Much like jumping off a cliff, we made the big leap and bought a shiny, brand-spanking, all bells and whistles, new kitchen. And like the best surprises, we didn’t even expect we would do it so soon.

It was only a couple of weekends ago when we started shopping around, getting layouts and quotations from one kitchen seller to the next. From Svea to Brugman to Superkeuken, and many others in between. After being initially excited by the sticker prices and seeing what we could get for it, the consequent appointment to get the specifics for our small kitchen turned disappointing as the price would invariably shift to a steep vertical, which of course dampened the mood and hence the possibilities for our cooking nirvana. After the first few store visits, it appeared that our dream kitchen would have to be tempered somehow, seemingly more akin to a mirage. Our third attempt was a little more hopeful as it was the one that fell closest to our budget and was almost what we envisioned. But the fourth time’s the charm as the winner proved to be true to its name. The Champion of Kitchens came out with the most unbelievable offer – 50% off the total price and free installation – with no small help from my partner who, after several lengthy discussions, was able to shave a whopping €1500 off the first offer they gave us.
We won’t be able to see a single piece of our new kitchen until 8 weeks from now and even then we’d still need to see if we can get partial financing for it, but the fact that we could even find ourselves in this position – investing such a huge amount of money into our flat – compared to several years ago when we couldn’t rub two nickels together, says a great deal. We’ve come a long way indeed.