Gone, But Not Forgotten

Five years ago, I walked into a home with paneled and paisley-wallpapered walls, ancient knob-and-tube wiring, deteriorating windows, the world’s ugliest bathroom and crumbling plaster ceilings. Ten minuets later, I bought it.

I blame that decision on a combination of naivety, an optimistic DIY attitude and the fact that I’m a sucker for old homes with abundant woodwork and original features…like these:

A built-in china cabinet and swinging door, which separated the kitchen from the dining room. I swooned over these when we first toured the house, citing that “you just don’t find things like this in homes today.”

Well, you’re not going to find them in our home anymore, either. Sort of.

A few weeks ago, my husband and a few friends gutted our minimally functional kitchen to make way for one with fancy new things like cabinets and a working oven. I, being rather pregnant, was absent on kitchen demolition day, a fact that both delighted and terrified me. After all, five men in my house with beer, crowbars, hammers and an empty dumpster can lead to very bad things.

When I returned home, I found a kitchen wall, the built-in cabinet and my precious swinging door…

…had vanished.

The men froze when I walked in, having been warned by Joey that I would freak when I saw what they had done. As I listened to a chorus of “We can put them back,” and “They made me do it,” I scanned the room, plotting new and horrific ways to use the crowbars and dumpster.

My anger dwindled slightly when I saw the china cabinet, unharmed, and swinging door, unscathed, in the corner.

The glass doors and drawers are in a safe place while we finish the remodel.

Then the explanation came.

Apparently when the boys opened the wall between the kitchen and dining room, they discovered the china cabinet was one solid unit that was held in place with 6 nails. To see if an open floor plan fit the house, they removed the 6 nails and slid the cabinet out. Realizing it made no sense to have a swinging door next to a now huge open entrance, the popped it off its hinges and I walked in 5 seconds later.

Once I recovered from the shock and heard Joey’s plan to use the china cabinet in our new kitchen, I became aware of how much bigger the house felt with this newly created openness. I loved it.

And we’re keeping it, even though it means I’ll lose my swinging door. I’m still searching for a new place for it and am quite certain I’ll find one. Happily, using the china cabinet in our new kitchen spares us from having to buy an additional $1,000 worth of new cabinets. It also spares the lives of five men.

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