And So It Has Begun

  Before 
  Originally uploaded by emira.

With both excitement and dread, we have finally begun our much discussed kitchen reno. I'm not sure if it's because I'm in the middle of project managing a bit project at work, or if it is simply in my nature, by I can't help but think of this entire project as one big puzzle to be managed. I may go so far as to set things up in a project management tool, though I'm not sure how well Martin will adhere to my system of milestones and task lists. Regardless. We are on our way.

At this point more than half the kitchen is boxed up or living in nooks around our house. Every spare shelf in the office and livingroom now houses coffee mugs, souffle dishes and dutch ovens. My sister took away the wooden island/cart thing-a-ma-bob that used to house all our cookbooks and and spices leaving one wall bare and ready for new cupboards to be built and installed. Tonight Martin pulled the high shelves off the other wall and those now sit in a pile of nails and cracked wood in the backyard. I have cobbled together a kind of triage kitchen that currently lives on the baker's rack you see there (though that is a before photo, it now contains only essentials). And, for the next while we will be trying to eat our way through the freezer and pantry in an attempt to make use of what we've got and try to minimize prep time and dishes.

Most times that I mention that we're redoing our kitchen people respond by asking "Yourself?" with a kind of horror in their voice. That hasn't helped to assuage my renovator's dread. That said, last night I dreamt that the old cupboards just fell off like petals and that everything went as smooth as silk. Maybe it was a premonition. We'll see.

For me the point of no return will be when we take out the main cupboard with the sink in it. At that point we'll be house-camping: ferrying dishes and coffee pots to the bathtub and back. I can handle that for a while. Probably even a few weeks, but not much longer than that. And, while I may not be a pro, I've now done enough renos to know that things never take quite the time you plan. That said, perhaps my healthy dose of scepticism has prepared me well.

Overall, the plan is to get a fair bit done this week in the evenings so that we can spend more concentrated time on the weekend finishing things up. If you could see my mental timeline, it's not totally unlikely that we'll spend a good 5 days or so without water in the kitchen but that come the end of the weekend we should be back to some kind semblence of normal. Fingers crossed.

Comments

[kelly]

oooh, good luck! We intend to redo our kitchen sometime in the future and making the list of what all would have to happen gave me a great big panic attack. But oh, to have a light and airy kitchen!