Sis. et. al. v. The Cabinet

Matt's sister came up over Thanksgiving weekend to help on the house.

Can't you see the family resemblance?! We were thrilled to see her, and Sam was especially so.


We decided that the first order of business was the kitchen cabinets. The goal was to get the kitchen done before we moved in. So, off to work we went.

The before:
We wanted to remove this top right kitchen cabinet that divided the kitchen area and the dining room. It made the kitchen dark and cramped and it also closed off the dining room. We decided that if we took it down, it would open the space up and make it lighter.

With the cabinet doors off, we knocked out the wall-board covering the soffit.

We thought this job would be complete in an hour or two. How hard can it be to pull some cabinets from the ceiling, right?

So, off to work.

Matt had a plan of how to separate the cabinets so as to easily get it down while not damaging the existing cabinets that we want to keep and refinish. The cabinet builders from 1959, however, had a different plan. They decided to use a gazillion long nails in all the tightest, littlest places they could find so as to discourage any future modification. It turned into a battle of wills and crowbars.



Just so you know, iron wills and crowbars ALWAYS win. It took about 20 man hours for us to get this cabinet down, but it came down. After the crowbars had loosened everything up, I got up on the counter and kicked. that. cabinet. down.

If only we had caught that on camera! Alas, everyone else was on the floor catching the falling cabinet.

We do, however, have pictures of the aftermath.

The warriors and their spoil

The vanquished foe

The battle scars

The victory shot

This kitchen will live to see more battles, certainly. But for now, score 1 for us!

First day

The day after we closed on the house and had the open house was actually Sam's birthday party. After his party at the pool, a few of his friends came over to the house. They played dart guns for the first little while, while Matt and I worked.




The first job is the kitchen cabinets. That lovely wallpaper on the soffit was the first thing to go.




I was surprised how much changed by just taking that little bit of wallpaper off. The busy pattern gave way to a much more open feel of one color--even if it is an ugly color.

The next task was taking down the upper cabinet that divided the kitchen and dining room. These cabinets were originally intended to delineate the two spaces. To me, however, it just made the kitchen and dining room seem dark and small. Opening them up will increase the light and space.

These dark spaces will soon be light and open

I started to break through the soffit and the boys heard the hammering. They, of course, wanted to try. What 11 year old boy wouldn't want to put a hammer through a wall?!?




This handsome guy started by taking the cabinet doors off the area beneath the oven.




After the other boys left, Sam settled down with a book while Matt and I worked for a while. What do you think about the filtered mask? You'll see a lot of pictures of these masks in the posts to come.



Toward the end of the night's work, this is what the soffit looked like. Lots more to do, but that cabinet will come down whether it wants to or not!

Things I love but will be changing...

The oven:

This baby is original to the house. It still works and is perfectly clean. Can't you just see me wearing heels and an apron pulling piping hot rolls out of the oven?

Or not.

The bottom part of the oven with the cook top moves in and out.
Above is when it is out and below shows how it can be hidden.

The dials.

This picture was taken at our open house. I'm trying to be a pixie-haired Vanna White. But I blinked and weigh lots more than she does. But other than that, it's about the same.

The upstairs bathroom:

This fine piece once held hand towels and had it's home over the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. It's now in the trash, but I'm sure it was fantastic in it's era.

Can you see the green/orange/white shag carpet in the bathroom? It's my favorite! (...thing to obsess about ripping out and cleaning up.)

The lovely bath tub. We like it because it's a bit bigger than standard size. We may have someone come re-enamel it instead of replacing it. Mr. C was very thoughtful to leave behind
matching (?) peach towels and soap. Tile will be changed and shower added.

The downstairs bath:

Yellow and brown. Nice. Very 1970s. I don't want to mock, because I know this was very much in style during that time. And, it does happen to be my high school colors (brown and gold!)

The kitchen/breakfast/dining room:

The soffit had wallpaper on it and this decorative board guarding the window.

This cabinet divided the kitchen area from the formal dining area.

The other side of the cabinets--with some stuff on it for the open house.

Ahhhhh. The must-have (and must-remove) 1970s wood paneling.

Olive-green lighting fixtures will NOT be making the final cut.

And the nail. Nails! Everywhere!
Oh, Mr. C, you must have had a lot of nick-knacks to hang up!

This mid-century modern door is nice but it doesn't really fit in the cape cod architecture.
And it isn't insulated. It goes.

Et la pièce de résistance...

Green...
and
Orange...
Shag...
Carpet.

The picture is washed out but you can imagine the olive-green and mandarin awesomeness.
It's in all of the bedrooms upstairs. Not for long, though.

There are a few more projects, too. We're taking out a wall to enlarge the living room, changing all the flooring, reclaiming the kitchen cabinets and adding lots and lots and lots of paint. All this by the sweat of our brow.

Stay tuned!

Things I love about our house...

I like the mirror and we may paint the frame silver and keep it. But I love what's reflected it in even more. Definitely a keeper.

The cool built-ins:

The dresser and book shelf in Sam's room.
(pictured here with Simone and Elias)

This great book case/ desk area in the entrance

The fab shelving in the upstairs closet

The cookie sheet cupboard boards.

The good care/ OCD-ness:

This shelf is anchored in the studs
and has the year it was built
and who it was built for
written on the side.

Just in case you forget...

There is so much awesomeness in this picture that it bears some explaining:

1. There is a shower curtain cut to fit over the window
2. Said shower curtain looks like it was from the 1950s
and looks as if it has been over the window ever since.
3. The window probably leaks...
4. ...seeing as how it has a makeshift gully and funnel
that ends in the drain.
5. We'll address this issue soon.

Random coolness:

Kitchen cabinets that open from both sides and allow sweet Jude to crawl through.

A workbench. Nuff said.

Another reminder

Dear Mr. C.,

Thanks for letting us buy your home. I can tell that you have taken good care of it over the years. I love that you have tracked the gas bills over the years--you know, on those yellow, lined sheets with exact handwriting hanging on the nail next to the fuse box. And I love, too, that you have written under the stairs the color of paint and dates that you painted the rooms. If I were to pick a word to describe your care of the your house, it would be 'meticulous.'

I don't know if you know what a blessing your home is to our little family. We weren't really looking to buy a house, truthfully. Well, at least I wasn't. My husband was ready, but I was holding back.

You see, C-town is a little smaller city than I imagined myself living in. I grew up in a small town and, to tell you the truth, I never really felt like I fit in there. It wasn't until I moved to Boston that I truly felt at home. Then, when I went on a study abroad to London and had the opportunity to travel around a bit, I realized that it wasn't just Boston, it was any big city. For some reason the crowds and culture and architecture call to me. I feel so at peace.

I wonder what you'd think of that. From what I've gleaned, you have grown up her in C-town. It's been home to you all your life. The home inspector said that you were probably a member of the C. family who has worked for Coke for years. So, even though I don't drink Coke, I'll probably keep the Coca Cola light fixtures you had hanging over the pool table in the basement. Just to keep the integrity of the place.



I know that you're living in a care center and that you've been sick. That's why you sold the house. I really want to meet you. It's a small enough town that I already know how to contact you. Maybe you can tell me what you love about this place.

I know the people are good. But how do you deal with the cold?