A minor remodel...for the rest of us

One of my major frustrations in house remodeling, house decorating or anything that has to do with the appearances of our private or semi-private lives, is that magazines frequently feature only the upper middle-class. By this I mean people who think they are middle class, but really are upper middle class. Anyone who makes over, oh, $85,000/year is, in my opinion, out of the middle class bracket. So I'm always amused by the statement, "middle-class couple Jane and Jack made $250,000 last year..." I mean, I'm sorry, maybe I grew up a little too poor, but my dad made $20,000/year in the '80s and there were 5 of us and we were not on any government assistance.

My husband makes $54,000/year for our family of four. We currently supplement that with a combination of free school (my husband is a university employee) and the GI bill, as well as $350/month from our tenant. We are not rolling in dough; soon we will be a one-car family again. But I think we're fine. Sure, it would be great if I worked full-time, bumping our income up to $87,000/year, but we've made our choices.

This summer we did a lot of remodeling. We redid our guest house, refaced the kitchen, tore out and redid the hall bath, put in new flooring in the entire house and knocked out a wall in the kitchen. We also had the house painted and the landscape redone, all new appliances put in and we purchased a new dining room table, office desk and bedroom set. Our total? Around $42,000, including rent on another place while we did it.

So when I see people earmark $54,000 for a kitchen redo, all I can do is roll my eyes and wonder, who the hell spends that kind of money? I mean, we might replace our cupboards in the spring, but only if we can make it happen for under $5K. I have a word for stories about expensive remodeling...sponsored.

According to Remodeling magazine's "2006 Cost vs. Value Report," a "minor," midrange kitchen remodel averaged $17,928, and 85% of the money was recouped at sale. A "major," midrange remodel averaged $54,241 and returned 80% of the cost. Both projects include replacing the sink, faucet, countertop, flooring, oven and cooktop.