Posts
Now, I'll start by saying that when we first moved into this house, the cupboard doors in the kitchen were all a dark (and I do mean DARK!) brown timer-look laminate. After about six months, I got tired of cooking in a cave and in desperation painted the doors with green suede paint - not the best colour match or look, but it DID achieve the desired result of a lighter room ... which looked like this ...
That little bit of bench space on the left is where the kettle and water jug sat - no room for anything else!!
The other little bit of bench space is all the workspace I've had for seven years - minus the space taken up by the toaster and the George Foreman grill. The cupboards above the bench aren't deep enough for a dinner plate to be stored flat and not high enough for them to be stored on their edge ... talk about impractical design!! You can see the chaos has already begun with things from cupboards scattered around. OK ... next step ... the DEMOLITION!!
There goes the pantry! And there's my Beloved Geek Boy in "Demolition Man" mode. Hmmm ... not sure ugg boots are the standard footwear for renovating, but he said he'd rather have warm toesies!! :0) And those jeans have seen a home decorating project or two! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'm really very fortunate, even though my Beloved is a super techno-geek, he's also very handy when it comes to renovating etc - a man of many talents, one of the reasons I keep him - along with his gorgeous blue eyes and cute tushie! Oops! Did you just hear him blush! Tee! Hee! Hee! OK, moving right along with our demolition ...
This is Scott's youngest brother, Benny, who popped in to help for the day. (Thanks Benny!!) He said he's not very good at building stuff, but he's pretty good at demolishing it! So, he was the man to help! Tee! Hee! Hee! You can see he's already working on taking those DARK and BORING tiles off the wall - yay!! What next ...
Oooh ... the ugly chipboard cupboards are gone, so's the kitchen sink ... and there's Benny in action. He REALLY enjoyed trashing stuff - anger management therapy perhaps! :0)
Now, one of the great unsolved mysteries of our house has been the fireplace and chimney in the outside laundry that backs onto the house at the kitchen wall. Yes ... most folks have a fireplace in the lounge room so they can be warm and cozy ... we have one in the LAUNDRY! Well, we've never professed to be normal! Tee! Hee! Hee! Really, we knew it was probably used to boil the coppers to do laundry, but by rights, there should have been another fireplace on the other side, in the kitchen, but the back of the laundry fireplace showed no such opening. Hmmmm ... curiouser and curiouser! Well, when the pantry was demolished and the ugly lino pulled up, we (that's the royal we, obviously, since I was actually hiding in the office when the deed was done!!) discovered something rather interesting ... some loose, badly-replaced VJ boards on the wall and ...
The original kitchen hearth!! When Scott peeked behind the badly-replaced wall boards (through a fairly big gap that he has to fill!), he could see that the fireplace opening has been bricked up at some stage in the house's history, it just wasn't as visible from the laundry side after all these years. We'd love to be able to make a feature of these lovely hearth bricks, but not sure we can ... we're still discussing the floor in general!! :0) So ... at the end of the day, this is what our kitchen looks like ...
An empty room that looks like a paint factory threw up in it!! You can bet your boots the colour scheme will be QUITE different after the new kitchen is in and we can paint!!
So ... that's our renovation action to date. Stay tuned for updates in the coming days! Hope your weekend is a little quieter than mine!! Til next time - Bear Hugs!
CHEERS!
KRIS
15 comments:
wow Khris, you were not kidding when you said a whole new kitchen, you will not know yourself when your new one is installed!!
oh if only we lived close by you could have dinner at our place!! what are you going to do for the next few weeks??
cant wait to see the new look.
%*_*%
I'm making big sympathetic groany noises though ... I don't envy you at all. Just wait til it's all done though, it will be loverly!!! He he ... looks like it's eating out for a while, that'll be fun!!!
Hugs,
Joy :o)
Ah Kris, i do feel for you.. it unsettles the whole house when one room is in a mess... and it is a key room, after all!
Great work though boys! :-)
It's going to be wonderful to have that new kitchen... now let me get my crystal ball out and reveal what colour it might be.... hmmm... I'm told there might be a TOUCH of green there somewhere?!!!
he he he...
Hugs! Vikki xoxo
Boy toys are always noisy, well maybe you should leave out those electronic toys (though they can be noisy too.) I always wished for a fireplace in the kitchen so I'll be hoping you can find a way to use it. When all the noise and mess are driving you buggers just remember how lovely it will be to have a kitchen you can use more easily.
Ohhh... think I am as excited as you are... well almost..lol... this will be so much fun to follow.. YOUR NEW KITCHEN!!! GOOd Luck!! :o)
Boy! They have had a huge weekend trashing your old kitchen. I can't wait to follow the progress and see you lovely new kitchen. You won't know yourself.
Wow Kris, your old house sounds absolutely beautiful.
Now I know why all your teddies just LOVE living there with you.
Hi Kris
Hope you survive your renovation!
My DS and DIL just spent last week tearing out everything in their new kitchen and assembling the new cabinets. They then painted the walls and installed the cabinets: new flooring will be installed tomorrow. From what I hear, renovation, whether someone else does it or you do it yourself, is still noisy and dirty. Good luck.
Hi Kris,
Oh, how yukky for you at the moment.
Looks like the best excuse I know to have lots of restaurant meals.
I'm sure you'll be thrilled when its all finished and back into working order.
Ah, waiting for next pictures.
Hugs,
Anna
Heh Kris, brings back memories when we replaced the kitchen in our old house in Williamstown....DH and his builder friend caused maheym....OMG......I remember opening the passage door taking one look and retreating home to Mum and Dads for the remainder of the reno......of course Jess came with me...LOL....DH held the fort......hugs lyn
I think you are either blessed with owning the cute tusshies etc..you did not comment on the mates!!
Or else you have to pay someone else to do it. Mind you when the cute tush was here I still would have paid as 3 yrs of a carpentry apprenticeship left him unable to use a hammer.
So I paid the cute kitchen men and it was out one day......scarry.as I had another cute builder extending out a metre in the dining area.....fortunately cousins came to stay the night and kept me safe and helped me empty the kitchen....then the boys pulled it apart one day and put it in the next.......the visitors had gone and more were coming so I had to put it back myself and keep the new visitors from treading on my vertical blinds which were still on the floor. I think I was so neurotic that week end that the 3 girls who used to come and spend a week end with me have not been back on masse since.
But the kitchen was done in 1992 in Blackwood and has been wonderful. I put drawers big and little where ever you would put a cupboard and the more disabled I have become the more I am blessed by them. You can pull a drawer out with your toe but when you can no longer kneel you cannot get into the back of a cupboard.
So trust you love yours......and love keeping the guy...as much as I loved and love my kitchen still.
Yay Kris - your reno has started and I'm thrilled for you. I've lived through it too and it is a bit hard to take but believe me, well worth it in the end. Just pop those ear plugs in and continue your mission in the office...LOL.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
I like your clean slate. The old fire place sounds interesting.
Post a Comment