Six years ago I posed a question in Design Dilemma asking how I could get more counter space and a better flow in my tiny 1936 kitchen, short of gutting the whole thing and starting over. Well 4 years ago I started a little at a time, doing what I could afford and investing lots of sweat labor. The first thing I did was to rescue the original glass front cabinet that had been in the kitchen and sat neglected in the dilapidated garage since I moved in here 8 years ago now. I stripped it down to the bare wood, repainted it, and had it rehung where it came from originally. Some time later I got the idea to move one of the 3 doors that were in this small kitchen. The door was at the left side of the glass-front cabinet that I had just had put back on the wall. By moving that door to the left about 16" I was able to add a 15" drawer cabinet next to the existing base cabinets.

After that door was moved, everything else just seemed to fall into place. The kitchen had a better look and flow, no longer feeling like it was split in two, AND I was able to gain another 18" of counter space!

In January 2020 I decided it was time to rip up the floor to get to the hardwood that I knew was underneath, but I didn't know what kind of shape it was in. So I finally got the courage to throw caution to the wind and make that first cut into the luan that had the vinyl flooring glued to it. There was no turning back now. I made that first cut straight across the middle of the floor. Oh boy! When I ripped that up and saw that - let's just say I was beyond excited!

There were millions of staples - some bent over, some standing, some embedded in the floor. But they all had to come out. Thankfully, I found a super handy tool that made the job 100x easier.

There were SO MANY STAPLES that I could only do a small section at a time because I still had to use the kitchen & it was impossible to walk until the floor was free of staples. There was also lots of black, tarry, gooey stuff that had to be scraped.

There was also some water damage in front of the sink that took some extra attention.

But eventually, the last staple was removed, the last hole filled, and the sanding could begin. I sanded with a palm sander and 50 grit heavy duty sandpaper. After removing all those staples, sanding was NOT the hard part. I put 3 coats of polyurethane on the floor with a light sanding in between. It's not a professional job but it has the character marks of an 84-year-old home and I'm thrilled with it. Altogether, I have no more than $2,000. in the kitchen, of course not counting the retro fridge I got with the help of my covid-19 stimulus check. That includes countertops, sink, faucet, paint, curtains, rods, etc, tile for backsplash, polyurethane & supplies, door & drawer fronts for the cabinets, & labor to hang the cabinets (1 had to be cut down smaller), & electrical work.