Kitchen Nightmares: Somerville Edition

Now the real fun starts.

Today we get rid of all the existing cabinets, countertops, and appliances.  Because our kitchen is still relatively new (we think the last renovation of the whole house was around 2000), we didn’t want to just throw everything away.  That seemed like a huge waste, especially for the appliances.  But we knew that we would not be able to store everything and try to sell it ourselves while working and dealing with the renovation project as a whole.

Luckily, Anne found a company in Connecticut called Green Demolitions.  They agreed to come to Somerville and remove all of the cabinets, countertops, and appliances for free as long as we agree to donate all of it to them.  They refurbish everything and try to re-sell it, and we get a tax deduction.  It was a perfect fit for us.

One big question we had coming into this project was what to do with the two cats during demolition and construction.  We decided that restricting them to upstairs during the day was the best plan.  So, we got ourselves a pet gate to block the top of the stairs, moved their food, water, and litter to the upstairs bathroom, and figured we were all set.  Last night was the trial run.  Once they were both upstairs, we closed the gate and waited to see how they would react.

This morning, we woke up and Ruskin was already on the other (downstairs) side of the gate.  Clyde was still in the bedroom, but as soon as we got up she walked nonchalantly through the railing posts and onto the stairs on the other side of the gate.  It probably took them all of 5 minutes to figure it out.  Seems that containing two cats is harder than we thought.

Anyway, two guys from Green Demo arrived - 15 minutes early I might add - and within two hours everything had been disconnected, dismantled, packed, and trucked off.  They were very careful not to damage anything and even saved our garbage disposal and under-sink water filter for reinstallation in the new kitchen.  I would highly recommend them.

Now the room feels huge with literally nothing in it.  It seems I forgot to take a whole set of pictures with the room empty, but I do have this one from my iphone:

Everything's gone

Uncategorized before

It’s the night before they’re coming to remove the old kitchen, and we’re packing everything up in boxes and moving it to the basement.  Despite our need for more storage, we actually have a ton of stuff in the kitchen.  It’s amazing how much you can cram into cabinets.

Plus, we need to figure out what to keep upstairs so that we can eat food we order, clean dishes, store leftovers, make coffee, etc.  The cats are here supervising and making sure we don’t stow away any of their food or catnip.  It’s daunting to think how much we use the kitchen and what it will be like not to have one for two months.

It’s also just strange to see the room empty:

Empty room #1

Empty room #2

Empty room #3

Uncategorized before, cabinets, countertop, dishwasher, oven, refrigerator, sink, stove

Here’s a look at the kitchen before the renovation.  It’s not bad, but you can see how everything useful is along one wall.  The other wall is where we’ve added a small pantry cabinet, a butcher block, and our trash and recycling.  There’s a also a chair, which is mostly used by the cats.  Just go ahead and try to take it from one of them.

Main wall with counter, sink, dishwasher, stove/oven, refrigerator, and all cabinetry

Other wall with furniture and a window

Another view of the main wall

The other wall looking back through the dining room to the living room

Our weak lighting situation. Also note the water-damaged ceiling.

Uncategorized before, cabinets, countertop, dishwasher, lighting, oven, refrigerator, sink, stove