The Kitchen Renovation, Part 1 - Demolition

Our kitchen renovation is well underway.  Any mess or inconvenience that we have been enduring is overshadowed by our excitement about the finished project.  We can't wait.  

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Today, I would like to share a few pictures from the demolition phase of the project.  In the picture above, you can see my kitchen, circa 1962, less the drawers and cabinet doors.  Lovely, isn't it?

When we first started talking about redoing the kitchen, we knew we would want to expand the space by relocating the laundry room which was located behind the wall with the refrigerator.  We opted to move it across the hallway into my former pantry (you can see the location in a picture below).

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You can see where the wall was removed (along with Jacob, our contractor).  We are excited about gaining an additional five feet of kitchen space.  The kitchen is going to have such a nice open feel. 

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Despite living in our house for many years, I was still rocking the original built-in oven and cooktop from 1962.  In a perfect world I would have replaced my old cooktop with a fancy new gas one.  I inquired about how much it would cost to have a gas line brought into the house (we have electric heat) but I was stunned by the extremely high price (many thousands of dollars). I decided to forego gas and purchase a new electric range instead.

Those plans were thrown out the window when the hubby came home with a $3000 stainless double oven than he found at Best Buy for $319.  $319!  Can you believe that deal?  I also purchased an electric coil cooktop (I can't use a glass top or induction cooktop because my pressure canner will shatter the glass) which will be installed in the island.

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Once the linoleum was removed, it revealed three+ layers of random subfloor.  The middle layer was particle board which had disintegrated thanks to moisture and passage of time.  It was southern engineering at it's finest.

We decided to go on ahead and rip up the entire floor down to the joists and start fresh.  Our poor contractor had a lovely time shoveling out the crumbled layers and pulling hundreds of nails from the joists.  

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Here is a picture of the new subfloor.  Isn't it pretty?  You can also see the location of my former pantry turned laundry closet.  

We also created a seven-foot opening between the kitchen and dining room.  We are going to lay the same wood flooring in both rooms.  Speaking of wood...

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I picked up 420 square feet of wood flooring yesterday.  We selected a hand-scraped, dark stained oak floor that comes in five-inch planks.  We wanted something rustic that would wear well and I think this should do the trick.  Plus, it was on sale and you know how much I adore a good deal.

The flooring will be installed in about a week.  But first, the electrician will relocate some of the wiring/outlets and then new drywall will be hung.  I am looking forward to passing that milestone and hopefully getting some relief from the never-ending dust that has coated everything in the house. 

I'll keep you updated as our progress continues.  

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To read all of our kitchen renovation posts click here.  

Part 2 - Floors and Ceiling
Part 3 - The Cabinets
Part 4 - The Island
Part 5 - The Lighting