During the week of February 6, our kitchen went from functional (but suboptimal) to non-existent. Here are a few “before” pictures:

Other than the backyard, the kitchen has always been the focus of parties we’ve had over the years. This included hosting a bunch of our environmental microbiologist colleagues when the American Society of Microbiology held their annual meeting in DC a few years ago:

This is pretty much the same vantage point during demolition. The hanging cabinets are gone and counter tops removed, but the island cabinets are still standing, as is most of the drywall:

A kitchen before pic from a holiday party a few years ago:

And, after:

The desk cabinetry has been removed, and the guys are ripping apart the backing against the wall niche:

Former location of the stove:

Insulation? We don’t need no stinking insulation! So, check this out – our entire kitchen was enveloped in walls with almost no insulation. It’s no wonder our main floor was so cold all the time in the winter. Virtually the only insulation to be found is in the lower corner here. This was our futile attempt to at least take advantage of an exterior home repair, when we pulled some rotting sheathing off the house, to shove some batting into the area of the wall that was exposed outside. It made absolutely no difference, of course, but at least we tried.

Removal of drywall complete:

Location of the old island. We had oak floors installed in the kitchen and tied in with the rest of the house in 2001, shortly after we moved in. Since the island was already there, the new floors flowed around the cabinets.

Before:

And after. You can totally see what was here originally. The back of the kitchen occupies what used to be the old back porch in 1925. It was enclosed over time.

Before:

After: