Before

When we moved into this house we knew it needed a new kitchen. At the time it seemed so simple. We love the house, we love the neighborhood, all it needs is a new kitchen. Sold! We moved in late last summer and figured we'd re-do the kitchen come spring. Easy peasy.

Not so much.

It is spring, now. Demolition began on Thursday and I can't stop asking myself - was the old kitchen really so bad? Was it really so awful as to make this worthwhile? As I write this I sit in a basement office full of boxes of kitchen stuff, as well as kitchen stuff that we put all over the desk, bookcase and chairs once we ran out of boxes to put things in. The better part of the back wall of the house is gone, with only a plastic barrier and a dog to keep us safe from hoodlums. Our entire back yard is covered in old pieces of wood, kitchen cupboards and countertop. The old kitchen sink is back there, too, along with our old fridge, stove and dishwasher. The entire main floor is coated in a gritty layer of dust. This place is, to put it mildly, a mess. The fact that we have a one year old who is endlessly curious as to what all the banging and crashing is about, and wants to go see what's going on right freakin now thankyouverymuch just makes the whole thing more fun. We should have hired someone to do this and left the country for a month. But, we didn't, and there is no going back now.

So, before I begin the story of our kitchen, here is what it looked like before:



And here is an approximation of what it will sort of kind of look like (we hope) when complete, although with way less ugly curtains and no hideous cushions or white kitchen table because seriously? Yech.



I can only console myself with the knowledge once this nightmare is over I will have my dream fridge. Although, technically, I already have my dream fridge, it just happens to be in the dining room instead of the kitchen, and only holds beer and leftover Thai food from the place around the corner.