Another Three Weeks Goes By... and Kitchen

It has been a long three weeks. I have been traveling a lot, I'm behind on my emails, I have papers and other things to submit, I am shifting some research because of the election, and I haven't written a blog post. (I am finally up to speed on the latest season of Project Runway, however, because priorities). So to get back into the swing of blogging, I'll write about what I love to write about, home improvement, and save some of my more thoughtful posts for next time.

We decided to go for it and redo the kitchen. This was on our hit list since we purchased the house, but kind of hummed and hawed over when exactly to do it. Well, we just decided, now or never. So we spent one weekend about a month ago tearing down the partition wall. Taking that down was like a breath of fresh air, and suddenly we could see from one end of the house to another, and light poured in from the kitchen side all the way through to the backyard. It was glorious. Next, we tackled the floor, and removed all the gross tile that had been laid in the kitchen, and also along the entry-way. A while back I chipped out some of the tile in the entry-way closet, thinking that there was probably hardwood floors under there. Sure enough, as we went through and removed it. there be hardwood floors. Why anyone would cover up hardwoods is beyond me. And not just cover them up, but completely hide them with the cheapest, most hideous tile around. Well, that cheap hideous tile is gone! This past weekend, between writing a paper and finding some down time, we finished sanding the thin-set off the hardwoods, and Kevin started blocking in where the new kitchen peninsula will go. It's all very exciting! Here are some pics.

We found some pretty cool 1956 wallpaper under the beadboard of the partition wall. And yes, we still
have not replaced the gross 1980s chandelier. Soon.

Pretty much the way we live now. One set of cabinets is still in place to hold the sink.