Demo - Part 2

If you recall, from Demo - Part 1, we were originally going to keep the existing ceiling over the kitchen, but then we decided to vault the rest of the kitchen ceiling. What the heck, right? This was going to be more work and cost, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

I took a day off from work and started pulling down the drywall from the kitchen ceiling. I had to do this a little more carefully than when Al and I did it in the living and dining rooms because, as you can see, we still had our old base cabinets installed. Rather than smashing them off the walls like you see the people do on television, I figured I would try to sell them on Craigslist. I didn't end up getting any bites for the whole set, so we ended up donating them to a local charity for a tax write-off. They were still in good shape, you know? I would have hated to smash them up and throw them in the dumpster.

Starting removal of the kitchen ceiling.

Wall cabinets removed and stored in the dining room.

Look at that mess of wires!

The only remaining ceiling drywall was the boxed-in skylight.

So much for the boxed-in skylight!

Lots of joists and strapping to be removed.

Joists, strapping, and skylight framing removed from over the kitchen.

The joists did a good job of keeping that wiring up.

A better view of the laminated ridge beam.

What a mess, huh?

Another view (cabinets have been picked up).

In case you forgot the time of year we started the renovation, it was in the fall, so we had to live with the fact that Christmas was going to be a little different this year. In fact, it was the first year since we had been together that we did not have a real Christmas tree in the living room. Instead, Maura spent some extra time decorating in the basement. I got a good Black Friday deal on a pre-lit artificial Christmas tree at Lowe's.

The stockings were hung by the bar with care...

 Christmas Morning 2015