Kitchen Remodel—Day 1: Out With the Old!

The long-awaited kitchen remodel at the house in Hooterville started last Friday, October 1. 

Here’s one more look at the “BEFORE.”    You’re probably looking at this photo and thinking, “Awww, that’s not tooooo bad,” but believe me, in person it was…

1. very orange

2.  very poorly constructed 

3.  very inefficient to cook in

Let the demo begin! 

 

L-shaped cabinets on the left side of the kitchen…GONE!

Back wall of cabinets and island…GONE!

Here’s a “BEFORE” photo of the sink wall that wasn’t very visible  in the first “BEFORE” photo above.

Cabinets on the sink wall…GONE! 

Can we say, “Ewwww!”  ? 

Speaking of “ewwww” …  I’ll spare you photographic evidence  but we found a dead bird behind the refrigerator.  Yeah, I know…disgusting!  I guess sometimes you have to go through a whole lot of  “ewwww” before you can get to the “ahhhhh.”

Fake ceiling beams that made the 8 ft. ceiling feel like it was closing in…ALMOST GONE!

Wowsers! What a mess!  My inner neat freak is asking, “How much longer before we’re done?”

 

Moving on…

This is the frame for a half wall that will divide the kitchen and family room.

Sheet rock has been applied over the frame.  The top of this half wall is approximately 4 inches higher than the  the countertops.  The cook top will be inserted into the countertop on  the opposite side of this wall.  (You can see diagrams of the new layout in this post.)

Below my cabinet maker, Rodney (on the left), is making some final adjustments on the LG Hi-Macs solid surface top for the half wall with the assistance of his helper, Jerry.   

I did not want the top of the half-wall wide enough to accommodate bar stools because we already have  a “formal” dining room through the arched doorway on the left of the kitchen and a breakfast room through the arched doorway on the right back wall of the kitchen and I didn’t feel we needed a 3rd eating area.  I also hoped a narrow top on this half wall would help cut down on the amount of “clutter” that was constantly being dumped on the old wide countertop.

So that was the progress on Day 1.

More photos coming soon!