So when we last left you, our intrepid viewer, we were in the middle of a demolition derby. Well, as you can see from the picture above, the insulation went up in pretty short order. Next came the drywall!

The drywall went up pretty fast as well. In this shot, the old door leading to the back hall/ pantry and the transom above (basically a single pane of ordinary glass) are the only remnants of the old kitchen.

Now don’t let this next picture deceive you. The paint and the electrical went in pretty quick, but the cabinets did not.

This was the second batch (the first had the wrong finish on them).

THE RETURN OF THE WINDOW

With the paneling gone, the old window was finally doing its job once again. Unfortunately it was in very bad shape and could not be salvaged, so we ended up having to replace it.

To date, this is the only Windows we haven’t been able to salvage in our house.

Here you can see the new wooden floors have gone in (quarter sawn oak, just like the house had originally) and the newly opened-up wall leading to the eating area, along with more new cabinets.

Notice the lack of countertops? In July, our contractors all went on vacation for 2-3 weeks. They told us that everything was set and the “Granite Guy” would be there to install our countertops while they were gone and we would have a functioning kitchen.

Guess what? It didn’t happen. And they didn’t even leave us a phone number of someone to call in case of an emergency. Thanks guys!

The least they could have done is left us with some plywood versions so could have actually used the kitchen...

THE BACKSPLASH

Here are the unsealed travertine tiles and the matte and shiny metallic-like tiles that were selected for the back-splash.

Unfortunately, our so-called “kitchen designer” had no ideas for a design here, so Heather came up with her own.

Here’s her tile design along the walls...

...and here’s her design over the cooktop. Way to go, Heather!

As you can see, the new kitchen was so large that parts of it actually had to go just on the other side of the load-bearer and into the eating area.

Here, the fridge is right next to the archway/bench seating.

Across from the main refrigerator is small work area where we store our cookbooks, pay bills on the computer, etc. etc.

Underneath the countertop lies a small beverage fridge that houses all of the soda, fruit juices and Frappachino’s your heart could desire. This was a perfect addition to the kitchen as it really off-loads the main refrigerator so it can better focus on the storage of more critical food items.

The door leading to the former back hall was replaced by this great mission-style door and stained to match.

The plain-glass transom above the door was also replace by another beautiful Lisa Beard creation.

The servant’s hallway to the left leads to the formal Dining room.

THE FINAL RESULTS

Well, it was a lot of pain and arguing (with the contractors, not ourselves)
to get this massive renovation completed, but we absolutely love the results: