We decided we wanted more of an “open floor plan” that is all the rage today. Cabinets, refrigerators, stoves, who needs those? They only get in the way, and provide places to stub your toes, or for mice to hide in. Kitchen sink? Naw, those just provide another place to leak. And who needs plaster or drywall when you can just look into the studs.

All joking aside, this is where the demolition folks left off. Ironically, an hour or so after I wrote about how uncomfortable I was with them doing it, I received a frantic message from Casey telling me they threw away the original window trim. As I sped home, I pondered where in the world I could find wood to replace it in the event I couldn’t find it in the dumpster. After I parked my car, I looked over the dumpster from the top. Full of wainscoting. No kitchen cabinets, or appliances. So, avoiding having to climb into it, I took a peek into our porch and garage. Luckily, they had actually saved it and put it into our porch. Phew…

As Casey had mentioned in her post about the roots and stairs, we had originally wondered if the rear entry had been in that back right corner in the above picture. However, it appears what my father had seen behind the plaster when he remodeled wasn’t the framing of a door, but a window:

We would consider putting a window back in there except for two things. The first is that the odds of finding a window that matches the rest are slim. The second is that we’d just be looking into our neighbor’s kitchen, so it wouldn’t give us much of a view.

However, I can give you the back story on why the window was closed up. When my parents first purchased the home, there actually was a standing shower right about in front of that closed up window. To the left was a pocket for a refrigerator. That little window was in a small bathroom that was accessed by the door on the right. There was also a small pedestal sink and toilet in there. I’m assuming it was added pre 1950, but I’m not certain. It had metal lathe, but it was still plaster. My parents took the bathroom out as the kitchen was simply much too small. The bad thing is that leaves us without a main floor bathroom, but I think we’ll live with it.

And in case you are wondering what that big thing on the bottom right is, it is an abatement system used to contain the lead dust. My office is directly through that door on the right and there isn’t a bit of dust on my monitors (which show every bit of dust imaginable). So far, so good.