Construction -- Day 1

Today is the day.  After a couple months of planning, we are finally starting our big kitchen remodeling project.  No, we aren't attempting to do it ourselves.  Trust me, that would NOT be a pretty sight.   Our kitchen was remodeled about 20 years ago with cheaply made veneer-covered particle board cabinets, 70's style Formica countertops, and a cheap linoleum floor that attracts and locks in dirt.  The veneer is peeling off, the drawers and cabinets are broken, and the mottled floor is way beyond cleaning or repair.  And don't even get me started on the broken light fixtures, green mini blinds and chipping paint.  Yes, it's definitely time for a makeover.

This is what our kitchen looked like this morning:

 

 

 

Ba-bye, old kitchen! Today was demolition day, so a nice man came to our house with a hammer, a crow bar and some other manly type tools.  I think a screw driver was also involved, though I try not to get too involved with all that technical stuff.

I couldn't bear to watch, so I stayed in the other room with the door closed while that nice man did unspeakable things to our cabinets and counters.  After lots of hammering and loud noises, our cabinets and counters went POOF!  All gone!  Then that nice man hauled them away in the back of his van.  This is what our kitchen looks like right now:

Oooooooooooh, it's not pretty.   But take a look at these old black and white checkered tiles that were hiding under our cabinets.  And underneath these old tiles is some OLD yellow and green flooring that has probably been there for decades.

The demolition also revealed some old wallpaper and pea green paint on the walls (Hello 1970's!!).    Our house is 80+ years old, so there was a lot of history here before my husband bought this house about 20 years ago. I found myself standing in the kitchen and staring at all these old bits of history, and I wondered what life was like for the families who lived here before us.  And as much as I hated our yucky old kitchen, it does hold a lot of wonderful memories for our family.  It's the sink where I bathed my girls when they were babies, the stove where I cooked countless family dinners (and burned quite a few too), and the floors on which my girls first crawled and then took their first steps.  I will hold these memories dear, but I'm looking forward to creating new memories in our new kitchen.

Wish us luck with the rest of our renovation project!!!