Demolish the halls with sheets of drywall ...........

Fa-la-la-la.  La-la-la-la.

So .... other than some wreaths and lights in the Summer Kitchen, it really looks like the Grinch has been to Miss Eff's  before he went to Whoville.

There is no tree .... there are no twinkling lights.

But do you know what that means?????

The kitchen remodel has begun!!!!!

AND I want nothing else but kitchen stuff to be brought into this house!!!

Progress will be pretty minimal in the next couple of weeks .... and I really do expect the process to take several months.

I really do.  Really.  Months.

I keep repeating this to myself .... so in March .... I won't go stark-raving mad!!!!

But it has begun and so let the documenting begin!!!!

The true first step was the installation of the new kitchen window this past summer.  This was a solid wood custom built window with no vinyl, no aluminum ...... made to match one of the existing early windows.  It replaced a 1970's casement window.

We ordered this window in September of 2014 and received it February 2015.

Welcome to the world of historic restoration.  Nothing is fast.  Nothing is cheap.  Takes twice as long to make and receive and cost three times more.

BUT ...... we can not believe how much cold air was coming in the old window!!!  The kitchen really is warmer.  Well worth the wait.

The next step was the removal of the wallpaper border.

This has pretty much been Honey's idea of hell.

I purchased strippable wallpaper and hired a gal to hang it ...........16 or 17 years ago.

Oh. My. Goodness.

She put some kind of awful paste on it.  It comes off in strips that are 1/2" x 3" ......... if you are lucky.

That being said ....... there is 9 feet or so of paper left.

Now ..... here comes the hard part.

The piddling ass stuff that I really want to skip but I know that we can't.  And it will take uber amounts of time.

Things like .............. using plaster washers to repair a crack.

This is the first rough coat after screwing the plaster washers in place.

We are also using a product called Krack Cote that is made by Abatron and it will seal up small cracks and imperfection.

I have been collecting "house parts" for this project ........ for a while.

OK .... a long while.

One thing that I have been trying to do ......... is replace traditional light switches with reproduction push button switches throughout the house.

Yea .... why spend 99 cents for a simple switch when you can spend $14.79 for one of these???????  Yea ... again, welcome to the world of historic restoration.

One of things I had planned on ............( Honey -- not so much!!!!) ............ was moving the current outlets so they are level (I know!!!  What a concept!!) and have GFI boxes.

What I didn't plan on was making the decision to have lights over the island.  So more switches and outlets and boxes need to be installed.

Which means ... more pushbutton switches, outlets, brass switch plates ... need to be paid for and ordered!

Which means ..... there is no sense of painting the walls and ceilings until that is done.

My personal idea of hell is packing up the kitchen.  Seriously .... how many melon ballers does one person need???

And those 7 sets of dishes that I own ..... I need to re-think that one.

It is a great time to get rid of stuff .... and I am doing just that.

In the meantime ............ the living room has become the staging room for the kitchen furniture that we move and the parts and pieces as they arrive.

The pantry is blocking the front door .............. its going to be here for a while.  Eventually .... it will take its home in the laundry room.

It will be fine .... I can live with it.

I think.

The plan is to get all the piddly stuff  .......... plaster repair, electrical stuff, painting and removing the cabinets so the floor can be installed by January 4th.

 

And out of the living room.

So I can fill it with the new cabinets ............

Well ...... I could wrap them all up!!!!

Merry Christmas to me!!!