A Stage Kitchen

Upon first glance of the pre-renovated kitchen, we cringed, a lot. It was terrible. Mixed matched cabinets, layers upon layers of linoleum, outdated appliances, my God, it was awful.

We hired a guy who used a slam bar to take up the layers of flooring and it nearly killed him. It nearly killed us when we had to scrap up the tar paper that remained.

The worst part of the renovation was learning that the original floors couldn't be salvaged and that we would have to cut out a 5' x 7' section and replace it due to rot. First time renovators that we are, we did this during the dead of winter and it required feats of engineering as the two of us sat in the hole trying to level the joists and lay a sub floor.

Now, after a few years of stripping doors and adding a built in bench seat, this room can seat 7 comfortably, has restored french doors that enters onto a side deck and to the backyard and a stage of sorts to allow my husband to delve deeply into his Cajun culinary roots with an audience of onlookers.

Directional lighting highlights the stove, the frig and the extensive collection of Le Creust cookware. We figured that if the kitchen is the heart of the house and where everyone will end up, we might as well put on a show.

And that's what we do, when we are not renovating!