We're not postponing, but are moving painfully slowly forward. If you like your appliances, but would just like the stainless, have you looked at applying skins to them? Frigo design makes copper and stainless skins that can be applied to your appliances.

Those skins are very interesting, but still quite pricey. My DIY ideas are a little more frugal: I am going to replace the white knobs on my cooktop with graphite ones to match the grates and spray paint the yellowed plastic trim around the microwave with a stainless finish paint.
I looked into the Alsa film for my dishwasher and oven doors, but it comes in 2 and 4 foot lengths, and wouldn't you know I need a 26 inch wide piece! It would come out to about $250 for both, a little more than I want to pay. With my luck, I would reface them, and then they would conk out!
I guess it all comes down to wants vs needs, but I knew the TKO people on this forum would understand how I feel. Still, not being able to change the colour of my appliances is nothing when you consider how many people are losing their jobs and homes.

We're doing our bathroom now. It's a new installation in an upstairs conversion of a large closet and part of a large sitting area at the top of the stairs. Our house has plenty of closets - large enough to put a small TV room in our DS's room.

We've mostly done it ourselves except for plumbing and electrical - and we plan to have the shower professionally done (we're intimidated by the Kerdi system!!).

We're moving forward with our bathroom slowly. We picked up a Porcher large console sink (Sonnet) on Ebay for $499.00! The cheapest I could find it in Dec. was just under $1900. Same kind of savings on my Toto Neorest toilet. A $3K item for $1026. I picked up a $400. Restoration Hardware faucet set for $125.

Unfortunately they are sitting on our front porch awaiting the final coat of mud on the coved ceilings we put in. Paint is cheap. We'll have to see about the shower. We can tile but we want it good and waterproofed. We haven't even called the Kerdi guy to give us an estimate yet and the shower is ready.

How about... due to our extremely frugal lifestyle and some great investments, we were largely immune to the economic crisis. We went ahead with our renovation and things were going really well... UNTIL our sample door came in looking absolutely shoddy. We asked for our deposit back and-- alas!-- the cabinet/design store is not returning our deposit. Simultaneously, part of an inheritance we were supposed to get is tied up in Italian probate purgatory and subject to some odd taxes (this money was not for the kitchen, but would have boosted our savings). Of course, we also lost 1/2 of our retirement fund with the recent crash (but we have time until we retire).
So, yes indeed!, misery loves company. We can go ahead with our project, but there are somethings (like soapstone) we will probably have to forgo due to our deposit being held hostage (hopefully this is a temporary situation, but we never know).

In 2010, we won't have a massive preschool bill for our twins, our car note will be paid, and a second loan will be paid off as well-- this will be a huge relief and at that point I know we'll regret not having gone with certain upgrades b/c of our deposit situation.

Anxious to hear more sob stories.

In response to the economy, we are planning the remodel and collecting quotes, but our next official move in the process is a re-evaluation in April - of the economy, how much we got back for tax return, how steady hubby's job is looking, how much it will cost to do what we want to do. If it doesn't seem wise to do it, we will just postpone till our savings hits a certain point where we feel comfortable.

In the meantime, I am planning away. That's the fun part and can take many months anyway, even without the bad economy.

We are also looking into refinancing at a lower interest rate, and will be socking away every spare bit of money so that hopefully in April we will be in the best position possible to remodel. But in today's economy, it does feel a bit frivolous, especially when my outdated oak cabinets are 100 times better than what some people have.

I could stand to do something with my 36 year old bathroom. I was planning to remodel it but have pretty much put the whole thing on hold since the economic collapse. I just don't like the idea of spending a lot of money on anything I don't really need under the current circumstances even though so far nothing has really changed for me. It's functional though the grout in my shower is continuing to deteriorate. I just continue to patch it up. And my fan quit working - I'll probably replace that since I can use it when I eventually do remodel the bathroom.

It's interesting how listening to other people in the same situation puts things in perspective.
We also lost about a third of our retirement fund, and almost half of our 529 fund, but fortunately we did decide to pay off our mortgage last spring. If we had left that money in the market, we would have lost most of it.
Having no mortgage, car payments, or CC debt is more important than new apppliances.

