Click on the thumbnails to see the larger images...

A general floor plan of the kitchen. The angle of each of next three pictures is marked on the plan. These pictures were taken before most of the kitchen work began. The new range was already installed (and a new refigerator out of view), but otherwise, these are pre-renovation.

Camera angle #1

Camera angle #2

Camera angle #3

[PICTURES COMING SOON] - Upper cabinets were refinished and stainless steel hardware added, a shelf for the toaster over and an over range microwave were installed.

The tile backsplash was in pretty good shape, but we didn't like the selection of decorative tiles along the wall - so we decided to replace just these.

First I began cracking the tile and removing them piece by piece. This was a tedious job because striking the tile too hard could cause shock fractures in other nearby tiles.

Here is a completely removed tile.

In its place we painted and enamel coated standard 4x4 field tiles to match the color in the adjoining dining room.

The final step was to re-grout around the new tiles.

A larger view with several of the new tiles.

Before I took these pictures, I removed the two existing cabinets and the dishwasher which had died a few weeks earlier. I now began removing the countertop - since it was being replaced anyway, this made accessing the plumbing much easier.

Using a jigsaw with a rough blade, I cut the countertop into sections and removed each section one at a time.

The entire counter was now removed, but the backsplash was especially difficult, so I left it for the countertop contractor to remove.

The new sink will be installed over the actual location of the rough plumbing whereas the previous sink was located in the middle of the side wall. Here the removal of the feeder lines from the rough plumbing to the old sink location can be seen.

The "new" plumbing inside the new corner cabinet. There is an extra horizontal cutout to the right of the cold water line. This is because of the previous lines running all over the wall to get to the previous sink. I intended to keep some of that intact, but the pipes were corroded and basically snapped off. Unfortunately, I had already cut this hole.

A close-up of the hot water line. The stainless steel line with the 1/2" compression nut was particularly troublesome. This will feed the new dishwasher once installed.

A shot of the new cabinet "carcasses". Face frames, doors, shelves and other cabinet gadgets will be added after the countertop is installed.