Lo(we's) and behold...

My husband, Steve, and I wanted to get a headstart on kitchen planning this past weekend, so we could get right to it as soon as we sign on the dotted line. We decided to check out a few different stores and get quotes from several places, which is always good advice when you're planning on spending a few thousand dollars on something. (Always do your research, kids.) Our first stop was Lowe's, because as we all know "Lowe's knows home-improvement."

Excited at the prospect of designing our new kitchen, we strolled into the store with a few ideas and, what some might say, naive expectations. We sat down with one of Lowe's designers from the kitchen department, Jennifer. Our new friend seemed friendly enough so we continued to grill her with lots of questions that needed answers, covered the basics and then some. She walked us through the different styles and brands of cabinets, from basic to high end custom. And even surprised us by showing us a few kitchen designs from her portfolio costing hundreds of thousands of dollars (although, not necessarily the greatest sales pitch to our tight budget.)

We were really feelin' the white shaker style cabinets from Diamond, a mid-grade brand that offered quite a bit of configurations that really appealed to my organization and neat-freakishness. And we couldn't wait to pair it up with some glossy white subway tiles and either some butcher block counter tops or light granite. So classic!

So when could we get a new Lowe's kitchen? We were promptly informed that it would take 4 to 6 weeks until the cabinets would arrive in the store, and that's not even including installation. So we are looking at having a finished kitchen not until the following year. Womp womp.

I probably knew deep down that it would take a while (After all Rome wasn't built in a day, yada yada yada) but oh man, was that disappointing to hear. Especially after waiting for the short sale approval, even though we should be thanking our lucky stars that it didn't take as long as it could have been.

So after thanking Jennifer for her time, Steve and I walked away with our heads down a la sad Charlie Brown. We've come to realize that this will probably be typical for all of the stores that we end up talking to. But we didn't want to let that little sidenote dampen our spirits, we decided to make the most of our trip by exploring the store and getting more info on other projects we could get our little mitts on.  And oh boy, did we find a lot of reading material.

We even found a few nice color palettes for our future walls. Pretty serene, eh?

So overall, talking with Lowe's was a very informative and even a humbling experience. We'll certainly know what to expect talking to other kitchen designers. Have you guys ever worked with a designer at any big box stores? Anybody have any solid advice for kitchen remodeling newbies like us?

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