Earlier this year, my daughter and I transplanted ourselves to Greenville, SC. She had already spent a year in South Carolina attending college while I stayed in Texas to sell our home. Once our home sold in Texas and I got the green light from my Realtor that the sale would stick, I set out on a whirlwind trip to buy a house in Greenville, move my daughter out of the dorm in Charleston, fly back to Texas, pack a house, and drive back to South Carolina (with four cats) all within three weeks!

I found this cute 1960’s brick bungalow that sits on a corner lot in a great little neighborhood close to downtown. Other than a few shrubs around the house, it is a blank slate for a great garden design. This will be my fall/winter/spring project. (stay tuned) But for now, I am concentrating on the inside. Ok, ok…I’m obsessed with the inside! Spaces, inside and out, just have to feel good in order for life to function properly.

The house has good bones and other than the kitchen, it basically just needs some cosmetic updating. Before we moved in, I had the carpet in the living area and a back bedroom ripped out leaving hardwoods throughout. Luckily, the floors underneath were in pristine condition…well…aside from a few tiny nail holes left from the tack strips. That’s pretty darn perfect in my books.

The kitchen, however, was not pretty darn perfect and it had to go immediately!

Can you image anyone walking into a flooring store, spotting that linoleum, and gushing, “I have to have that in my kitchen!” ??? The picture just doesn’t do it justice! And as with many of these small bungalows, the washer/dryer is located right smack dab in the corner of the kitchen.

The cabinetry was reminiscent of little cabin in the woods and featured lots of wasted space. And I’m pretty sure the appliances had not been cleaned behind in many, many years. I couldn’t imagine putting anything in there, much less cooking a meal in there.

While we were hanging out in the hotel (with four road-weary, crazed cats) waiting for the moving truck to arrive, I contacted the local Habitat for Humanity office. Apparently they have a deconstruction service (who knew?), and I was hoping to schedule a kitchen deconstruction as soon as possible.

On the morning the moving van arrived, a gentleman from Habitat called to discuss the deconstruction. As luck would have it, he had a free day and wanted to come look at the project. He came and he went…to get his tools and a truck!

So as boxes and furniture were coming in the front door, the kitchen was going out the back door!

This is what was left of the kitchen at the end of moving day. Wahoo! Let the renovations begin!