Rich Engelhardt
05-05-2012, 8:53 AM
We all got together and bought my mother inlaw new kitchen counter tops & a new sink/faucet for Christmas.
Home Depot did the install.
They removed the old (1961) plywood/Formica counter tops from the (1961) Birch ply/pine frame cabinets which are finished with orange shellac.
When they installed the new counter tops, they left a band around the top of the cabinets about 2" wide of raw wood.
My wife and I think it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Nobody else is bugged by it all that much - including my mother in law.
Now, here's the thing - my mother in law is 85.
We tried to get her to replace the whole shebang - counter tops, sink and cabinets - as well as taking down the old powder blue tile.
She didn't want to part with the tile or the cabinets, so we backed off that idea.
I know it's her house and her say and all - but - if anything should happen to her (God forbid!),,,the whole kitchen is going to have to go.
I strongly suspect that one reason nobody else objects to the appearance is because (being a Christmas gift), there's no "paycheck" in it for them.
A few of my wife's relatives will do work around her house - provided she pays them for it.
I don't mind doing the work in the least. I feel it's part of my "dues" to her and my late father in law for making me one of the family.
Plus, my MIL is great! (LOL! Unlike my late FIL, my MIL actually liked me the first time she met me!)
So anyhow - should I just let it go - or - just spend a half hour putting a coat of shellac on and drinking beer...
I'll be drinking the beer one way or another, if that mattters...it's about the only way I know of to deal with a segment of the family...
Home Depot did the install.
They removed the old (1961) plywood/Formica counter tops from the (1961) Birch ply/pine frame cabinets which are finished with orange shellac.
When they installed the new counter tops, they left a band around the top of the cabinets about 2" wide of raw wood.
My wife and I think it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Nobody else is bugged by it all that much - including my mother in law.
Now, here's the thing - my mother in law is 85.
We tried to get her to replace the whole shebang - counter tops, sink and cabinets - as well as taking down the old powder blue tile.
She didn't want to part with the tile or the cabinets, so we backed off that idea.
I know it's her house and her say and all - but - if anything should happen to her (God forbid!),,,the whole kitchen is going to have to go.
I strongly suspect that one reason nobody else objects to the appearance is because (being a Christmas gift), there's no "paycheck" in it for them.
A few of my wife's relatives will do work around her house - provided she pays them for it.
I don't mind doing the work in the least. I feel it's part of my "dues" to her and my late father in law for making me one of the family.
Plus, my MIL is great! (LOL! Unlike my late FIL, my MIL actually liked me the first time she met me!)
So anyhow - should I just let it go - or - just spend a half hour putting a coat of shellac on and drinking beer...
I'll be drinking the beer one way or another, if that mattters...it's about the only way I know of to deal with a segment of the family...