Beer Goggles

You know how beer goggles makes you think you're going to bed with a supermodel but you wake up with someone from Revenge of the Nerds? Uh, neither do I. But I hear that's what happens. I am now experiencing that phenomenon with the kitchen. The kitchen of my fantasies that I went to bed with (or dreamed about) is turning out to be a different kitchen in the light of day. And she doesn't look so hot.

First the demo story: As I mentioned, we left for Thanksgiving a full week before the holiday and returned on the Saturday after. So that was 8 days - 8 days in which (even with the holiday break) I was quite sure, and quite reassured, that the demolition would be complete. I expected to walk into a nice, relatively clean, shell all ready to measure for cabinets (which of course can't be ordered until the shell is ready). But no, this is what I saw:

To make matters worse, because the house is 70+ years old, there are some fun construction surprises, like a post that was in a wall that apparently holds up the stairs. And it's in the middle of the room that will have the pantry and island. Isn't she a hottie?

So now we're stuck trying to reconfigure half the kitchen around this lovely pole, which at night probably looked like a keeper, but in the light of day looks a little worse for wear. My kitchen is doing the walk of shame.

The thrill is gone

Ahh, how quickly the blush fades off the rose. We are one week into our renovation - or rather demolition - and I already want a divorce. Not from my husband - yet - from the project. First, the good news. While the demolition is taking much, much (how can I say this more clearly - MUCH)  longer than I expected and than I VERY CLEARLY specified with my contractor (is this clear by now?), there are some lovely surprises. Besides the incredibly awesome circa 1940s rooster wallpaper uncovered beneath the tile, the workers discovered hardwood floors - mysteriously matching the other floors - under three layers of tile in the existing kitchen. We (or rather said contractor and I) are convinced with a little sanding and finishing, we don't need to replace the wood floor. So hurrah! We save some money! But you know what that means - something else has to give. Gosh, I wonder what's going to happen next?

Delayed Gratification

So, for both of you reading this, you're probably wondering where I've been. The sad fact is there are two reasons for my radio silence: nothing to report and pure laziness. Mostly, though, there was not much to say for a while. I went through what can only be described as an existential crisis over the cabinets. I kept making the problem worse. Every time I thought I had the answer, I decided to just get one more estimate, look at one more place, check out one more showroom. I guess you could call it a fear of commitment, or perhaps a "grass is always greener" syndrome (something like the 7 year itch). But you'll be pleased to know, I'm now blissfully attached to what I am sure will be amazing cabinets.

So . . . now the fun starts. And when I say fun, I mean in a way that the Marquis de Sade would appreciate. Have you ever lived through a kitchen demolition? Even better, demolition of plaster walls? Well, neither have I. Because I had the inspired and brilliant (AKA stupid) idea to do the demo over Thanksgiving week while we were visiting my parents. It seemed like a great idea - keep the kids and dog out of the dust, have all the crappy stuff done, and return home to a lovely shell ready to go! But all that did was feed my neurosis over what the hell was happening in my kitchen while I wasn't there. It didn't help that my husband called me every five minutes to clarify questions about wall removal. Um, didn't SOMEONE have the plan in front of them?

I now have pictures and fascinating things to report about the kitchen - which I'll do tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to share this gem that was uncovered under some wall tile. If I can figure out how to save this, I will!