Temp Kitchen

When we decided to put off doing the kitchen overhaul for a year I began to strategize on how to create a workable temp kitchen. I've learned this is a right of passage for many rehabbers, so I tried to look at it as a challenge. Keep the costs low and see how creative you can get with what you have. In the end, we ended up surprising ourselves -- it's actually (dare we say it?) cute!

Here's a shot of the kitchen before. Not a great shot, but oh my lordy, get a look at that trim near the ceiling. And treasure the pot rack in front of the window. I can only imagine what the P.O. was thinking... "I know, if we block the little light with POTS and PANS no one will notice that the kitchen doesn't have a fridge! Brilliant!"
So before we could actually begin, we had structural guys come in and reinforce the floors under the kitchen. Apparently this is why the P.O. didn't have a fridge in the kitchen -- the floors couldn't support the weight. Welcome oh great metal support post! As you'll recall my dear sweet husband ripped out the old-lady-blue floor tiles that just plain grossed out his wife...

The floor was refinished. We steamed off the trim. Then we broke out a left-over can of Berkshire Beige paint. We squished in some cheapy-but-energy-efficient appliances, and put up some shelves.... and viola!

Not a lot of counter space, but good storage, and nice floors. When we properly re-do the kitchen the fridge will move to the basement and we'll get ourselves something that actually holds more than my wine and diet coke.