That Sinking Feeling

Doug and I pride ourselves on our ability to reuse, repurpose, and recycle, so when we bought our little beach cottage, our plan was to work with the kitchen as it was:

We knew it was bad--crooked cabinet doors, rotten wood, loose floor tiles, a vintage fridge that was rusting inside, drawers that were basically just boxes shoved into openings with no runners or stops....  The only thing good in the entire room was a brand-new miniature four-burner gas stove.

But we were still determined.  We had good-quality primer and paint from Sherwin Williams, and Doug is an awesome craftsman whose years as a research machinist taught him how to fix just about anything.

Our determination literally went down the drain, however, the day I cleaned the sink.

Or tried to.

I encountered a bumpy, rubbery surface every time I scrubbed.  Doug checked it out and solved the mystery. The previous owner had painted it.  Not with special sink spray paint.  Oh no.

HE PAINTED IT WITH LATEX AND A BRUSH!

So we started looking for a replacement sink and learned that size matters.  It wasn't possible to get one that would fit in the existing opening.

After a day or two of talking, we realized that the previous owner's idiocy was our wake-up call.  This kitchen was not salvageable, and there was still a dumpster in our front yard.  An hour later, most of the old kitchen was in the dumpster, and now the room looks like this:

Ironically enough, the sink is still there, as we needed a place to wash paint brushes while we worked on the other rooms. It's actually kind of nice because we don't have to worry about being neat.

And now Doug can design us a new, albeit tiny, kitchen with beadboard walls, a farmhouse table for a countertop, and a vintage porcelain sink that's actually still porcelain.

One thing is for sure--we won't design it with the fridge placed in front of the window.