Ghost Town

Our kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors in our house got some water damage because of a plumbing leak, so we're in the middle of tearing everything out and replacing it. The floor is continuous throughout the house, so we're going to have to redo the floors for the entire bottom floor.

Since we're doing that, my wife has decided to take advantage and get rid of the tile we have in the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms. She's hated the tile since the day we moved in, so she's really happy to see it go. This is what our kitchen has been looking like recently.

We bought this jackhammer-like tool, and used it to rip out all of the tile.

Then I had to put all the tile in these heavy duty Ikea bags and throw it in the back of the truck so we could take it to the dump.

Now our kitchen looks like this:

It's not a pleasant situation to be in, but hopefully it wont last too long.

When the guys come to install the hardwood, we're going to have to have the entire floor cleared. Which means things like the fridge and the washer and dryer will have to be off the ground and moved somewhere else...probably the garage I suppose.

That also means that I have to get these bookshelves out as well.

I took all these pictures (and many more besides the ones you saw) as references to remember how to put it all back when I'm allowed to reassemble it.

I started taking it down last weekend. First thing I went after was the Wall of Voodoo.

I tried to be extra careful, and not to overstuff any boxes in a way that might cause figures to get parts bent out of shape, because I've had too much of that over the years from our many moves (as well as the times I've just had to put toys in storage because I had no place to display them).

Here's what my sad Wall of Voodoo looks like now.

All the toys are in those banker's boxes, and the study already feels like a ghost town. Rooms stripped of their decorations always feel sad and empty, and this is no exception.

Next I have to do the other side of the room, which is much bigger, and will probably require all the rest of the banker's boxes in the ten-pack that we bought...then more boxes for the books.

I also remember that those bookshelves were an absolute nightmare to jam into place. Getting them out is going to be a bear and then getting them back in when we're done is going to be a beast. It's gonna be a long month.