Kitchen Reno Diary - Week Two

Good progress made this week, and the photo diary has been updated with a few new pictures. All the drywall has now come down from the walls that are being taken out, and A. is working on pulling down the ceiling and all the wall studs today. We also opened up the area which used to house our oven. It backs onto the chimney so we were interested to see what additional space might be revealed, that could be used as part of a new design. As it turns out, there's not much - but it should still be enough to install the planned liquor cabinet and wine fridge.

This week we also received a quote from an electrician, lined up a guy to install the two new windows, and had a plumber come in to look around before giving us an estimate. On Thursday afternoon, we had a second (and hopefully final) meeting with our cabinetmaker. He is coming in on Tuesday this week, to do a final measure of the space.

This afternoon, the engineer who came round last year to advise us on the feasibility of our plans came back to have a look at the work so far. A. wanted him to give the OK before he started removing the studs from the old walls we have taken down. And we now have a busy week ahead. Tomorrow, the electrician is going to start work on some rough-ins, and the window guy is coming in as well.

In the meantime, the "camp kitchen" I have set up downstairs in the laundry room is working out quite well. I have a table and chairs, open shelves, and a standing cupboard, as well as a bar fridge, microwave, kettle and hotplate. The laundry tub is serving as the kitchen sink (though thankfully, we still have the dishwasher hooked up, upstairs - I'll be using that as long as I can). Cooking down in the basement feels a bit like being a student again, though. That said, I'm far better equipped now than I was during my last year in England - when I lived in a small studio flat where the permitted cooking facilities consisted of a microwave only. Most of my housemates subsisted mainly on frozen ready-meals from Marks & Spencer, but since I couldn't afford those (and had a care for my health), I was forced by necessity to learn the techniques of early-1980s microwave cuisine. I bought vintage microwave cookbooks in used bookshops, and picked up obscure accessories at jumble sales and charity shops (sizzler plates for crisping meats, a chicken roaster, potato roaster, etc). Like most people, I only used the nuke for reheating food, and had no idea you could cook all sorts of things in it. So, I don't think we'll starve, this next month or two - nor will we have to subsist on take-out, which is good.