Something we discovered during the tear-out phase of our renovation was the original location of the laundry.

The first picture shows our hall before tear-out.   The doors to the right enclosed a broom closet.

The next picture shows the hall after tear-out.

It turns out that the broom closet contained a laundry drain (which you can see at lower right corner) and an outlet midway up the wall.    This washer location was most likely the original!    Perhaps the dryer was to the left?

Interestingly, we had contemplated putting the laundry in this exact spot but decided it wouldn't have worked.

If we had only known!

Where else has the washer been?    After the hall location, it apparently was moved to the basement.    It was probably there for many years.

The couple we bought our home from moved the laundry back upstairs into a bedroom they converted into a sort of second bath/laundry.

When we moved in, we put the used washer/dryer we bought back in the basement!

Finally, we ultimately re-worked the bedroom conversion into our master bath/dressing area/laundry.

The spot for our washer/dryer is shown in the third picture, just to the right of the shelves.

We left our old washer/dryer in the basement for extra-large or extra-dirty loads.

Consequently, we will have the best of both worlds!

We are almost done with our kitchen/master bedroom/bath project but have decided to hold off showing more pictures until everything is finished.

We decided to do it this way because we don’t want the final presentation to be anti-climactic.   We think it will be more fun doing it this way.

In the mean time, we are going to do some blogs about little things we discovered while doing the renovation.

For example, the picture on the left is of the original counter top that was revealed when the workers were dismantling the old counters.   Obviously, it is the original mid century boomerang patterned Formica!!!    We think it is kind of cool.

At one point, we even considered using the reissued boomerang Formica in our renovation.   We ultimately decided to go with something a little more versatile.

It was fun discovering this bit of history hidden from sight all these years.   This house continues to offer up mysteries that confound and delight us.

The rennovation is coming right along;  we are so excited!

As you can see in this picture of the kitchen, the cabinet boxes are in.    You can also see the edges of the new laminate countertops.

Also notice the new can lights in the ceiling.    We are really excited about those.    The lighting in the old kitchen was always a problem.

This picture is of the vanity in the new master bathroom.    No drawers and cabinet doors yet, but it’s looking good.

This final picture is of one of the two new built-in closets in the new master bath.    We are particularly excited about those.

That's it for now.

Stay tuned for future updates.

As you can see, the installation of the kitchen has begun.

This picture was taken from the hall.    The big box structure to the right is the new enclosure the refrigerator will go into.

The basic structure of the cabinets are in place.

We will have more pictures to share with you soon.

In the previous post we showed a picture shot from the hall of the framed box the refrigerator would be moved to.    This is is a picture of that box from inside the kitchen.

The refrigerator was in the space now occupied by the cabinets with the green drawers.    It will now go in the built in space you see here.

As you can see, there will be a cupboard above the refrigerator. Since Gary is six foot three, he will be the one taking stuff up and down from there.

This is the wall where the stove will go.   The stove will slide in between the two cabinets.

You saw the cabinet to the right in the previous picture that showed where the refrigerator would go.   As you can see, the refrigerator will go the directly to the right of these cabinets.

The space were the refrigerator used to be will now be cabinets and counter space.    it will be wonderful to have counter space between the range and the refrigerator.

It will be very handy having the refrigerator directly to the right of the cooking area.

Not much to say about this one.    This is where the new kitchen sink will go, which is exactly where it was before.

As you can see, the old kitchen is gone!

John Mueller, our remodeler extraordinaire, has completed the demolition of the kitchen and hallway.   The electrician has been getting the electrical work in order and everything is being prepped for the cabinet installation.

We'll keep you informed of developments as they happen.

Our kitchen tear-out is beginning this week! (Don’t worry; it was not the original 1955 kitchen.)

Gone will be:

   * An impossible-to-keep-clean kitchen sink

   * A glued-down cutting board with a giant crack

   * A drawer which can’t be opened unless the dishwasher is opened

   * No counter space between the cooktop and the frig

   * Double ovens which routinely set off the nearby smoke alarm

Stay tuned to see our new retro kitchen!

We are very excited to be working with local cabinet maker Tom Woodruff.

We had quite the challenge finding someone to work with who could meet our specific needs.    We finally heard about Tom through John Mueller, our remodeling contractor who is also a La Grande artist.

Tom makes wonderful custom furniture and art work as well as cabinets.    He generally works on one project at a time and is known for his quality work.    We are really excited about working with him.

We particularly appreciated that he was willing to sit down and patiently work out sizing for specific drawers and cupboards.    He is going out of his way to give us exactly what we want.    We are confident he will be able to implement our vision.

Tom is progressing rapidly on the cabinets as you can see from the pictures on the left.

Very shortly (gulp) our old kitchen will disappear.

If you happen to live in the La Grande area and would like to talk to Tom, here is his contact information:

Woodruff Custom Furniture and Cabinetry
2407 East Q Avenue
La Grande, Oregon 97850
(541) 963-8332