Our Dream Kitchen aka IKEA Madness

I want to dedicate this post to John Haskin, you know who you are, we think you will get a big kick out of this!

This entry is a bit of a digression into last weekend. Last weekend, we spent 4 hours playing around with the IKEA Design-a-Kitchen software at the IKEA store. It was a frustrating morning that slipped into the afternoon, as we were there when it opened at 10 a.m.

We decided on IKEA for three reasons:

1) They told us we could get a complete kitchen in about 2 weeks, they will deliver and install the entire mess.

2) They have updated the quality of their appliances; we could get a Whirlpool dishwasher and a 5 burner stove.

3) They were the cheapest. We may have to leave the kitchen in the apartment when we leave so an adequate but inexpensive kitchen was just our ticket. Also we have no idea how long were going to be in Turin. Spending an arm and a leg on a kitchen that is temporary seemed just plain stupid.

While designing this Not-Our-Dream kitchen we ran into a few major hurdles. (Another list is headed your way and incidentally he remembers none of the following discourse.)

1) Demetrio would not let me have much of a say in the size and types of appliances we purchased. He wanted the most silent dishwasher, enough for a full 12 place settings worth of dishes while I wanted the “smaller, cheaper and noisier one, which held 9 place settings by the way“. He wanted the 5 burner stove, I did too though. I wanted the larger vent hood but he said the smaller one fit better in the space and had more power given the design of the thing. He picked out the microwave, the biggest refrigerator, the sink, and ¾ of the cabinets.

2) Demetrio would not let me fiddle with the computer program; he held the mouse in a death grip and grunted when I got close. He claims that “when you were not looking at nasty handles or knobs, we were both navigating through all the various design options. “ I am beginning to serious worry about early onset Alzheimer’s. I made a suggestion about the spacing of the wall cabinets and he would not even place the cabinets on the wall so I could have a look at what he called “an ugly looking” idea. He eventually gave in and I got a look at my idea even though he says it was “basically useless“.

3) We both wanted opposite colors for the kitchen cabinets, he wanted red and I wanted a steel blue. We decided on white as a compromise.

4) I was feeling a bit left out of the design process since the only things I felt I really got to choose were the handles/knobs and the kitchen faucet. (He did not like my choice by the way.) He preferred the heavy duty restaurant faucet that I thought was too splashy for a home kitchen and says I bullied him into getting a kitchen faucet he does not like. I must add this comment comes from a man who does no dishes whatsoever.

We left with a tentative design and estimate. To this day he claims he gave into all that I wanted and more. Part II to follow, if and when I stop seething.
**All the quotes were written with Demetrio sitting right next to me, I just typed as he rattled off .**