Or so I think at the moment. I've been spending many hours on Craigslist, hoping to score a bargain on cabinets and appliances... and basically hoping inspiration will strike on exactly what to do with this kitchen.

Our kitchen is a "galley" style, which in HGTV-land is the worst kind to have! It's dark, it's narrow, it's out-dated, it's non-functional. We are using a tiny dorm room fridge and a camp stove! The original cooktop is turquois! Indeed, the different colors of appliances that were here represented every decade. Non-matching appliances... another NO-NO in HGTV-land.

Though the cabinets still have a golden glow in places, they are also very worn in others. When my artist son came to visit he said he liked the cabinets. I was pleased to hear him say that. Hubby likes them, but will go with whatever I think best.

I drew up a beautiful floorplan of an open style kitchen/living/dining area that would require major renovation and probably a pretty large chunk of change. Yeah, it would be very nice. I've even found some great cabinets on CL for cheap! (People around here buy million dollar houses and replace perfectly good, often brand new kitchens to better suit their tastes).

You get the feeling that almost anything is possible on CL. If I can dream it, I can usually find it. But the price is more than money. It's work, too. And I'm not feeling that ambitious these days. That, or maybe I have enough on my plate as it is.

Today I decided to set my loathing of paying retail aside and check if I could get all new matching (decent quality) appliances, that fit the configuration that I have, and at a price that wouldn't break the bank. Oh, and I want to have them all delivered FREE.

Success!

The advantages to this are many. I actually SAVE money by not having to remodel, not having to buy/rent a van to pick anything up, not getting in over my head with a big project, and possibly not having to hire anyone. I have to say, the prospect of just having a functional house, even if it has a galley kitchen seems like a dream to me right now.

I think we all just want a 'normal life'. This is only the fifth house we've redone in about that many years. Soooo... would it be so terrible to just accept my unpopular "galley kitchen" and learn to love it?