Have put off the longed-for Lacanche Cormatin range for now. DH's retirement plans are up in the air, anyway. We thuoght it was a 90% sure thing for this July, but his manager desperately wants him to stay on for his full 2-year commitment which won't end until February 2010.

Don't think the DW will last too much longer, though, so that's probably a replacement sometime during 2009. We also had to have back porch and stairs redone as the dry rot was attacking. We have a carpenter installing a handsome Trex stairtread and railing system, he should be finished next week.

Trying to nurse the gas furnace through one more year, as well as the WH and roof. We are thinking of putting in a graywater system, though, because the drought is now entering its third year here and water rationing is going to be mandatory this summer.

The house and both cars are paid off, no charge bills that we can't pay off each month. We can afford to wait for the portfolio and home values to recover, since we don't have any plans to use the funds from either one for the foreseeable future.

We are within the 90 day return period on our IKEA cabinets, and seriously considering returning them and trying to make our old cabinets work by sanding and painting as they are structurally fine and solid wood (even the interiors). I originally wanted a blue or green kitchen anyway. We would give up some function (lazy susan cabinets and a dedicated space for the MW) and have to figure out how to put in a dishwasher where there was none before (cabinets are custom built, not modular, so we'll need to do some rigging), but we could really use the $2,000 to put toward other things. We haven't decided yet, though.

I guess misery really does love company. We have all our appliances sitting in various locations in the house. A $4000 deposit down for cabinets(done last May). I lost my job at the end of October and as everyone knows, the job market is not the greatest(plus, I'm in retail). Kitchen still seems up in the air even though a large portion has already been paid for. Part of this reno was redoing all the wood floors downstairs which takes a chunk out of the budget. DH is probably going to do alot of the kitchen work himself, but we probably still have about $15K worth of stuff to pay for(including the floors). I have reworked my layout to reduce the amount of cabinetry and added a "step in" pantry so I still have space. Will probably also supplement with a couple of Ikea cabs elsewhere in the kitchen if I find I am lacking storage.

We were also in the middle of a reno on the kids' bathroom(everything demo'd). DH would up doing the whole thing himself, plumbing, electrical and tiling. We wound up downgrading some of the items we had planned in there. Were going to do shower doors, went with a shower curtain rod. Found tile for $300 instead of the $1800 I was originally going to spend. Went with a smaller, less expensive tub that we found on Craigslist. But at least it's almost done.

We have no mortgage or car payments, but DH's company is shaky as well. We have our DD's Bat Mitzvah this June which is also going to eat up some $$. As with everyone else, our retirement accounts are too low to even look at and while college is still 5 years away for my oldest, 5 years isn't that far. Sometimes it's just too much for me to think about!!!!!

Malhgold- I convinced the family to go with a shower curtain instead of the doors two years ago. I like it so much better because I don't have to clean glass doors. We got a really nice liner at BB&B that sheds the water. I can easily replace it. So that was a great spot to save some $. I saved at least $1000.00 and a lot of work.

Mahlgold-
My husband's family gave their boys a choice for their bar mitzvah's. They could either have a fance reception or a family vacation. My husband chose the vacation (much cheaper than the reception) and still has good memories of that trip. Just wanted to mention another option to the current trend of very fancy bar/bat mitzvah receptions.

We redid out kitchen this past summer. It is all done except for the backsplash. For now, we are basically ignoring the backsplash. It will have to wait. We just can't afford it now as my DH's business is not doing well.

I just learned all Home Depot Expo stores are closing and Friday I ordered my appliances, granite and plumbing from them using their design services and credit line. My KD hasn't given me the plans yet for my kitchen, because I hadn't yet bought the entire kitchen. I had picked out cabinets and they were to be purchased this week. I am so upset. I'm almost positive I'll get my money back, but the months of planning are lost unless I get the plans. What can I do? And who should I turn to next to build the kitchen?

