Now you see it....

And...now you don't!!!



Our weekend was marked with general deconstruction of our kitchen. I am officially living with no real kitchen to speak of! I have set up a make-shift kitchen in our dining room, and we've survived 4 days so far! I'm even having dinner guests tonight. Brave or stupid you say? I'm doing Tortilla Soup in my crockpot. My mom is bringing the bowls so that she can take them home to wash in her dishwasher! THANKS MOM!!! The occasion is my father coming to discuss the electrical work that he will do for us. THANKS DAD!

The floor was all the way down to the floor boards on Saturday...and I can see my laundry room thru one of the holes in the wall, which I know will be patched! :D

The cabinets arrived yesterday. Wait...I mean...the pieces of the cabinets! LOL :D IKEA - build yourself! :D So we got lots and lots of components! So glad my husband and BIL are doing all the work, I'm just keeping the kids out of the way!

I'm hoping by next week the tile floor will be completely laid and some of the electrical will be done or at least planned out. :D I think we'll start building some of the cabinetry in the evenings so that they can hang the wall cabinets as soon as my father is done with the wall electrics.

YAY...it's underway! :D

HOLE-Y Pass Thru, Batman!

Demolition has begun.

My husband gleefully measured and taped out the pass thru prior to smashing it with a hammer. Yes, Anne was right...I think demolition is his favorite part of the process.

We encountered some weirdness...like wires that seem to have no function...but are there none-the-less. And some wiring that is there on purpose and will have to be rewired.

We also discovered for certain that it is not a load bearing wall, either. Well, we discovered it was 2 X 3's vs. 2 X 4s and when BIL Jay was consulted to confirm it's load-bearing state his response was "I sure hope not!". BIL was sick today, hoping he heals soon.

This week I will be spending packing up dishware, glassware, everything out of the way. I will also set up my temporary kitchen in the dining room so that we'll have a place to prepare and eat food. I am also considering premaking a bunch of things like chili, meatballs, taco meat, etc. so that I have quick grab - easy heat up meals on hand for the next three weeks.

The construction foreman (aka hubby) has informed me that as of next Saturday evening it will be bare to the floor. :D No counter, no cabinets, no flooring OH MY! He also hopes to have the tile laid, not grouted mind you, but laid. We'll see - if you haven't noticed, I'm the pessimest of the two of us! I'll be happy if it's READY to have the floor laid.

So, enjoy the view from my new "window". More to come! :D

The Kitchen will be in process soon!!!

Okay, thanks to our tax return and the family tax refund and such this year, we will be able to redo our kitchen. Finally!

Neither hubby or I have been happy with our kitchen, it's set up, it's design, it's function. Any of it. There is an AWFUL yellow all over the walls, the green and white checkerboard backsplash - which in a former time would have loved - is very lackluster. Not to mention the green half tiles going around the ceiling, yes, that border is tile...not paper...not paint...TILE! The flooring is linoleum which will not come clean or stay clean no matter how hard I try. The stove, has been lifted off the floor with wood blocks - we think because the previous owner had a bad back and didn't want to bend to cook. There is no, let me repeat that NO real counter space to speak of. And storage? The pantry closet is at the bottom of the stairs and not really part of the kitchen at all. There's a ceiling fan??? And the tiffany-style hanging light? And see that clump of "trees" above the kitchen sink? That's to hide a coil style metal conduit for the electrics for the light above the sink! Not pretty. So not pretty, not functional, lack of lighting, the list goes on!!! We will be keeping the fridge, since we just bought it a year ago! And we will also keep the dishwasher because it is still in great shape...and we can always replace that when we need to.

Here are some pictures of how it looks now...I'll try to post pictures of the process and how it happens. As I type hubby is at IKEA getting final information on countertops, lead times, etc. Okay, the phone just rang...it was him...we need to finalize our design tonight because there is a 7 to 10 day lead time on the cabinets!

I'm VERY confident that my husband and brother-in-law can do this. They have done it for me before in our first house. And they did a magnificent job including adding a gas line, installing the floor, the cabinets, the countertop and all the appliances. So, they are equal to the task.

There will be quite a bit of work over the next month or so: creating a pass thru to the dining room that will have a counter top that is shared in both the kitchen and the dining room, painting the kitchen a really cool "coffee bar" color to go with our theme, installing a new tile floor (which thanks to my brilliant husband we got the tile for 49 cents a square foot! unheard of!!!!), Of course, building all of the cabinets, creating an island with a cooktop...oh gosh...it's all starting to make me hyperventilate! We are working within the existing space, and except for the pass thru, there will not be major construction or wall destruction. We're going for a "coffee bar" theme as I mentioned, cool, sleek, modern with a little bit of a traditional touch...not tooooooo modern....updated. Chic!

I think what stresses me most is to be without the heart of our house for a few weeks, maybe longer. I can live without one of the bathrooms. I can live without the guest room, or our bedroom, or the kids rooms. We adjust....but a kitchen is the heart and lifeblood of the home. Especially our home.

I'm am fearful and hopeful at the same time. Do not be surprised if I do not post much except for renovations over the next few weeks. Possibly months! AHHH! We have a set deadline in mind. It MUST be done by the 2nd weekend in May as we will have out of town guests. So...it MUST be done. Please, let it be done! LOL :D

:)