Kitchen Rehab

We're in full-on kitchen rehab mode. It's such an overwhelming project, I've mostly just tried not to think about it and to stay out of the way. So far, the decision vis a vis paint and flooring and countertop material/color have been very easy, which has helped. Also, the "surprises," such as they've been, have been mostly fortuitous. Aside from uncovering some very frayed wiring to the dishwasher, all the foundational stuff appears in good shape. The original builders put in two kitchen floors, which actually is to our advantage. We're going to have a concrete floor poured, so needed 1" depth for the pouring. The extra floor gave us another 1/2" to work with, so it looks like it won't have to be taken down another level-- the subfloor can stay where it is.

Unfortunately, they stapled the floor down every few inches, so getting what is there up is a thankless job. A thankless, I'm thinking, as scraping the popcorn off the 25' ceiling... Steve is undertaking both of these projects (while I try not to think about it and stay out of the way, though I did clean after the popcorn duststorm). He's undertaking all the other thankless work as well-- taking out cabinets, painting them, putting them back, moving the stuff out of the room (albeit, piecemeal) and putting it back...

The good part is, with any luck, it won't need to be done again for another 25-30 years, at which point we'll be too old to care...

What I wanted to share was a picture of this amazing ladder. It is the only thing that makes painting that ceiling and the upper reaches of the dining room possible. It is an incredible piece of equipment, solid as anything, beautiful in its hardware and architecture. I just can't get over the stuff that is on this farm sometimes, and this ladder is a good example.

The other picture is hopefully the height of the chaos... no sink, no stove, the cabinets being painted... The countertops are ordered, and the carpenter will come this week with the new cabinet doors... the trickiest thing will be that floor... I'll be sure to post more later.