The Makeshift Kitchen

We are just a week away from the start of our kitchen renovation. It is time to clear out the kitchen!

We started by moving the appliances out, then cleared out the cabinets.

All the cabinets, walls and floor will be demolished. The stove is still in working condition and will be donated.

I cannot wait to bring more natural light into the living room once this diving wall is removed.

It is hard to imagine how much stuff this small kitchen held. Dry goods and spices filled several big plastic bins. Liquid condiments are all stored inside the house to prevent from freezing.

We took this opportunity to eliminate things we rarely used. The new kitchen does not have a designated pantry closet, so we will try not to overcrowd the new kitchen from the beginning.

Our new appliances were delivered! The whirlpool fridge we original ordered was no longer available, so we ordered this LG fridge instead.

The KitchenAid range and dishwasher are here too.

We also received the sink and range hood. It is nice to have all the appliances in hand for our contractors to work with.

We will be living without a kitchen for a couple months, so it is important to set up a temporary place to cook. We decided to keep it minimal and set up the makeshift kitchen in our basement.

We also cleared the furniture out of the living room – once the dividing wall is removed, the living room and the kitchen will become one big space and inevitably, it will get dusty too. We removed the art work on the wall, took down the curtains, rolled up the rugs, and pushed the sofa against the wall to make some room.

We also kept the dropleaf table in the living room to dine on.

Roxie must be thinking we are moving again. She did not want to let the rug go.

We kept our offices largely intact. We will cover the doorways of both offices with plastic to keep the dust down as much as possible. We will continue using these rooms as offices and guest bedroom during the renovation.

Kitchen renovation is a big disturbance to our lives before the renovation even starts. I will be showing our progress on Instagram with short stories, which you could find in the “Kitchen” highlight. I will also post photos, starting with this one I snapped today. This will be the last memory of our current kitchen, which has served this house and the families living here for almost 60 years. Good bye the old kitchen! You had a good run and it is time to get a refreshed look!