Kitchen Demolition 2007
Hello:
Here we are just a few days into the new year and a few days into the 'Renaisance' of Dark Glass. Work was pretty crazy last week and I just couldn't find the time and energy to tap out a new post. I had quite a bit of low hanging fruit I could have chosen too. I've been really lucky and had lots of comments in the past couple of weeks. I always like to do a shout-out to anyone that leaves a comment and that doesn't really take a lot of focus. Somehow I felt I needed another 'real' post before I did that. Result? - Nothing posted. Sooo, today you get to hear about the thing most pressing on my mind. Drumroll please, Kitchen Demolition 2007 (said with the echo of a Monster Truck announcer).
If you've read Dark Glass even occasionally, you'll know that I bought a beautiful but 'as-is' old house just about a year ago. There have been some pretty massive projects since then; replastering the walls, refinishing the floors, installing 200 amp electrical service, and putting in a high velocity air conditioning system (August in St. Louis is liquid) just to name a few. As a result, we've become pretty happy with every room on the first floor. Every room that is but the kitchen. The filthy, nasty, grease caked, worn out kitchen. For a entire year year now, I haven't even had a stove! The counter tops (which were cheap and ugly new) have deep cuts and BURN marks all over them. The plywood cabinets are literally coated in a thick film of grease. Yet somehow I'd managed to get used to living with this.
A combination of exhaustion from all of the other do it yourself (DIY) projects and fear of the cost of remodelling the kitchen created an unspoken "it's not THAT bad" attitude. Oh sure, most of my dishes were still packed and in the basement because there was no way I was going to let them touch those filthy cabinets. True, there was only a hot plate, roaster oven and microwave to cook with (and in nicer weather the bbq grill). Still, I obviously wasn't missing any meals (I've gained significant weight this year).
Anyway, yesterday morning I met with a kitchen designer. Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to. Usually I pride myself on being able to make these types of decision. I love researching every little choice and learning how to install or repair whatever it is. I found I just couldn't do it with this kitchen project. Too many choices. Way, way too many choices. Hundreds of kitchen cabinets, hundreds of countertop options. Thousands of blacksplash and floor possibilities. Millions of combinations. None of it cheap and none of it easy to replace if I didn't like what I chose. So anywho, Sam (the kitch guy) is drawing up some plans and I'm getting ready to migrate the what there is of a kitchen to the basement. It's probably worth mentioning that the only area of the house that's scarier than the kitchen (and I'm including the attic) is the basement. I suspect I'll be eating out a lot.
Once everything (including the fridge) is moved out my full scale assult on the kitchen will begin. Walls will come down, cabinets will be hacked into pieces and floors will be pulled up. Finally a project that doesn't require subtlty or finese! To paraphrase Michael Caine, What's the point in owning a sledge hammer if you're not going to use it?
Obviously, this little project will be on my mind quite a bit for the next several months. Expect lots of pictures and a healthy dose of cursing. I'll try to catch up on those shout-outs in the next couple of days. Until then, I'll leave with a few titles Liguori Publications titles. What type you ask? What else? Cookbooks!
Peace,
P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass
Here we are just a few days into the new year and a few days into the 'Renaisance' of Dark Glass. Work was pretty crazy last week and I just couldn't find the time and energy to tap out a new post. I had quite a bit of low hanging fruit I could have chosen too. I've been really lucky and had lots of comments in the past couple of weeks. I always like to do a shout-out to anyone that leaves a comment and that doesn't really take a lot of focus. Somehow I felt I needed another 'real' post before I did that. Result? - Nothing posted. Sooo, today you get to hear about the thing most pressing on my mind. Drumroll please, Kitchen Demolition 2007 (said with the echo of a Monster Truck announcer).
If you've read Dark Glass even occasionally, you'll know that I bought a beautiful but 'as-is' old house just about a year ago. There have been some pretty massive projects since then; replastering the walls, refinishing the floors, installing 200 amp electrical service, and putting in a high velocity air conditioning system (August in St. Louis is liquid) just to name a few. As a result, we've become pretty happy with every room on the first floor. Every room that is but the kitchen. The filthy, nasty, grease caked, worn out kitchen. For a entire year year now, I haven't even had a stove! The counter tops (which were cheap and ugly new) have deep cuts and BURN marks all over them. The plywood cabinets are literally coated in a thick film of grease. Yet somehow I'd managed to get used to living with this.
A combination of exhaustion from all of the other do it yourself (DIY) projects and fear of the cost of remodelling the kitchen created an unspoken "it's not THAT bad" attitude. Oh sure, most of my dishes were still packed and in the basement because there was no way I was going to let them touch those filthy cabinets. True, there was only a hot plate, roaster oven and microwave to cook with (and in nicer weather the bbq grill). Still, I obviously wasn't missing any meals (I've gained significant weight this year).
Anyway, yesterday morning I met with a kitchen designer. Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to. Usually I pride myself on being able to make these types of decision. I love researching every little choice and learning how to install or repair whatever it is. I found I just couldn't do it with this kitchen project. Too many choices. Way, way too many choices. Hundreds of kitchen cabinets, hundreds of countertop options. Thousands of blacksplash and floor possibilities. Millions of combinations. None of it cheap and none of it easy to replace if I didn't like what I chose. So anywho, Sam (the kitch guy) is drawing up some plans and I'm getting ready to migrate the what there is of a kitchen to the basement. It's probably worth mentioning that the only area of the house that's scarier than the kitchen (and I'm including the attic) is the basement. I suspect I'll be eating out a lot.
Once everything (including the fridge) is moved out my full scale assult on the kitchen will begin. Walls will come down, cabinets will be hacked into pieces and floors will be pulled up. Finally a project that doesn't require subtlty or finese! To paraphrase Michael Caine, What's the point in owning a sledge hammer if you're not going to use it?
Obviously, this little project will be on my mind quite a bit for the next several months. Expect lots of pictures and a healthy dose of cursing. I'll try to catch up on those shout-outs in the next couple of days. Until then, I'll leave with a few titles Liguori Publications titles. What type you ask? What else? Cookbooks!
Peace,
P. Del Ricci - Dark Glass
posted by Philip Del Ricci | 9:29 AM
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