The Kitchen Project

When we say we’re knocking down interior walls, people ask us if we’re opening up to the dining room, or at least installing a pass-through. Here’s why we can’t.

Our dining room is on the other side of this wall. There’s a chimney, which you wouldn’t know from outside the wall, because we don’t have a fireplace. The open space next to it backs up to a large built-in china cabinet that is common to Somerville homes of this time. It would be a sin to lose it, and an interior corner is a bad place to knock open.

We’re using this wall for the refrigerator, some cabinets, and a countertop staging area. Perhaps it’s the drinks area for a party.

Today was day two of demo. So much was accomplished yesterday, but when the guys left, there was still a ceiling to come down and some of the wall board in the back hall. Yesterday was held up by the dumpster that arrived a little late and had trouble getting into the driveway because of a car parked across the street. (Grr!)

Mark and I peeked in through the plastic today and he said “Wow! They did the windows!” I noticed quickly that the floor was up. We now just have the wide planks that run perpendicular to the joists, with light from the basement shining up through. There are some big holes where pipes used to run, and some smaller ones from knots. The space was pretty clean, but still very dusty. The ceiling is very high up there (about 9 feet) and very open.

The windows have been adjusted as well: The two we’re keeping have been raised to start about 44″ from the ground. The one we’re removing has been framed and is gone. With very little light in the room, it’s pretty dark. Especially since all the walls are dark wood studs.

Phoebe explored the space and poked around for a while. She had trouble figuring out how to get back out, and meowed at the plastic sheeting some. Her face got very dirty, so I washed it. She wasn’t too pleased about that. We have a nice layer of dust over everything.

Tomorrow: electricity.

Today the demolition started. Billy got here around 7:45 with his plumber, his son, a guy who turned out to be pretty allergic to cats (but not to plaster dust, go figure!) and started getting to business.

They apparently put the torn-down plaster in Purina Cat Chow bags to cut down on dust and make it easier to carry. That’s going to confuse the cats to no end.

The dumpster arrived later than expected, and had trouble getting off the truck because of a car parked across the street. I did realize I don’t really know all of our neighbors and their vehicles, but that’s not unusual for our street.

The debris piled up for a while until the dumpster was ready for loading, then it started to really fly. One our two guys worked inside while the others worked on the outside. Unfortunately, they didn’t finish it today. There is still half a wall here, half there, and the floor.

We did discover some great wallpaper that used to be in the kitchen. One pattern, a sweet, plain floral looks like it is darn-near original. It makes me think of apple pies cooling on the window sill, although I’m sure that never happened.

The other pattern is right out of the seventies, with its big bold colors intended to match the decades three appliance colors: Gold, Avocado, and Rust. We never knew it was there because it had been used as a border, and then covered over when the drop ceiling was put in. I saved a few pieces of it for posterity.

Go see some more pictures of the demolition in the gallery!