It’s finally time to tear apart the kitchen and finish the kitchen project I started in spring. The basement pantry wasn’t working for us, so it was high time to figure out something more usable.

I finally get to make a mess of my kitchen. I started this project last spring. Now, it’s time to get it done. Let’s start at the beginning.

The previous renter left this old kitchen. We didn’t trust the cheap old stove, so we tore it out. We replaced it with a two-burner induction stove and an air fryer. My husband designed some spice racks. I removed all the cabinet doors, and got rid of a lot of stuff. The rest fit neatly into the remaining space.

I was very proud of the results. But then the plastic containers got recalled, and the layout just didn’t work. Slowly, I changed little things here and there over the next months. Now, little of this “after” is left.

I’ve considered this final step for weeks, but I was scared because it can’t be undone. But the basement pantry just wasn’t working for us–and I didn’t like going past all the neighbors each time.

There is a lot of food in the basement at the moment. And I had just been squeezing things anywhere… The basement was a mess. So, I started to tetris. Food goes upstairs. Outdoor gear stays here.

My former neighbors left all these shelves, and a lot of boxes and containers that I haven’t sorted yet.

I showed you how I built these shelves only a few months ago. And now, I’ll be taking down half of them. I still wasn’t sure I was not about to destroy a perfectly good shelf. A shelf that was pretty much perfect for what was stored in it. But, I’ll figure that out another day.

For now, all the jars and anything edible needed to go upstairs. I definitely got enough steps in that day. And then it was finally time to take apart the shelf itself. I have to admit I like this modular system.

That night, the basement looked worse than when I’d started that day.

Upstairs, I still had to deal with where to store the food until the kitchen was ready. More tetrising. Most of the food will be stored behind my, okay, let’s be real… behind Pepper’s chair.

I only have a rough idea what’s in some of these boxes. I lost track because things were in the basement. I will be inventorying all of this when I put things in their place in the kitchen and pantry. I was going to say how you can barely see the food stored here… and then I saw the pumpkins.

With the world outside covered in snow, but the sun nowhere in sight, I got to work on the counter. In spring, I put all this in. This was always supposed to be temporary. It stayed longer than I thought.

I’ll be able to reuse a lot of these materials in other places, so I am carefully unscrewing all parts.

When we reached the point of no return, I checked the settings a final time, and cut off the countertop.

There were a few points where I could’ve used some extra hands, but Pepper still doesn’t have thumbs, and my husband would be stuck in meetings for another few hours. So, I got creative again.

The neighbors had trimmed some of the legs, so I knew I’d have to cut. But I had to figure out the right height.

I admitted to myself I wouldn’t finish that day, and prepared for the morning.

In the chaos, I made the pizza you saw in the previous episode. Once I found my blender cup, of course… Outside, more snow fell. I was thoroughly sick of winter at that point. I had no trouble staying indoors the next day to work in the kitchen.

And before long, the legs were trimmed off. This saw is not the ideal tool but it did the job just fine.

I definitely didn’t have enough hands for this one, but I also didn’t want to wait until that night to finish. And hey, I did it in the end.

It was still a wobbly mess, but I was excited. It was looking so darn promising.

There won’t be room for all three appliances here, but the dishwasher and air fryer fit well into the new nook.

I placed the canner on the top shelf, and decided to move the dehydrator there. As always, anything that gets put away gets a proper clean. Pepper won’t be able to steal treats there. I even ended up properly guiding the chord behind the shelves.

The top half of the shelf was looking good. I screwed the legs into the countertop, and added some extra screws.

Now I’d have to get really messy–and destroy some perfectly good boards. But I’ll tell you about that next time.

For now, I was enjoying my pretty new shelf. Even digging for food behind the chair was less annoying than trips to the basement. So, already a win.

So long, and thanks for being here.