Out With the Old

I have been out, way out of touch for the last week. DH brought home a really bad flu bug and I got it two days after he came down with it. It really knocked our socks off! Both of us went to the dr. and received antibiotics. It really didn't do anything for us. We are still hacking almost two weeks later. DD#1 has had it now for a week. It's a scary one! Anyway, I will post the rest of the vacation tomorrow. For now, I will write about our remodel.  We are in the process of purchasing dh's family home. We are in line to close in a few weeks. I guess the paperwork is in a stack at the title company. Anyway, we decided to begin gutting out the kitchen and then redo the whole main floor.
     First off, to get recessed lighting, the men had to make a scaffolding to get to the high ceilings, then create a ceiling down eight inches to accommodate the lights. (We are so appreciative of my father coming to our rescue. He is a man of many talents. My parents stayed two weeks to help us.)

We are wanting to take out the whole kitchen, which has been in a box in the middle of the South wall. We are opening up the entire room. Unfortunately, if you were to come in the front door, you will see if I have a neat and tidy kitchen. Ugh!  Oh well, while the men were busy with the ceiling, us girls worked on peeling all of the wallpaper off of six walls. Mom found a trick to using unscented Downey fabric softener and hot water. (This was confirmed by DIL's mother.)  We used a hand tool that pricks holes in the paper and then sprayed the walls with the softener solution, let it sit and then scraped it off. I have taken dish soap and hot water to scrub off the paste residue. It was lots of work but will look as good as new when I paint. While waiting for a man to come and tape the ceiling, we all pulled up the carpeting and pad, took a load to the dump and am now in the processes of picking out paint colors, appliances and flooring. UGH! Way too much decision making! Too many way cool things to choose! 

We are meeting with the kitchen designer at Depot on Saturday so I have really got a deadline for a few decisions. 

"I can't tell how this comes off."

Bottom of wall becomes the structure for the island.