Well, we’re living in dust and fluff and clutter, but we’re happy about it because we know we’ll have an awesome kitchen when it’s all done!  I have a pretty low threshold for disorganization and mess, but I’m just making peace with it and I’ll do a deep clean once the house is put back together.  Honestly, there is still a lot of unpacking and organizing that needs to happen, but I learned from our move from PA to MN a little over five years ago that it takes a couple of years to fully get settled in a new home especially if you have a lot of projects going on!

Now that the basement staircase is moved, I wanted to show a comparison of how it opened the space and also share a bit more detail about how it was possible.  Moving the stairs was something we wanted to do, but we honestly didn’t think it would be possible.  Yes, it would be physically possible, but we assumed it would be cost-prohibitive.  When Jeff casually mentioned it to the contractor when he was taking measurements for the kitchen renovation estimate, he got up in the attic to check out which walls were load-bearing and which ones could be removed.  It worked out so that all of the walls we wanted to be removed were not load-bearing.  In addition, a new staircase could fit perfectly into a closet, meaning it wouldn’t impose on any rooms or impact the overall layout of the house.

Here is a side-by-side showing how the staircase was relocated…

Here is how the staircase looked from the family room…

…and how it looks now…

You can see the remnants of the old staircase on the floor.

And the two pictures below, believe it or not, are taken from the same angle and also from the doorway to the family room…

I was sitting on the sofa in the family room the other day and I suddenly realized I could see the dining room!  Before, walls blocked that line of sight, but now I could see through the kitchen into the dining room.  I do prefer walls over an open-concept layout, but I really like having nice sightlines leading into other rooms.

So, here is the new staircase…  As a bonus, they were able to reuse most of the pieces from the original basement staircase.  They were solid wood and in good condition, so it saved a bit of money (and waste) to reuse those parts.  The new basement steps are narrower than the old ones, but they are sufficient for everyday use.  We also have cellar steps with a Bilco door that can be used when we need to carry larger things up and down the steps.

Before we moved it, we had pretty grand plans to add a bedroom, bathroom, and egress windows to the basement, but after living here for a while, we realized we just don’t need that.  We would like to update the finished section of the basement with drywall, better lighting, and waterproof flooring, but it really doesn’t need much more than that.

We thought the relocated staircase might be awkward in the basement, but we were willing to deal with that in order to make the kitchen more open.  Now that we’ve seen the new staircase in place, it’s actually a better layout.  I am looking forward to taking the time to get down there and get the basement really organized.  It’s still sort of in the post-move-just-dump-it-here state.  We have a lot of great storage and hang-out space down there and I want to make the best use of it.

The sink and stove are being removed today, so we’ll be setting up a wash tub by the hose (which is fortunately right by the kitchen door) and a camp stove on a folding table.  We shouldn’t have to “rough it” for too long, though.  We’ve been great about just making do and eating at home and have hardly eaten out.  That was a goal for us so we didn’t end up spending a fortune picking-up food just for convenience.  We’ve had a lot of cereal, sandwiches, salads, and microwave meals.  If I really needed to, I could go to my parent’s house and cook a big batch of something to reheat through the week, but that really hasn’t been necessary.  We’ve just kept it simple, knowing it will be short-lived.

I am getting very excited about getting to the decorating stage.  I’m picking up an island this weekend, so I’ll share more about that next week.  And, yesterday, I ordered two decorative elements.  The first piece is a rug to put under the kitchen sink. It’s longer than I planned, but it will cover the full length of the cabinets on the sink wall, which will be pretty handy.

I bought it from , which has been my favorite place to find vintage rugs for this house.  What I loved about this one were the touches of green that will speak to the cabinets, the blues, naturally, and the pattern.  Look at those flowers and the little birds!  It just spoke to me and I love how it will bring warmth and character to a new space.

prices are already great but off the original price.

I think the rug will work well with all of the design elements I’ve selected so far.

I also ordered to try out for the sconce shades as well as some other soft elements like a tablecloth and perhaps seat cushions.  I’ll share it when it gets here.  If it doesn’t work for the kitchen, I’ll certainly be able to use it somewhere else.

I am absolutely bursting to start getting to the decorating in this kitchen, but I need to reign myself in a bit and allow things to be put back together first.

Our floors were delivered yesterday and more electrical work is underway as I type…