The Continueing Saga of my Kitchen renovation

Wednesday it began, the men arrived for the Kitchen reno. A nice cup of Java and they start by tearing out the entire back wall! The window and door wall and extending the other wall, that adjoins the family room.

Opppps! All the work I did emptying the cabinets, I forgot, I better put away that Christmas tablecloth!

And the wall to the right they made a little bigger to accommodate some cabinets.....

 And the harsh  reality of plumbing pipes stares us in the face!

You can also see from the pic below that the last insulation job didn't really meet the wood by about 3 inches. And I was always wondering ..."why so drafty"?

You should have seen when the woodwork came off the door, no insulation, no weatherstrip, the cold air was streaming in like a train! 

*Note I stuffed the edges of the door with rags that night.

Peace and quit at the end of Day 1

*extended wall built.

* back wall stripped

 You get a glimpse of my new fridge. I HAD to get before the reno because my other gave up on us! Poor thing.. it really did serve some time with my family.

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Day 2

They got around to  rebuilding that back wall and illiminating the door way.

 They put in some good insulation. Nice and tight up to the wood.

And Tyvek to the entire outside of that wall.

My window is NOT in yet, from the maker, so my contractor will set it in later.

As you can see I did put away the christmas tablecloth, and now it is covered in dropcloth, Which I am loving... to die for... the texture, and color! I will be making something out of that when this is over!

They also removed all of the top cabinets which my husband kept saying he was going to do!!

Now as you can see they are piled up in the dining room.

Do you see that little plastic drawer thing ? A great solution  for the things you will need (like coffee, and cups, like spoons and bowls for your morning cereal) to survive a complete renovation like this.

30.00 bucks at walmart

I call it my portable kitchen!

It even has wheels.

And you can   sneak peek at my new Stainless fridge up there on the left!

The old one below... had served long and hard, and just could not wait to retire.

So the end of day 2 we have

* back wall completely rebuilt and insulated, 

* upper cabinets removed.

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Friday Day 3

They had a lot to do and no room to do it!!  There were the old cabinets all over the dining room! 

Good thing all the new ones fit in the garage. There is no way there would be any room to move, had we put any in the dining area like I was thinking!  So they started by taking all the old cabinets out of the house. Some will be recycled by my son for his house and others will be trashed. Then moving furniture that I had tried but could not get moved. 

That big old bureaux I was using as a buffet is now upstairs, in the soon to be re-done bedroom.

Upstairs you go..

When I pair it with a mirror it'll make a fine bedroom piece it just needs some new handles. 

purrrtty aint she?

And they also removed the peninsula. which was here, to the right of the stove:

As you can see things are getting a little frayed around the edges here!!

And the electrician was here most of the day. 

Men are funny creatures. My hubbo and the electrician BOTH wanted to give me a cable line in the kitchen. I vehemently opposed it. We already have way too many TVs. The kitchen is the only place we really gather and just "talk". I like that. And already when I am watching tv in the family room, if my husband is watching it in the living room, sometimes his tv is too loud. Could you just imagine another one blaring from the kitchen?. Oh Please! Haha.. they also wanted to give me a computer line in there. Hub is a bit behind the times...I've been on a wireless laptop for 4 years... don't need it... don't want it.

So day 3  this is what they accomplished

* removing the soffet

* removing peninsula ( 1 large floor cabinet and counter)

*tearing out sheeetrock by dining room exit door

*removing furniture and cabinets

*carrying furniture upstairs

*putting some furniture back at end of day

*Getting electric lines run

I am patiently hanging in there while all this chaos goes on around me, cleaning up as best I can at the end of the day.
For now, inspiring pictures of gorgeous kitchens keep me happy.
Loving this one.. especially that mantle over the stove, and the white decor above it.
Ohhh be still my heart!
Nice island too!

Now I am thinking maybe I will dismantle my kitchen table and use the top for the island like the one in the picture.
Not a bad idea huh? It really is nearly exact. I am liking this thought!
recycle, reuse.

I will be joining Miss mustard seeds furniture linky.. I never saw so much furniture get moved in my house in one day!