On an early spring morning while having our coffee, my husband and I discussed having the kitchen remodeled. I wasn’t interested in remodeling right away because of the inconvenience and expense. I said next spring would be better, and I could save more money.

So my husband agreed to wait until next year, but a few weeks later he told me he wanted a new kitchen floor. “Just a floor!” Replacing the linoleum floor turned into kitchen upgrading. Upgrading our kitchen was a bunch of hassles, but it turned out to be worth it.

I called on my remodeling advisor (my oldest son) to help me get the replacing of the floor going. He suggested I should use ceramic tiles. He brought me samples of ceramic floor tiles to select the flooring I would like to be in the kitchen. I selected a light and dark brown swirling design on a creamy, vanilla-colored background.

Then, the work began on replacing the floor. Everything except the refrigerator-freezer was moved out of the kitchen and placed on the enclosed porch. The linoleum floor was removed and the ceramic tile was laid. But the beautiful ceramic tile floor brought out the ugliness of the kitchen walls. With old glue showing where missing tile had been, the walls were disgusting. I asked my husband what did he think about having the tiles on the wall removed and having the walls painted. He said the only thing he wanted was a new floor.

So I decided to let my son tear off the old wall tiles and to prepare for painting. In some places, new drywall was needed. To finish the drywall taping, mudding, sanding, and priming had to be done. During this process the dust was horrible. Dust was on everything from the front door to the kitchen door. It was also in my bathroom, which is between the living room and kitchen. I understood why a homeowner would leave his or her home and live with a relative or friend while having remodeling done.

Once the dry wall was finished, I had to decide on a paint color. I picked Apricot for the kitchen and Indian Peach for the adjoining hallway.

After the walls were painted, I didn’t like the old kitchen anymore. The painted walls were so nice; I didn’t want the 25-year-old fingerprint-stained wall cabinets on the newly painted walls. I asked my husband what did he think about having new kitchen cabinets installed. He said, “The only thing I want is a new floor.”

So I went to several home improvement stores to price kitchen cabinets. I chose wall and floor chestnut-colored cabinetry. My advisor suggested that I also get a countertop and sink to bring a modern look to the kitchen. So I purchased a countertop, a two-bowl sink, and a fancy faucet. After the kitchen cabinets, countertop, and sink were installed, I had a wall and a half of cabinets. We had lots more storage and drawer space than we had before.

The new floor cabinets had 10 drawers, but the old cabinets only had five drawers. We kept the potato masher, ice-cream scoop, spatula, eggbeater, corkscrew, whisk, nutcracker, garlic press, and other kitchen utensils in one drawer. One utensil usually got tangled with another utensil. Recognizing and separating the utensils took time and patience. The problem with the five extra drawers was to remember where the utensil was. I found myself going through nine drawers until I located a tong.

The last hassle was the old dishwasher. It didn’t fit (too wide) the space, between the two-floor cabinets, allowed for it. It didn’t fit (too tall) under the countertop, and it stuck out seven inches from the floor cabinets on either side of it. The old dishwasher was portable, it had to be moved to the kitchen sink and the water hose had to be connected to the faucet and the plug connected to an electrical outlet. When the washing was completed, the dishwasher was moved to a place where it was not in the way. A new dishwasher was needed. I asked my husband what he thought about having a new dishwasher. He said the only thing he wanted was a new floor.

At this point, I was feeling weary. My advisor said he would shop for a new dishwasher. As far as I was concerned, the kitchen was complete after the new dishwasher was in place. Although the black door on the stove didn’t match the white dishwasher and refrigerator-freezer, I was happy it fitted in place and worked because I couldn’t afford a new stove.

I loved my new kitchen. It looked like the ones in House & Garden Magazine. My husband liked the kitchen once it was completed too. The only problem I have now is that he asks, “Where is the ice-cream scoop?”

I’d like to tell him, but I don’t remember which drawer it is in.