What began as an organization project with cleaning and sorting, recycling and donating, has somehow blossomed into a whole house makeover. One of the largest projects was a very messy kitchen re-do!
We knew we needed a new kitchen floor. But a bigger problem was our sagging ceiling. It was too big of a project for my husband and me to tackle on our own. Fortunately, we have a son-in-law with rehab know-how and on a Sunday afternoon he and his crew completely removed pounds of plaster, lathe, nails and 150 years of trapped dirt and dust. Oh, and the foot-long skin of a snake — shed a century ago I hope! There’s always surprises when you take down ceilings or walls!
The demolition made a mess of everything and I don’t mean only in the kitchen. The dining room became filled with kitchen cabinets and dishes. My living room was stacked with boxes. In the days that followed, we saw the installation of new drywall and a beautiful tin ceiling. The new ceiling was higher than the old which meant we needed to repaint walls, cabinets, and trim. Back splash tiles were scrubbed until they shined like new and a new border was added. Cabinet skirting was sanded and restained. New wallpaper went up in the kitchen and breakfast area. We built a small coffee bar and we hung new lighting.
As all of this was happening, I sorted, recycled and donated kitchen items that I don’t really need anymore. Oddball plates and glasses, too many “extra” serving platters, gadgets that haven’t been used in so long, if ever, that we’ve forgotten how to use them — they all went into the donation boxes. We painted our old breakfast table and chairs a soft, retro shade of minty green and hung a shelf in the breakfast room for the overflow of my cookbook collection. The last thing to happen was the installation of a high gloss hickory laminate flooring and new baseboard trim.
And now, on to the next room!
Home at the WhackyShack 