kitchen progress: or what ugly looks like

You guys ALL want to see photos and I have to say I would too, but I hate to post them now, because this is the stage where it gets ugly before it gets nice. This is the time where we're pulling things out and wondering how the heck it's all going to come together in so little time. This is the stage where we just think we're absolutely crazy and we're completely going to break our budget. BUT this is also the stage that has to happen before all the good stuff goes on.

So here you have a refresher on what the kitchen looked like:

And what it looks like now:

We still have to bring the wall with the windows down to studs because there's a slider going in and a newer window replacing the one over the sink and there's a whole laundry/pantry area being built in on the opposite side of the room. And we still need to get rid of the floor...but I digress.

Here's the wall we're taking down to modernize this 50s cape cod. Because everyone loves an open floor plan. Problem is it's a load bearing wall so we have to get the proper people in to stablilize it for safe removal. But this gives us more light in the kitchen and a better set-up for entertaining. It also gives a lovely view to the whole house on either side of the stairs from the front door. Here's the before:

And here's the after open wall:

It's coming along, but the list keeps growing instead of shrinking so I really need to spend today getting organized and figuring out the exact order of things. We spent most of the day at Lowe's yesterday ordering bathroom items, so the upstairs bathroom will hopefully get done within the next two weeks. The kitchen still needs planning and final measurements, new walls and framing and then ordering and install of cabinets and appliances. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time...