Breaking the project into manageable stages made the upheaval lessstressful

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In the past year, they've had a contractor paint and replacesiding, while Groff's husband and son have been fixing the sidingon the back porch.
"The contractor did the big projects while we did smaller projects,like repairing and painting shutters, etcetera," Groff said.

The Groffs also have put their own stamp on a kitchen renovation.The couple brought a late-1970-something kitchen into the 21stcentury, while still retaining the traditional feel of theirColonial-style house.
The homeowners are no strangers to do-it-yourself remodels. This isthe third house that the empty-nesters have tackled.

Asked when she first felt she wanted to start this kitchen project,Groff laughingly said, "When we bought the house."

The room could have been a set on "That '70s Show."

"It was all harvest gold. It had all the bells and whistles -- abuilt-in blender area and a Jenn-Air exhaust system. It wasstate-of-the-art at that time," Groff said while looking at photosof their original kitchen.

Their work included peeling away two layers of wallpaper -- onelayer in the instantly recognizable shades of orange and yellowthat defined that era -- and priming and painting a fresh,neutral-beige color.

They removed dark-stained pine cabinets and harvest goldappliances, switched the location of the stove/oven to make moreusable space and tore out the worn brick-look linoleum flooring,yellow countertops and wagon wheel-style lighting.
The flooring in the foyer, kitchen and mudroom was originally threedifferent materials, but it is now unified among the areas.

All that remains of the original kitchen is the stainless-steelsink.

Real estate broker Patricia Boyle, of Century 21 Boyle Realty inGlens Falls, said because it is a buyer's market right now, ado-it-yourself kitchen remodel can yield an "excellent return oninvestment, perhaps 100 percent."

Boyle cautioned, however, to never overestimate your level ofexpertise.

For instance, the Groffs hired out the installation of the newflooring and countertops.
If you're looking at simply a cosmetic makeover at minimal cost,real estate agent Boyle recommends painting dingy-looking cabinets,installing under-cabinet lighting, replacing dated chandeliers,putting in a tile backsplash, adding new hardware to cabinets andreplacing faucets with brushed chrome, which she said is "verypopular" right now.

Groff said she and her husband worked hard to stay within theirbudget -- but still had a wish list.

"We tried to be as reasonable as we could without sacrificingcertain things, like we wanted the overlay doors on the cabinets,"Groff said.

Working with a kitchen planner at a local big-box store, Groff wasable to incorporate her wishes into the plan and gained much morestorage space in the process.

"I got rid of a trash compactor that I never used, and thatJenn-Air took up a lot of space underneath. I got a butcher block(next to the stove), which I love."
She also gained a buffet area for serving and display space forsome china.

The new cabinets are natural-stained maple in a simple Shakerstyle, giving the kitchen space a much airier feel. The countertopsare Formica in a neutral shade. The new lighting is in chrome.

"With all the trees here, we need the reflective light," she said,looking out the kitchen window to the back yard.

Breaking the project into manageable stages made the upheaval lessstressful during the renovation.

The Groffs removed upper cabinets first and then the bottom ones,and dismantled from one side of the kitchen to the other. They alsomade sure the new cabinets were on hand, so as soon as the old oneswent out, the handsome maple ones could go in.
Groff is still looking for just the right tile backsplash toinstall above the stove and plans to change the white refrigeratorto a new black one to blend with the other appliances.

The whole remodel was done on weekends.

"I really didn't have a kitchen for about two weekends," Groffsaid.

The project took about six weeks to finish.

Groff said the remodel was intended to make her and her husbandmore comfortable, as well as to increase the resale value of theirhouse, whenever they might sell.
The Groffs estimate they saved between 30 and 50 percent on thecost of the project by putting in their own sweat equity wherepossible.

"Some jobs, I do not know who would want to do them ... likeremoving two layers of wallpaper and tearing out a slate floor,"she said.