The Kitchen: Demo

We are very much trying to keep our costs down, so my husband decided that he and his sons (and whoever else he could grab) would do the demo.  They started in the kitchen.  We wanted to open up the kitchen and we felt that the hanging cabinets made the whole place seem smaller.

We will also be removing the wall at the end of the kitchen and the patio door wall and incorporating that small outside area into the family room.  It will make the kitchen larger and more workable and give us a place for a dining room table.  The small area is only about 8×10, but it is basically a dead space.

Usually when I go to visit or work or meet with various contractors, I bring Obie T. Dogg with me.  For some reason he gets quite panicky about being in this place and breaks out into his panic panting the minute he gets out of the car.  Every time I make a move towards the door, he runs to the car and points his nose at the back car door wanting to get back in the car.

Obie is a shelter dog that we have had for about three years.  He was abandoned somewhere in Winnemucca, NV, so I think he panics a little when I take him to a different house.  He thinks he will be left behind. (Plus, he doesn’t really like to walk on wood floors.)

Pretty soon my husband and oldest son had gutted the kitchen.

The brick wall that you see on the left side, is the back of the large fireplace that is the centerpiece of the home.

The entire house is built around this huge structure (which includes a little built in planter.)  The bricks came from the demolition of the old Placerville Grammar School, where my dad went to school as a child.  The same bricks were used in the Family room fireplace and all the brick landscaping in the front and back yards.

I remember as I was growing up that my mom would go outside whenever she could and spend time chipping the cement off the old bricks so they could be used in the landscaping.  It took her many years to complete the piles and piles of bricks that they were able to get from the old school for free.

My dad did all the hardscape landscaping.

At any rate, the kitchen is now demolished.

On to the next room.