Kitchen Nightmares

Renovating the bathroom was one thing (and it's not even completely finished yet) but the kitchen has been a whole other (much bigger) kettle of fish.

The Plan: knock down the (annoying) single brick wall separating the kitchen and dining areas...and then..well...just pull out and replace everything!

Easy! we thought.

 There were a few minor hiccups along the way, but overall removing the old cabinets, knocking down the wall, and installing the new cabinets, did turn out to be reasonably easy.

But then there were the parts that weren't easy...

like having the contents of the kitchen cupboards scattered all over the house- some in boxes, some stacked on furniture and some on the floor...

the dust that was continuously spread around, covering things that should not have been covered in dust...

not having a sink or dishwasher for two weeks, and trying to find somewhere to stack dirty dishes, and then washing them in the bathroom or laundry...

having no bench top to prepare school lunches, make breakfast or prepare dinner...

and trying to think of easy healthy meals to cook on a gas camper stove or in the microwave, with minimal space to prepare anything, and no kitchen utensils in easy reach.

But, slowly it all started to come together. The new oven and cook top went in a few days ago ...the installation of the cabinetry was finished off...and the plumber installed our new sink and tap...hurrah!

We have spent the weekend cleaning and organising, and finally the clutter, dust and dirt is gone and our house feels like a home again. The kids even got some very overdue quality play time with mum and dad...which felt really good...it's been hard keeping them occupied and happy when we have been so busy. (They have enjoyed all the demolition, the plumbers and electricians coming and going, and making cubby houses from the old cabinetry, though!)

So, the kitchen is almost fully functioning again, with the only downside being that we will still have the old bench top in place for a few more weeks while we wait for our new one to be made. So we have the old bench resting on top of the new cabinetry...with a nice big gaping hole beside the sink, due to the new sink being different dimensions to the old one. But, it is almost finished, and the time we have to spend waiting for the bench top will be much more manageable than the weeks just past. (Still, though, can't wait to see it completed!)