Preliminary Kitchen Sketches.

Before I go on to be really boring about the changes to my kitchen, I just want to thank everyone for your kind words on the death of my brother. It meant and means a lot to me. Despite the fact that 19 years of non-communication had made him almost non-existent in my life in some ways, he still hovered around the edges and in my dreams. Everything about him makes me sad and angry... and confused. Some of it sounds petty when I try to explain it, but it isn't and wasn't. But anyway, thank you for your kind thoughts. Special thanks to Dianne for her post sending others to me. And to everyone for your kind thoughts, for the poems and wise thoughts and cyber hugs. They are much appreciated.

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Now... I have to warn you that I'm going to be an awful bore on the subject of the amazing changes that will be happening to my house over the course of the summer. My excitement about my new and improved disabled friendly kitchen is building. It's going to be more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined. It is going to be so much more than it even occurred to me to hope for. I am stunned and grateful beyond measure.

The man who will do the work came last Wednesday and looked and measured and talked to me. He has sent me some preliminary sketches which I have paired with photos I took with my old camera quite some time back. (The kitchen is too messy at the moment to take new ones that would better align with the drawings, so these will have to do.) They still give an pretty good idea of how different and wonderful the revised kitchen will be from its current condition. The sketches are just to give an idea. The new flooring will be linoleum, not wood which is probably good and easier for me to maintain and more budget friendly. I don't think they are changing the lights or ceiling either. But I didn't expect them to do the floor, so who knows. Anyway, here are the pictures...


Yippeee!!!

This is my very favorite part of the change. I just love the way
it looks. In real life (as opposed to the look of the mock-up) the
counters will be low, not even with the height of the stove. Of
course there won't be wood floors and my ceiling fan will be
back and it won't be nearly this clean, but still... isn't it just
awesome? Those deeply curious can click on these images
to see them larger.

Part of how this whole process got started was because I was
hoping (originally) that they could (maybe) move the dish
washer against the wall and give me a small area of lower counter
that I could use sitting down and maybe a lower sink. The big
cardboard box currently in the gap next to the dishwasher is to
keep Angel from eating the fiberglass because there's no cover
on the side of the machine. The other part of my motivation
for asking them about help in the kitchen was because I wanted
to get rid of that stupid box. Amazing how miracles can grow from
tiny ambitions. Just look at all the incredible new low storage...
as well as cabinets I'll be able to reach. Yeee haa!

The area below will have my dishwasher (under the counter),
washing machine and (someday) dryer. I'll be able to put my
microwave on the counter above the dishwasher so I can just pop
things out of the freezer and turn around and pop them in the
microwave. How cool is that? I am so excited about seeing this
flooring go. To say I hate it is kind of an understatement. They
won't put wood in, I don't think. It never occurred to me that they
would give me new flooring with the new sink and cabinets. I feel
like I am living an enchanted life. Right now the short blank wall in
this photo has some shelves that are falling down. It will be left
empty and across from it they are building in the pantry (see the
first drawing) and more low and pull-out easy access cabinets.

Here are some other views and a few samples of linoleum tiles I
like. I especially like the first one. The other two aren't very fairly
represented because the pictures I had were TINY. These may be
too expensive and too dark, but I can dream... I'm hoping the kitchen
guy will give me some suggestions. The dryer that goes with the
washing machine is imaginary at the moment but they are making
a space for one. At the moment it will be filled with the low tech
folding rack and the washing machine is in a part of the house I
can't get to physically or agoraphobically.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening.