This Old House...Scofield Style

I really wanted to wait and do some big reveal, but because I am running out of steam, I had to write about the progress that has been made so far so that I can muster up enough energy to finish off the summer with just a little bit more renovation and maybe this kitchen will be complete before snow falls.

Presenting...

This does not even begin to show the condition of this kitchen. We wore rubber gloves and face masks as we cleaned out every cupboard and drawer.

This is where the old stove pipe went into the wall for the stove. The chimney fell down off the roof in the middle of the winter. It sent all sorts of soot, ash and debris into the kitchen. Every surface was covered with a huge layer of black gook.

The kitchen was eventually gutted completely.

Old cabinets were hauled away.

Several trucks and trailers were filled with junk and taken to the dump.

Drywall was hung.

New old cabinets were brought in.

All of the cabinets were primed with a layer or two of white.

Yellow was the chosen color for the cabinets, a Finnish decorating favorite.

Painting, late into the night, as you might can tell from the dark window.

I am wearing the same shirt in every picture.

Not because the work was done in one day, but because I would finish a days work, wash the shirt and wear it again the following day.

Day after day.

First, we tried white washing this lovely shiny wooden wall.

It ended up being painted (see below).

The kids were curious as to what was below the trap door (perhaps they watch too much Scooby Doo).

So, I took the paint stick and waved it back and forth amongst all of the millions of cobwebs and bid farewell to my children and ventured down into the earth below this 111 year old house. It was creepy (too much Scooby Doo for me too).

There were bottles and bottles on the shelves and on the dirt floor.

some were filled with fruit, vegetables, and perhaps fish from an estimated 50 plus years ago.

Some bottles were broken.

There were some egg crates.

And a dynamite box.

And a campbells soup box.

The camera didn't make it down into the cellar, so use your imagination. or not.

Rick came down with me. At one point he leaned his body against a big post that we assumed was holding up the entire house. The post tumbled. It apparently wasn't making contact at the top where it should have been holding up the floor in the living room.

We quickly grabbed the flashlight and the paint stick and began whacking at cobwebs to make our way back up the ladder to safety.

Installing laminate flooring. This is the "Back Room" for those of you who are familiar with the layout.

Wall color choice:

BLUE

Just in case you think Cole was missing from the action, he was not.

He was right in the middle of the action the entire time.

Installing shelves and cabinets.

Summer and Sierra installing the hinges on the cupboard doors.

previously shiny wooden wall that was white washed.

We had extra blue paint so the wall is now blue.

Stay tuned for the final results...