Valentine’s Day / Kitchen Plans

My DH and I just made sexy plans for Valentine’s Day to lift a piece or two of flooring in the attic, and cut a small hole in the sheetrock in the upper back of our pantry in hot pursuit of the beam the holds up the wall between our kitchen and dining room… We’re gearing up for kitchen design work. Our stud sensor’s readings are inconclusive… The wall we want to get rid of, or at least replace with a post to hold the end of the beam, when we figure out where the beam ends, could be a sheer wall! Meanwhile I have sketches going and am meeting with two designers this week.

Having built houses for 12-years in my past life, I feel confident about certain aspects of this process (as long as I don’t have to move walls), and like a new babe when it comes to all the new fangled cabinetry and its accessories.

This remodel will extend into our sitting room (adjacent to the kitchen) in order to replace two large windows and possibly add a built-in floor level shelf underneath them. Actually, this work will see the remainder of the (36) windows in the house replaced.

I am trying to keep this project ‘boxed.’ There are no artificial deadlines. Having it done before late fall would be great, but heck, we replaced our roof in November. We are always up for an adventure, and know how to camp in our own house.

I remember when my parents remodeled our Bay Area kitchen. I got home from school one day to my dad, very enthusiastically, waving his hands back and forth horizontally from his ladder. I didn’t get it at first. They’d removed the supporting beam between the kitchen and dining room! Dad was moving his hands where it used to be. They had put in a header to make this happen. Other memories about that kitchen…

• An amazing, huge orange (70’s!) Formica counter between the kitchen and dining room. It was the entertainment hub of the house.
• A dishwasher!!! It was portable… Meaning it had to be moved over to the sink and hooked up to run, but a DISHWASHER!
• The mud porch was now part of the house and transformed into my mom’s office.
• My dad’s hand built cabinets. They were, even to young me, beautiful. And I’m thankful to have them in the Island house, minus the orange Formica 😜.

After attic diving and sheetrock surgery, we’ll crack a crab! Nothing like doing chores and having a good meal with my Honey. I know where those values came from 💜 !