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| My "before" Island |
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| Empty and Ready... |
This could be an intro to an HGTV show...."After 17 years, 3 kids, 16 Thanksgivings, 16 Christmases, Holidays and countless birthday parties and even more gatherings around the table....it's time to refresh, renovate, remodel and renew!!! As my youngest discovered...after we dream of college, marriage, children....the next big dream....a new Kitchen!!! There are actually a lot of dreams in between and beyond the kitchen. But for me, my kitchen is where we share not only our food, we share in our thoughts; our days- the good ones and the not so good; we do homework, we learn of new worlds, and new words; the prayers that are said are sweet and the aroma of family and friends fill my kitchen, my home and my heart. Nourish- is what comes to mind as I think of my kitchen, my home. We nourish not only the body, but the soul, the spirit and the heart.
We have planned and dreamed on how to make our kitchen even better than before. I had a beautiful kitchen but it was in need of more than a facelift..we needed to replace the time worn and well loved floors, cabinets; we needed a flow to the wonderful traffic that enters our home on a regular basis (20 or so teenage girls, art classes and friends gathering), a place where Home Ec students can be taught the way to feed our families without a trip to the nearest fast food restaurant, a place to learn the art of celebrating and to gather once again around the island and get our hands a little messy as we knead the dough and sift through life's journey.
This is week one in the journey. This is a new process for me, seeing how the insides of the walls work, quietly and now more efficient; to see the beams that hold up my walls; the talent of men who have learned the art of plumbing, electricity, construction- it is truly an art and the men who have walked in my kitchen truly know their craft. It has been a week of living with dust, but dusting each night (it is like shoveling snow while it is still snowing); a week of cooking creatively with the grill, crockpot and pressure cooker; a week of learning and letting go; making way for the new by removing the old. I feel life lessons are coming from this process- I will let those simmer just a while.
Here are a few pictures of before and during....
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packing the last of the boxes...I had
a baby shower two days before Demo Day! |
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| Before.... |
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| Before.... |
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| Notice the arch and the wall..... |
During....Demo day and Week One
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Hammering ...wish I could have saved the granite pieces..
but oooh, so sharp and heavy!! |
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| Presleigh - ready for demo day! |
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| Savannah chipping away at the granite! |
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| Cabinet and countertops gone! |
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| Down to the cement |
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| Getting ready for the gas line and new water lines. |
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Scaffolding up, wall down - a little mess before the beauty!
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Thank you for joining me on this journey...Life lessons, learning curves and creating a new gathering place, where we can feed our family, friends and find comfort not only in food but in one another.
Until next time, add a little love in your next dinner as you gather around the table!!
