Kitchen Before

Why remodel?  We were rewarded an insurance check for water damage that is buying a new floor!  While the floor is being replaced, we decided it's a good time to change the layout.  In this photo the only place to stand to prepare food is where the baby is.  There isn't room for more than one person to cook at a time, and I have 5 helpers!  Also notice the hole in the cabinet under the stove (left by a specially shaped stove no longer in production which caught fire several years ago).  We will need to replace this cabinet unit to repair the hole.  Also notice all the wasted soffit space.  By extending the cabinets to the ceiling we can expand storage space without adding on.  In addition, the refrigerator and oven are in a precarious position.  The passage space between them and the peninsula doens't meet current code standards.  It's impossible to open either door and allow someone to pass through the space.  And if those aren't good enough reasons, the new kitchen will be so pretty :).

Since DH and I are doing our kitchen remodel ourselves, I started the project prepared to be without a kitchen indefinitely.  This meant I needed to plan to cook at home without a kitchen.

Step 1.  Prepare a menu of items to be prepared without an oven or stove.  Click here to see my May menu plan (to be repeated monthly until the kitchen is complete.)  Download May menu  Almost all the items can be made in the crock pot.  All of the recipes are my own creations or tweaks and many of them will be tested for the first time this month, then tweaked some more and photographed for a special project TBA.  Here's a photo of a meal we've enjoyed without a kitchen:

Step 2:  Clean out the linen closet and put the bare cooking essentials there.

Step 3:  Box up all other kitchen items and store in the garage.  I labeled well, just in case I need to find something later.

Step 4.  Rearrange the living room to make room for the kitchen table.

Before

After
 

My biggest temptation is to start too many projects while we are working.  I'd love to redo the entire house at once, and have lots of frugal ideas for new floors, new walls, new trim, new stairs etc.  I'm thinking right now about how much I can take on, finish in a reasonable time, and still pay enough attention to my other duties.  I'm embarrassed to show you pictures of my home, because I know it's not awesomely decorated, and the furniture is placed all wrong.  That ceiling fan is glaringly hideous and I could use some serious organizing lessons.  Hopefully someone other there will feel a little better by seeing that my house isn't perfect.