The layout of our apartment is a little funky. It’s great for us, but needs some minor adjustments.
The backstory
The little things
- We love the large/open entertaining space in the middle, but because we are angled into a corner, our “dining room” isn’t really distinct. That totally works for us, but does make layout of the space a tad more difficult. Our solution was a folding/gateleg table (that we rarely use) and a “tinker toy” couch that we can configure into any shape for whatever our needs are.
- The microwave is over the range. I don’t care for those: I’m short and the microwave gets really hot when I’m cooking on the stove. But when that was done, it was trendy.
- The passthrough from the kitchen to the dining area is okay, but it’s just okay. That is wasted space. And in our layout, it’s mostly hidden, anyway.
- In an ensuite where the bathroom and closet are in a line, you should walk through the closet to get to the bathroom, not the other way around. In a bathroom-first layout, if someone is in the shower, the other person can’t get dressed without letting out all the steam from the bathroom. We even looked into a Murphy Door from the living room to the closet. Not only was that crazy expensive, but we’d lose our beautiful “bubbles” chandelier that we like a lot.
- and then there is….
The big thing
The big one is that there is no proper pantry. There is a storage closet in the living room with shelving that could be a pantry, but who wants to schlep ingredients across the living room to the kitchen?
They also didn’t install any corner cabinets in the uppers or lowers. There are four significant voids in the two corners of the u-shaped kitchen. Our guess is that this is all because the building was finished during a recession; we’ve been told, “we’re just lucky they finished the building at all.”
We have a store-larger-items problem. Not everything can sit on the counter, but that is where all of it lives because we don’t have enough of the right kind of space.
I could rearrange and reorganize and make some more room. That always helps, but that won’t solve the problems of large items like vases, party platters, the pressure cooker, the stand mixer, the water filter, etc..
The idea
A unit in our stack was for sale a couple of years ago. In the pics, we could see where they added a floor-to ceiling cabinet next to the kitchen column to accommodate double ovens. There were enough pictures to really see how they laid it out, and it’s a nice look. We stole-and-tweaked the idea and headed to the cabinet stores.
After multiple stores, we finally landed on one that we thought could produce the cabinet we wanted, could coordinate with our existing kitchen, and could help us find a contractor to do the job (the missing piece at all the other stores). We’ve been very happy with our designer at our cabinet shop. She’s new, but willing to learn. We suspect she has a great mentor at the shop. The CAD looks fabulous, and we were so excited.
The plan
We ordered the cabinets in early May 2024. The lead time was 6-8 weeks and we’d be gone on our trip from mid-June through the end of August, so our designer ordered them in “perfect” timing to be delivered on September 3rd.
The failure
Our (first) contractor is categorically terrible at his job. He won’t use his calendar/contacts/notes. He “freaked out” on cabinet delivery day because he wouldn’t be present, despite our email telling him that date. I totally get focus and being “deep in it,” but I don’t get freaking out at a client before you search your damn email.
Here is the chain of events as we described them in our email to him:
Jeff,
I’ll be honest, you are disappointing us at every turn. You seem incapable of using your calendar/contacts. We have kept you in the loop, but you have not paid attention to that information.
- In May, when we booked the cabinet production, we tried to book with you for September. You wrote, “Let’s touch base end of august.”
- In August, when we tried again, you said, “as of now I’m looking at the end of October to get started on your project.” We asked for a date.
- In September, when the cabinets were delivered (per the May order) you were copied on that communication, but then said, “I just got a call they are delivering your cabinets within an hour. I was unaware so not sure if you have been in touch with them and are expecting the delivery. I am not around so hopefully you are home to accept delivery.” We again requested, “Let us know once you have an installation date with your schedule.”
- In October when we reached out for a date, you wrote, “Yes November should work, let’s touch base in a couple weeks to narrow down a date.” We then gave you a date range of: Nov 1, Nov 4-9, and Nov 12-14. You picked the 12th.
- On the 4th, we confirmed Nov 12th and reminded you that we’d be leaving the country only a few days after that.
- You then asked to see the space again. Did you forget the entirety of our project after you delayed us so many times? Even after you asked to see it again, you didn’t reply until those days were past.
- You then asked again for our phone number and to talk about yet another delay.
While we understand that the weather can create delays, the number of delays leading up to this makes that moot. If you hadn’t missed so many schedule communications, we wouldn’t be trying to schedule this during snow season.
So, the reality is: if you can’t do the 12-14 as we agreed, then we are at a standstill.
What are your plans to correct this?
-the [last name]s
Despite one author and two editors, our email had a typo. But it was clear, complete, and professional.
He wrote back with a quite rude response:
My plan is your1 not happy with me, I’m not happy with your tone2 so were3 certainly not a fit to work together. Consider this my termination of us working together.
The trash took itself out. I almost replied with corrections. (1you’re 2tone, 3we’re). I guess this is why he never took a deposit for our work. He knew he couldn’t follow through.
He’s yet another contractor who didn’t learn much in third grade language class….or in any of the nine years of school beyond that. (And while I know he was typing angry and with his phone, autocorrect would fix these for him if he didn’t make the error more often than not. It’s 2024, and the tech will do this for you. There is no excuse.)
For anyone who cares the terrible contractor was:
Jeff — “a note to follow So” — “use the ____, Luke”
of beee arrrr geee
I still can’t decide if we should invoice him, sue him in small claims, or just leave reviews for him everywhere quoting his own email.
The change
Because Jeff Duh Farce couldn’t work within the 2.5 month window we gave him with a 3-month lead time, we thought we were looking at March, which would mean the work couldn’t even start until 10 months after the cabinets were ordered…and after they sat in our living room for 7 of those months.
This is where our cabinet designer stepped in. By noon, we had a 5:30 meeting with a new contractor. He had a cancellation this week and might even be able to start on it before we leave. He’s delightful, GLBT-friendly, smart, kind, professional, and knows how to use a damn calendar.
The solution
The work is scheduled. And guess what? They think they can finish it all before we leave! So, now, we’ll need to add clearing out the kitchen/living/dining rooms to our pre-trip plans so we can make room for the team to work.
We’ll try to post a couple of pics if they are able to finish before we leave.