We're broke, but we have a pretty kitchen to show for it

Day one

If a kitchen installation could ever be said to "lurk," well, then, this counter and cabinets definitely lurked. The bowing down in the middle isn't your imagination.

Gotta disconnect the plumbing first...

...and then you can pull out the implements of destruction. There's something very satisfying about tearing up something that's been irking you for years. I even got a sawzall so that I could enjoy the destruction even more.

Ewwww. All that black stuff is where the sink and faucet had been leaking, and rotting out the countertop.

Now, to start prying it away from the wall. It's obvious that whoever did this originally built it all by hand.

Huh, that was easy. It wasn't even attached. My guess is that this house used to have a much wider stove, and when that was replaced with a modern, narrower unit, they built this extra cabinet to take up the space.

The rest wasn't so easy. Sometime around midnight, Paul and I finally defeated all the rest of the original builder's safeguards and booby traps, and hauled the whole thing out to the carport. We stopped to survey what was left behind.

There really is no such color as that, is there? I used to complain quite a bit about having carpet in the kitchen, but now that I've seen the alternative, I think I'll be quiet. I think it's linoleum... at this point, though, it acted more like oily, crumbling cardboard.

Day two

A few hours later, bright and early, Paul Mundinger of Warsaw Custom Cabinets showed up, and he and his assistant (I think his name was Mark?) started a very well-rehearsed show.

Paul has been doing this for 29 years. Can you tell?

It was fascinating to watch these guys. I absorbed as much as I could — which was all the easier, because Paul was training the new guy, and was explaining everything he was doing the whole time.

One aspect of the construction I thought was funny was that whenever they had a part lined up, and they were ready for the other person to put in the screw, they'd say "George!" I asked why. Turns out that many years ago, someone had said, "No!" and Paul had heard "Go!" and... well, I can imagine. "George" doesn't rhyme with anything else they do, so they use that for their signal.

Ta dah!