Kitchen bitchin'

I knew the project was happening for real when a dumpster appeared in our driveway.

It's a small dumpster, since the space being worked on is very compact, but a dumpster nonetheless. It's actually been a fantasy of mine for a while now to have a dumpster in the driveway. Not necessarily in conjunction with a renovation (though that's a big plus), but just to have a big place to toss stuff. Unfortunately, space is at a premium and I can't consider this my own personal dumpster; I found this out when I tossed a bunch of big branches from the yard and our carpenter (very nicely) informed me that he'd have to get in the dumpster to rearrange things so as to maximize his refuse space. (I knew we were getting to be friendly when he said he'd just send A.J. in to take care of it.)

Now the dumpster is just a spectator sport me, and I enjoy checking it from the vantage point of my bedroom window to see what's new in there -- it's easier than navigating through the plastic sheeting and rat holes to the actual renovation space.

I snapped the photo above about four days into the demolition. We'd had several days of oak cabinetry and tile floor and wood lathe, all of which I'd expected. The fake wood paneling, however, was a total surprise. Apparently a past owner had a fit of '60s or '70s renovation-fever. Strange how the '80s renovators had the good sense to cover up the paneling -- but lacked judgment on just about every other aspect of both functionality and design.