I hate my kitchen !

I hate the way the walls crumble at my  feet when I put in a nail for a picture. I hate how the kitchen window is off center from the counter below it. And how the wind whistles though it at night and in the day time but never at dusk, no never at dusk. I hate how the doors do not hang level. I hate how the ceiling bows a little in the middle, and in the corners and along the wall. I  hate how the cabinets are so deep I need to stand on one of my grandchildren to reach the back. I hate how the floor has an inch thick layer of old carpet glue over the original hardwood floors and a hunk of steel covering up some secret trap door. I hate how the wiring causes small animals in the barn to receive tiny electrical jolts every time I use the pull switch for the light over the sink. I hate my kitchen.

I love my kitchen ! I love the way the 10 layers of paint and wallpaper show evidence of all the families who shared food, stories and love. I love the way the wood floor has been patched with a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of steel covering up what I am sure is hidden treasure.  I love the huge cabinets obviously custom made in the 40's by some man who loved his wife enough to give her good space for her "modern" kitchenware. I love the thick floorboards  that protect the walls from the kicking feet of a two year olds tandrum. I love my kitchen.

After 15 years of waiting, my kitchen is getting a remodel.  Not a total, gutted to the studs makeover, but a very nice update. Sort of an Oil of Olay treatment instead of a complete face lift. Our house is 120 years old. When we moved in (1995) there was brown and orange carpet in the kitchen. We had four young kids, very little money and no time. The carpet was removed, replaced with a vinyl remnant and the walls got a thick layer of Ivy wallpaper. We moved in planning to remodel in a "couple" of years.My how time flies when you are raising a family and a farm.

But, the wait is over and the work has begun. Some of it being done by Keith and I and some being done by our contractor. We're keeping the very old cabinets because they are very well built and new cabinets are crazy expensive. Instead they will be painted...dark brown to show less dirt. All the years I fed four kids in that kitchen my cabinets were white. You know what they say, beauty before brains. The old countertop was put in in the 50's, a laminate so tough tanks could've been covered in it. My floor had been covered with a sub floor of plywood (painted bright green ) waiting for tile "one day" but when the sub floor was pulled up we found the original hardwood. It is filthy, but intact. We'll see what a professional can do to save it.

We have replaced the countertop with a wood countertop from IKEA. At 1/4 the cost of other hardwood suppliers we were very pleased with the product. The tile was found at BJ's liquidation in Kankakee. It was .59 cents a square foot compared to $6.50 a square  foot  in retail stores. With the average kitchen remodel coming in at $30,000 we thought we'd save some money on the kitchen and invest  it into pigs instead. I guess I would rather have fabulous tasting meat in an economy kitchen instead of a microwave dinner in a fabulous kitchen. Rationalization at its best.

In the midst of all this the weather broke and we have mud everywhere. Of course. Why remodel when the whether is good ? That would defy logic.