We asked a local Sakura Kitchen Life store to renovate our 30-year-old kitchen. The configuration of the sink, stove and range hood remained the same except that they were upgraded to the latest models. And with a new addition to the kitchen staff: a dish dryer.

In a counterclockwise, the photos on the left showed the transformation of our kitchen.

The granite counter tops were not mounted until the day after the cabinets were installed. It was because my sister's boyfriend's brother owns a company selling granite counter tops and he was kind enough to offer us a price that we could not refuse. So one thing led to another, our contract with Sakura included a term that separated the granite counter tops to a vendor of our own choice. It was probably not difficult to imagine that this actually made things much more complicated with all the coordination and potential incompatibilities between two vendors.

Now the kitchen had been done and it's time for a postmortem.

Mostly, I wonder if the granite counter tops are worth its money and our extra efforts. The bottom line is that even though we have got a good price, they are still more expansive because they are of a more luxurious type. I guess it's not a question of whether we could afford it, but a question of whether we need it.

Too often, we confuse what we want with what we need.