Misery does love company, so nice to see this post this morning. We were supposed to start whole first floor demo today....Friday my husbands manufacturing company(yes there are still some in the us) was told that their largest customer who owes $150,000 is not paying and won't be. This is on top of the $100,000 we have been chasing already from other customers. Lawyers involved to no avail.On top of that business is extemly slow. Brainstormed last night on where the company can cut back and who we can lay off. I just hate to lay off in these times but we have no choice. Called the contractor, luckly nothing had been ordered yet. Needless to say he also is not thrilled and I can not blame him. The line of credit will go to work and we will keep our fingers crossed that it will get them through this cash flow crisis. We still have a mortgage, it is so expensive in California, a line of credit and no new kitchen to show for it. I will try to start saving again.
I was very mad the first day, sad the second and thankful for my family's health the third. Life goes on, even if I have to duct tape the dishwasher together.

I've had to adjust my 'vision' of the kitchen countertop. I had initially picked out the most exquisite white quartzite with tan/brown veining...but for over $10K, must pick something new - and fast since they've already measured! I can't complain about anything since I'm able to still be a SAHM and my husband's company is still holding strong. But our retirement fund (and college funds) plummeted, so need to be more frugal

To atlgirl:

Why don't you first ask the designer for a copy of the plans? If they STILL say they can't give them to you, maybe you could quietly offer the designer some money for the plans, or better yet, hire the designer as your own independent contractor, and let them run the kitchen re-do. They will obviously be out of a job and have free time... sounds like a win-win to me

I went to the appliance part store today and ordered new knobs for my cooktop, along with a heat shield to cover the scorched top of my oven door (why Kenmore put plastic trim on the top of the door of a self-clean oven is beyond me). While I was there I found a special screwdriver bit for the star shaped screws on the oven door. I was able to take it apart and clean the drips in between the glass. It looks great!
I am feeling much better about my decision to wait for new appliances today. Seeing how many people were laid off by major companies today certainly put things in perspective.

Two years ago I was about to embark on my kitchen reno at the height of the home improvement action, but then lost my job. Economy was okay, but it took 10 months to find a new job (contract). In that 10-month hiatus, I was too stressed about spending money to start the reno. After I started the new job, I was too busy to consider starting the reno. Now my contract has come to an end, in a horrible economy, and yet now I am thinking of moving ahead with it anyway, but with more economical choices, such as perhaps IKEA, but with Scherr's door upgrades down the line; and least expensive counters (also IKEA?), with granite or quartz, along with backsplash, down the line.

I'm thinking that contractors should be quite negotiable in the current climate. And with the EXPOs going out of business, perhaps there will be some floor model faucets, sinks, etc. I could get for pennies on the dollar. We'll see. Sometimes I think I'm all talk and no action, LOL. But when I do take action, it's full steam ahead.

We have been saving for this for 5 years. We are going ahead with the kitchen remodel and addition (garage, porch & laundry room). The aim has always been to have a nice space for the least cost. The initial cabinet estimate from Kennebec was more than $60K. I am happy with the cabinetmaker we will be using for about $25K. The design was changed to save money. For example, no glass doors on the wall cabinets. They are more expensive because the finish of the interior of the cabinet. I've designed several cabinets with punched tin (similar to a pie safe) and will do the punched tin myself. By not replacing appliances (needed it at least once since we bought them-the cooktop has been an induction hot plate for 18 months) we have saved enough to get nice appliances, but there will be no built-in or CD refrigerator, no paneled appliances, one oven rather than DOs and a cooktop rather than a gorgeous range. I have not chosen most finishes (countertop, floor, ceiling) yet. I am waiting to see how the budget holds up.

Since this is our retirement home, it is worth the expense to do it now rather than waiting. We live quite frugally and will need to for a long time after this project is finished. We are fortunate that DH has a secure job (yes, I am sure). DS is graduating from college this spring and has an assistantship for grad school-yea! All our cars are at least 5 years old, paid for and hopefully have another 4-5 years use in them. This forum has been a tremendous help with design and keeping costs down. I am very thankful!

Our line of credit was cut off and I am actually relieved since my DH took a huge pay cut. We (his parents actually) have a small business so the pay cut was by choice but out of necessity. We will just pay little by little as we can afford it.

Fortunately, our demo does not interfere in any way with the old kitchen, so we are continuing with that and can take our time. I need new appliances anyway, whether I remodel or not. I found a handyman to help with the load bearing walls once the time comes. I will probably buy some very inexpensive tile to put on the counters until I can afford granite. At this point, I don't know what to do about cabinets. I have time for that though.

