Kitchen Remodel
So, nothing will focus your mind like a good motorcycle ride. Particularly when you’re new again to motorcycling (I'd taken about a 10-year hiatus). Long story short, I was on the bike today and thinking, among many things, including preserving my fabulous life, and about out kitchen remodel that’s starting on Monday. We’ll be without our kitchen for at least 9 weeks.
And a thesis came to me: Cooking is a privilege.
But is it?
When I last fixed up a kitchen, in 1997, I’d not been through culinary school. I had no idea what I was missing. Now I do. Making coffee the way I like or starting a bread dough in my PJs, that’s gone for a while. The education to learn how to cook, whether that's from family or from school, maybe that's a privilege, maybe it's an opportunity. I could have learned a lot from my mom if either of us had had the patience to be in the kitchen together. I'm amazed at how many people don't know how to hold a knife properly and use it safely. And of course, having an actual kitchen to cook and create in, well, that might indeed be a privilege for some. What we're about to create is definitely a privilege, and I'm really grateful, even through all the change and stress.
We are super excited to get this process started, but also terrified that nothing will ever be the same...
At this point, we have moved all the sh*t out of the kitchen, pantry/laundry area, and our master closet. Laundry machines will go into our master closet, and what is the "pantry" now will be kind of a mud-room/landing area/my baking nook. A small wall will be knocked out to increase volume in the room, and a big-ass island is going in the center, with a prep sink at one end.
Demolition will begin Monday morning at 8 a.m., wherein whatever kitchen is there now will be torn down basically to the studs. The wood floor stays, but new tile flooring will go in that mud-room area and master closet.
I am lucky for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that my basement and upstairs bedrooms are spacious enough to hold all the krep while we're tearing up a good portion of the house. I'll have access to my sister-in-law's kitchen, a mere 6 minutes away. And we did this once before, with our same contractor, so I have a lot of confidence in the project.
Stay tuned here to see photos from before, during, and after, and be grateful that you can walk around your kitchen in bare feet with no drywall dust sticking to them! :)
And a thesis came to me: Cooking is a privilege.
But is it?
When I last fixed up a kitchen, in 1997, I’d not been through culinary school. I had no idea what I was missing. Now I do. Making coffee the way I like or starting a bread dough in my PJs, that’s gone for a while. The education to learn how to cook, whether that's from family or from school, maybe that's a privilege, maybe it's an opportunity. I could have learned a lot from my mom if either of us had had the patience to be in the kitchen together. I'm amazed at how many people don't know how to hold a knife properly and use it safely. And of course, having an actual kitchen to cook and create in, well, that might indeed be a privilege for some. What we're about to create is definitely a privilege, and I'm really grateful, even through all the change and stress.
We are super excited to get this process started, but also terrified that nothing will ever be the same...
At this point, we have moved all the sh*t out of the kitchen, pantry/laundry area, and our master closet. Laundry machines will go into our master closet, and what is the "pantry" now will be kind of a mud-room/landing area/my baking nook. A small wall will be knocked out to increase volume in the room, and a big-ass island is going in the center, with a prep sink at one end.
Demolition will begin Monday morning at 8 a.m., wherein whatever kitchen is there now will be torn down basically to the studs. The wood floor stays, but new tile flooring will go in that mud-room area and master closet.
I am lucky for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that my basement and upstairs bedrooms are spacious enough to hold all the krep while we're tearing up a good portion of the house. I'll have access to my sister-in-law's kitchen, a mere 6 minutes away. And we did this once before, with our same contractor, so I have a lot of confidence in the project.
Stay tuned here to see photos from before, during, and after, and be grateful that you can walk around your kitchen in bare feet with no drywall dust sticking to them! :)
Kitchen as it looks today, more or less. Imagine all the stuff removed.
This wall in the pantry will be knocked back, and our deep-discount, open-box double oven will go right here.
These cuties will go in our master closet, and those cabinets will be replaced with a pantry and a spot to hang coats, to remove shoes, to"land" with bags and krep.
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