Ground Zero.

About 9 months ago (insert gestation period joke), we found ourselves the unsuspecting new owners of a house.  My dad passed away suddenly and blessed us with the most incredible gift of a lifetime - the semi-infamous No. 92.  For many years of my childhood, this was the No. 1 hangout spot for hordes of my friends, and in more recent years, hordes of our combined group of friends, their budding families, and so on... 


Here we have the back of our new house.  It's gorgeous.  We love this house.  It's an absolute gem, but as you cross the threshold and actually step INTO the house, you find out quickly that it's more of a polished turd.  This beautiful baby needs a lot of help - and more than a mere facelift is necessary.  She needs serious cosmetic surgery.  






Come with me, if you dare, into the kitchen...

Doesn't look *too* bad, right?  My god are you wrong.  This kitchen was the unfortunate victim of neglect and torture, issued daily by the cretin who lived here and took care of my dad over the last 10 years (more on him later... maybe.)  This kitchen picture was taken after considerable amounts of cleaning.  





Peering through the "vintage" aluminum cabinetry reveals a host of horrors.  Rust, grime, mouse shit, any manner of stuck-on or spilled foodstuffs... the list goes on and on.  Nothing functioning correctly.  

A virtual time capsule of ancient kitchenware and condiments dating back to the 80s was discovered but no amount of discarding, cleanser, or paint could save these cabinets.  They would have to be put out of their misery.  We decided it was the decent thing to do.

Now let's take a few steps back...  My dad lived with MS for more than 25 years.  Being a progressive disease, he was constantly needing to adapt to his growing physical needs and in 2004 he decided that it was time to consolidate his living space.  Going up and down the stairs on his old stair-chair was becoming increasingly more difficult and he arrived at the idea that making a permanent move to the first floor was necessary.  


Over the span of nearly 2 years, his dream took shape and reached fruition; an addition was put on the house and he eventually settled in to what we affectionately referred to as the 'Bachelor Pad'!  He built the studio apartment of his dreams, complete with a state-of-the-art handicap-friendly bathroom, office, and bedroom.






Now, a few notes on this amazing bathroom:


1.  There's approximately a 7 foot walk from the hallway entrance to the toilet.  A few more feet to the sink.


2. It has an enormous sliding-wall-door, custom-built for him so that he had broad clearance entering from his office area with his mobility chair.






For someone in my dad's position, it couldn't get better than this!  But for the boy and I, as 2 very healthy and able-bodied adults, all we saw was heaps of valuable real estate being taken up for what could and should be a simple powder room.  I know it seems like a crime to consider destroying a bathroom as beautiful as this, but we plan on making a permanent and future home here and space is both precious and rare in these old homes.


So we thought things over, invited the advice of many, and took stock of the reality of the situation combined with the emotional aspect.  We were considering the destruction of a space that signified independence and comfort for my dad, but we were also transforming two very sad spaces that held a lot of mixed feelings.  With the kitchen, which was beyond help, we would be removing the shade of neglect that went on for over a decade.  With the bathroom, we would be removing the memories of the hardships that were suffered in this home for over 2 decades.  It was time for a fresh start.


And so we made the fateful decision that would forever change our lives: a complete and total kitchen and bath renovation.  For those of you who have been there, you know how all-encompassing this is.  For those, like us, who haven't - we found out slowly over the past 9 months just how consuming a home renovation is on your life - an obsession that has grown so large that it got its own goddamn blog.


Welcome to No. 92 and our very own Kitchen Nightmare!