An Ugly Duckling

I am calling this phase "The Ugly Duckling Phase".  Demolition has begun inside and it ain't purrty!

The stone mantle is gone and the wood stove, too.

This will become the family room.  Please notice the fabulous orange color on all of the moldings.

The old and I do mean OLD kitchen is gone.  I can't believe how tiny the space looks without cabinets and appliances.  This space will become hallway.

These are the old cabinets.  We are going to hang them in the new mudroom and paint them.  They are actually pretty nice.

The wood was delivered today to start framing.  This excites me for some reason.

Once framing starts we will actually get to see what the house will look like! Yeah!

Now I would like to update you on my Craigslist experience. Last weekend I posted some furniture on CL.  I am trying to clear out our basement.  I listed our leather sofa set and a pine armoire as well as some office furniture.  I started getting emails about the leather set right away.  This being my first experience I didn't know the "rules" of CL.  Apparently anything goes when you are a buyer on CL.  You can say you will come at 9 o'clock and never show up.  You can say you are coming with a truck and show up with a Prius.  Or you can explain how your foster dog ate your sofa and you need a new one - quick - and cheap!  Well after 24 hours of these shenanigans I got smart!  I started being much more selective of who I would respond to.  Enter Tom.  I am calling him Tom to protect his identity.  Tom told me on the phone that he lived in a restored farmhouse (MY GUY!!) and raised a few cows.  Oh and he was a professor.  He had a BIG truck and would be right over.  Enter Tom and his wife.  Tom was a pleasant fellow, he had a long gray ponytail and loved to chat.  The wife - not so much.  Anywho...while loading the stuff in his truck we asked him what he taught and he told us he taught graduate cinema studies.  Being the nosy body that I am I looked him up after he left. Well....Tom it seems had been a White House cinematographer for the Regan and Bush administrations, has won 16 Emmy awards for Cinematography and lighting and has worked for John Waters, Dino De Laurentis and others! And he's buying my used furniture.  Go figure.