Hi everyone. It’s Cindy here. As many of you guessed on Monday we started a renovation project on our kitchen. The first day was noisy and messy but exactly as we expected it to be.

Day 1 complete with lots of debris
Unfortunately the dumpster didn’t make it on site until day 2 so most of the debris from the rip out was left in the kitchen to be hauled out the next day. We are donating our cabinets to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore so they are being stored on our front porch until they can be picked up next week.
In addition to the debris making its way to the dumpster on Tuesday things started shaping up.

The ceiling extension is roughed in

Some of the electrical changes have begun
One of the biggest changes we are making in the new kitchen to allow us to expand the working area is to remove the door (seen in the middle in the picture above) and change the window (on the far left above) to a sliding door.

View of east wall from outside
The other change is that the window over the sink is moving and getting bigger. Today was out with the old window and door and in with the new ones.

View of east wall from inside at the end of day 3
You can see the new window (far right in above picture) and the new slider at the far end of the same wall. In the middle you can see the new studs where the old door came out.

East wall from the outside
After this project is complete we will get our landscaper in to move the step to where the new door is.
Some of the fun things that we have to put up with is having our refrigerator in the family room.

It is a little noisy when the fridge runs while watching TV but it sure is convenient to get a drink. Walter is sure the plastic on the door into the kitchen (see all that blue tape?) is evil because it wiggles and makes a funny noise. He refuses to walk past it and will go through the living room to get from the foyer to the family room.
We are doing well with our temp kitchen that we set up in the dining room.

The left side of the China cabinet (seen above) holds some cooking supplies.

The China cabinet that was in the kitchen was moved into the dining room and comes in handy to hold some food and cooking dishes. The appliances that are being reused are also waiting in the dining room for installation in the new kitchen.

The dining room table holds the coffee maker, microwave and toaster as well as giving us space to work
The light fixture has been raised so at least I don’t bump into it and Charlie has gotten better at avoiding a collision too.
This is an exciting adventure and we can’t wait for it to be done. Unfortunately it will take 4-5 weeks for the work to be completed. Before we started I made lots of dinners that I put in the freezer so we can easily microwave them and we don’t have to get take out every night.
The dogs are doing as well as can be expected. Millie is taking it all in stride and enjoys our daily visits with the work crew. Walter on the other hand was near a basket case on the first day and still doesn’t like some of the loud noises coming from the kitchen. Of course there is the above mentioned plastic on the door that freaks him out too. They both are doing better but certainly aren’t getting their usual amount of nap time during the day which causes them to crash after the crew leaves every day.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing what is happening in our home so far. I will be posting updates periodically so stay tuned.
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