Dinner Deliveries from Neighbors, Sleepover Dates, and Other Kitchen Makeover Adventures

by Janice on October 29th, 2012

I have no kitchen, but now that the sheetrockers have given us walls, it finally feels like there’s a light at the end of the renovation tunnel. Mealtime has been an ongoing challenge, but we’re blessed with an incredible network of neighbors and friends who have nourished us (body and soul) during the past two and a half tumultuous months.

My neighbor, Channing, is a professional photographer, but he also makes a mean pizza. We were so happy when he surprised us with this bell pepper and onion pizza, which he baked outside on his Big Green Egg. It was a nice change of pace from our usual skillet meal of stir-fry or quesadillas made with whatever happens to be on hand: veggies, beans, cheese, meat. Funny though, when Leah recently said that my quesadillas were the best thing she had ever eaten, I wondered if I really needed this dream kitchen after all. Okay, so the answer is yes!

 

Our kitchen makeover project is just about at the halfway point, so I thought it would be fun to share some recent photos. One thing I’ve learned from this experience is that you can never really prepare for the disruption that occurs with a project of this magnitude. I thought, “How bad could it be? It’s just a kitchen renovation.” Now we know why our neighbors moved out for six months when their house was remodeled! In this photo, Don stands by the walls of our new kitchen.

 It took a lot of tarp to protect the new kitchen from the elements before the builders put the roof on.

 There will be plenty of natural light for food photography and for shooting cooking videos. I can’t wait :)

 Check this out. The doors and windows have finally been installed. Take note of the small roof deck off my upstairs office. I envision lunches on the deck in my future! Don and I plan to have 18 solar panels put on the roof, which will help to power the kitchen.

 Both foam and traditional insulation were applied to make the space energy efficient. A shout out to my parents who let us sleep over when the insulation work was done (we didn’t want to be breathing in that stuff) and the neighbors who have put up with a lot of noise and the constant flow of trucks and construction vehicles.

The sheetrock is almost done; all that’s left is the ceiling over my soon-to-be installed island. If you listen to our upcoming Cooking with the Moms podcast (we’ll be posting it on 10/31), I’ll be sharing the back story on WHY we have no sheetrock yet on the ceiling and why my parents had the pleasure of our company for not one, not two, but three sleepovers.

Voila! Here (finally) is our new kitchen with plastered walls.

We’re beginning to see the light — or skylight! — at the end of the Kitchen Makeover tunnel.

For more news on the kitchen project, and the generous sponsors who have helped make it possible, head to my Kitchen Makeover page.

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Comment | Filed Under CulinaryAdventures, Kitchen Makeover 

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