We've gutted out our whole master bathroom. The house was a fixer when we moved in 2.5 yrs ago. Because the master was in such poor condition we've never been able to use it anyways and have been using the 2nd bathroom instead. Having it gutted is not a biggy, we just shut the door and no one is the wiser. :c) We're buying one thing at a time and paying it off before buying more. Our cabinets are on order and should be paid off within a couple of months, in the meantime, we're saving for any labor we'll need to hire for. There are still lots of DIY projects we can do that cost little to no cash; mostly finishing work and touches, now we spend our time on those. I really don't mind, because for 2.5 years we've been weekend warriors with little time for anything else. We see this as an opporutnity to take a much needed break.

To be honest, I'm just grateful that we have our health, a new roof over our heads and warm food for the table. Anything more than that is just icing on the cake.

Today, our small local newspaper stated unemployment in our county is 8.4%. A successful contractor's name appeared in the obituary section. Suicide. He was 53. Lost his business and now his house was being foreclosed on. He couldn't take it. My daughter rented a house from him when she first moved away from home.

If I were his wife or kids, I'd be so angry. What a cop out. Some partner he turned out to be. When the going gets tough, what? You bail out?

It's not my house or things that drive me. I'll camp in the woods happily - as long as I have my family. I was raised extremely poor and my mother made it sound like being poor was a higher calling that only the few could endure. I hope she isn't right. LOL!

Golddust, I can see your point, but the first thing that came to my mind when I read your post was "walk a mile in his shoes". I feel for his family, it's a disaster, but who's to say what was really going on in his head. Sad no matter how you look at it.

We re-did our kitchen last year, starting in April '08 and finishing in August '08. We had a budget (which we overshot) but we pretty much got what we wanted. WE paid cash for 2/3 of it, and put the other 1/3 on a home equity line of credit. The % on our HELOC is ridiculously low, but we pay lots more than the minimum each month. I can see how we'll pay it off, but I am nervous as can be about the whole thing. Our investments went so far south, -40%, and I'm so nervous about retirement - hoping it will be in 18 mo. but maybe not. Knowing what I know now, I'd never have started on this project, but I try to take the world view and see that this was our only window of opportunity, we got our dream kitchen, and we are in our "forever" home. It's still scary.

I have wanted to remodel our kitchen for several years but other home improvement projects came first.

Our refrigerator died in October. A month later our dishwasher started to go. There was an awesome sale at an appliance outlet here in early December so DH and I went looking for a dishwasher. Walked out with new SS dishwasher, microwave and wall oven! The deals were too good to pass up (saved 58% off MSRP for all 3). Thank goodness for X-Mas $$ gifts from both our Moms as those gifts covered it all. Luckily we had already bought a new cooktop and sink/faucet earlier last year. A year prior to that we updated the cabinet hardware.

With having lost my job a few months ago (and no decent prospects on the horizon), we'll make due with the old backsplash and countertops. Found a really good deal on a new light for over our table that I just odered last week using a gift card I had received. So little by little, I guess I'm getting my kitchen remodel but not to the extent that I had envisioned as the upgrades we've done to date have been a lot lower end than I would have wished.

Thankfully we also have no mortgage or car payments. And that we've got our health and can still afford to live (very frugally) on one income. A wholesome, healthy home cooked meal (even if I have to look at that old backsplash while cooking it!) is more important than that new pair of shoes.

I finished most of my kitchen remodel in June '08. If I'd known how badly it was going to crater, I would have put it off, but of course I didn't think it was going to affect me. I had some extra granite, a powder bathroom that I've hated for years, and -- that is, I thought I had -- some extra money to spend, . However, the GC's bid was $10K, and by mid summer I was sick of workers in my house and beginning to see some troubles ahead. Filled with enthusiasm and naivete upon finishing the kitchen, I thought I could do it myself, just hiring out the hard parts. (Snickering here, please.) I have a budget of $500/month, and I should finish in March or April -- except for the shower. Now I'm glad I'm doing the bathroom this way even though it's a PITA.