Doug & Marie's Kitchen Adventure

This blog captures the current kitchen remodeling adventures on our 97-year old Northeast Portland bungalow. We’ve lived here for 20 years and the kitchen has been pretty much unchanged during that time, except a few coats of paint. In the last several years, we’ve been dreaming about a kitchen addition or remodel. Marie likes to say she’s been waiting for this kitchen all of her life. So, not to set the bar too high or anything, but I guess that makes this our dream kitchen.

We started the planning in February 2008, working closely with Stephanie Tottingham from Arciform (who we highly recommend). In June 2009, with an excellent set of drawings and specifications in hand, we awarded the construction bid to Petrina Construction. On July 13th (not a Friday), we started off and rolling.

The idea behind the blog is to document progress. I can’t help myself…I am an inveterate documenter, particularly when it comes to houses. I come by this naturally and understand it is just a weakness that I have to give into. I remember when my Dad was building anything, even digging a ditch for a water pipe, he would go over the top photographing every angle for posterity…his old pictures remain to demonstrate that. It’s just something we have to do. One of the cool things about doing this is when we’re done, in November (fingers crossed), there’s an easy way to turn a blog into a one-off little book that will be our document of the project, which I will do thinking of Dad (and as a favor for my own kids, who won’t have a million boring photos to organize).

With all of this in mind, then, the blog helps chronicle the wonders and joys of a kitchen remodel. My goal at the front end of this process is to remain faithful to recording our progress. Not sure how that will go, what with a busy life, but I’ll try.

The blog also gives us a chance to explore and better understand the history of the house and its various owners. If you haven’t seen it, check out my blog dedicated to Alameda and Northeast Portland history at www.alamedahistory.org

Welcome to the adventure. You can drop us a note at doug@alamedahistory.org