It has been a long time in the planning, but the great kitchen renovation has finally begun.
We’ve spent what feels like forever researching and planning it all, but I’m most nervous about the actual execution. I’ve read more than enough negative customer reviews in the last couple of years to know all of the horror stories (it’s almost enough to make you never want to renovate, ever!) but I strongly believe that if you do enough research and know enough about what needs to be done, and then find yourself some reliable tradespeople who communicate well and do a good job, then you should be fine.
We spent all of yesterday emptying all of the cupboards and things. I cannot believe how much junk we have accumulated over the last thirty-odd years. Things just get shoved to the back, or into the deepest darkest reaches of the corner cabinets, and then you forget they even existed. It really is true what they say about out of sight, out of mind.
Even worse, it’s amazing how many multiples of the same thing you end up buying. We had three electric frying pan thingies. THREE! What the heck! I can’t even remember the last time we used one, let alone three of them? Crazy!
They’re stripping out the kitchen as I type. It’s quite loud and my poor cat Alice is freaking out behind the couch. I’m kind of scared to look, too. I grew up in this house, so even though the kitchen is old and has been dying a slow and painful death, it’s the kitchen I have known and loved (and, in more recent times, loathed) and I am sad to see it go. So many memories of watching my grandmother cook, having breakfast with my family, arguing and laughing with my dad over the best way to cook this or that meal… I’m just sad to see it go.
On the other hand, I’m also happy that we’re finally getting this new kitchen than we’ve been dreaming of for years. It’s a kitchen that I know my grandparents would have really liked, and it’s also going to make my dad’s life so much easier now as well. So while change is hard, and sometimes sad, it’s also a positive, happy thing.
I’ll also never have to see any more bloody woodchip ever again, so cheers to that!