denial, it soon became evident that Bruce was right, one of the cabinets wouldn't work...actually when it was all said and done, it was two. He did a great job of holding his frustration back, but I spent most of the day feeling ill. By late afternoon I was battling a migraine. I suddenly loathed all toasters, microwaves and coffee makers!

The next morning, we measured, remeasured, drew more diagrams, argued over what would and would not work. Then we measured, remeasured, drew more diagrams and...well, it went on that way for nearly 2 hours. Finally we came up with a plan that would work. We returned the two cabinets to Home Depot and picked up spacers, fillers, composite floor board, caulking, pine boards, and three different cabinets. Through it all Bruce was stoic and unwaveringly clam. On the drive home he quietly said "so what do you figure the final cost is now Lucy?"


The kitchen is pretty much back together now, and yesterday I was able to relocate the toaster, microwave, and coffee pot which left me with 3 new feet of counter space. I suppose there must be an easier way to relocate small appliances, but I'm really happy with my new kitchen. When I ask Bruce if he likes it he just quietly nods his head. I think he will like it more once the initial shock wears off.

• As an interesting side note: The sledge hammer and crowbar have gone missing along with most of the smaller power tools. Bruce thinks maybe someone stole them, but oddly he doesn't seem too upset. I'm not sure what to think...strangely enough I can't even find a hammer.