Well we've lived in our home for almost 21 years and have finally started some renovations. I'm having a blast picking things out for our 1924 Italian Renaissance home. Here's a pic:
Okay - really there have been a few things we've done - air conditioning, and some other necessities, but now we're on to the fun stuff. Starting with the kitchen. Here are a few before photos:
This is the main view of the kitchen area, minus the cabinet door that's usually covering the trash can. We're talking circa 1985 here, with original tile on the backsplash. Our cabinets are cherry and we're reworking them to make an island.
This is a beautiful original cabinet. The doors have etched glass and a similar cabinet is in our butler's pantry through the door shown and behind the refrigerator. Oh the refrigerator is what I refer to as the white elephant. We plan a desk area where it's now located. And through the door to your right is our breakfast room - bright and sunny and surrounded by windows.
Close up of 1940's era inlaid vinyl tile. This s a section that's in decent condition.....unfortunately we can't preserve it but we've talked about trying to replicate it with new flooring (minus the flowers and leaves...).
Ah yes. The Thermador downdraft cooktop. I've only had 2 working burners on this thing for some time. And this is our 2nd one. The first one (identical) kept blowing out burners and I found this one at the Habitat for Humanity RE-Store for $85. My husband fixed the wiring and we've made it work for about 10 years!
Ahh.....the Incinerite! Honestly this was a pretty novel idea for the 20's. Throw your paper trash down here and it gets burned and vented through the chimney behind. Unfortunately it has never been functional - and would probably even be illegal - since we've lived here. I suppose the people who re-did the kitchen before we moved in didn't want to hassle with the gaping hole it would leave when removed. More on that later.....it's a pretty interesting historic relic from this kitchen!
Now we're ready for some demo work. Our first purchase was a Bertazzoni 36 inch 6 burner gas range. It's on it's way so we need to get some space prepared for it's much anticipated arrival.
Day one of demo. Ed used a hydraulic tool to remove the tiles from the wall because they are set in concrete. These tiles are all over our house - all over the kitchen and breakfast room, and both bathrooms. Thankfully they are neutral in color! It was truly shocking to come home to this, despite the fact that we knew it was going to happen.
The fabled Incinerite. Apparently you switched on the gas to fire the thing up on the bottom and torched the materials inside with that flame. It's cast iron and weighed about 500 lbs!
Close-up of the Incinerite label. Cool original detail, but honestly - takes up a lot of space. Good bye Incinerite!
This is the original (?) tile which was underneath the cabinet. You can see how the 40's tile butts up against it. Not particularly attractive.....but it appears that the 40's owners wanted to maintain a similar look when they put in the 'new' tile.
The most exciting thing about the demolition so far....why you ask? This is the hole created when the Incinerite was removed. Because this shaft goes all the way up to our 2nd floor it gives us a way to run plumbing for a master bathroom up there without tearing up the plaster ceiling and walls to make space. When I came home and Ed had the Incinerite out of the kitchen he and my kitchen were covered in soot. He looked like a chimney sweep! Apparently there was ash built up in the chimney all the way up to the 2nd floor. He said when he pulled the thing out all of the ash fell onto his head. Good thing he's a pretty good sport!
Okay - key the ethereal music! This is my beautiful range. My husband had it all lit up for me to see it when I came home from work.....wowza!
