Let's do a Little Demo

I love a good project that makes a huge difference, doesn't take too long, and most of all doesn't cost anything! They are hard to come by, but we were able to do a little one in our kitchen a few weeks ago.

This counter I could see as being a good idea once upon a time, but for us, it was a place that collected junk mail and stashed everyone's belongings that didn't end up finding a home. It also created a log jam when there were a lot of people in the kitchen.

From this side, you can see where the dishwasher had been installed a few years before we moved in. This was a problem because when the dishwasher was being unloaded, the cupboards around it couldn't be reached until the dishwasher door was closed. It was quite the hassle and I decided the counter needed to be moved.

We had to first remove the old linoleum flooring which didn't make me cry. It wasn't the worst color I'd seen but it was in rough shape with holes and tears being in different areas. The boys were all too eager to put their tools to work!

Ta-dah! It's out!

You can see in this picture how we moved our cupboard to be flush against the wall. Much more open space now!

The subfloor was in good condition and we knew we didn't want to install any flooring right away because we have some grand future plans. So, we decided to paint and distress it as a temporary solution.

Sand. Sweep. Paint. Sand again. Sweep again. Stain.

The very last step was to put a few coats of polyurethane. I really love the end result because it didn't cost much and it hides the dirt really well. In fact, I have to consciously ask myself when the last time was that I swept the kitchen floor!

A simple fix with great results!

Never mind the dirty kitchen! I was in the middle of remodeling and not so worried about housekeeping.