Susie, you are brave to share those photos of that mess! But, to be honest, my house had a very similar "decorating style" for a number of weeks not too long ago. Thankfully, now that our kitchen is completed, that mess is only a memory. Thanks for sharing the photos and reminding me how far we've come. Likewise, I can assure you that one day you'll look back at your photos and be reminded of what you had to temporarily endure in order to get your wonderful new kitchen.

My house looks like that now and we haven't even started renovating! LOL

I'm trying to get DH to clean his office/den so it can become our temp dining room and our laundry room will be our temp kitchen. Hopefully they'll start our project before June. Pevo

ha ha! my house looks the same! except there is more piled into only 1 room - 'cause the rest of the house was gutted for a slab leak.

... and we havent even ordered cabs yet! whaaaaaa!

...and my dog has that same look in her eye :oD

I"m loving your beautiful fur baby!!

Is that a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel? My childhood dog was named Prince Ceasar of Cavbrook. He was a bad dog... one day he went to live on a farm... Or so I was told. (this is totally OT)

Dreamweaver - I guess the only reason I am brave enough to post the photos is because I swear, that's NOT what my house usually looks like. I'd never say I'm the best housekeeper in the world, but I would say that I truly hate clutter and all that "stuff" out in full view. Even at work, I'm a big believer in everything hidden away. No matter how busy I am, my desk top is always clear of everything except the one thing I am working on. When I leave at night, everything is put away and my desk is clear. You can imagine how this particular "look" in my house gives me a twitch. But you're right - I know it will be totally worth it!!!!

Oh my - I guess the rest of us have been there too. You just have to keep thinking about how great your new kitchen will be.

Love your dog,,, I work with Cavalier Rescue here in the northeast.

Whew....thank goodness someone commented on my dog. I think his feelings were hurt - he's not used to being ignored!!! Yes - he is a Cavalier.

And to all of you folks commenting that this is what your house looks like: I think the main reason I am the way I am is because my husband is pretty much the exact opposite. He takes right after his mom, and her dining room table DID look like that on a daily basis. If I didn't work really hard over the past 20 odd years keeping things "tidy" this is totally the way we'd live. I'll also admit it's alot easier to keep things neat now that my kids are "grown-up." Now it's just the big kid I'm married to and the furry one in the picture, and the other furry one that lives here (our kitty) that I clean up after!

Just wait, Susie. The mess is clean now. Wait til it's all covered in a fine sawdust! lol Mine is cluttery, messy and dirty.

Plastic tarps to cover your stuff may make you a lot happier in a couple of weeks. Keeps it clean.

I am living in a chaotic dustbowl and am very happy cause it's temporary, and almost over, and soon ,yay, we'll have a great new kitchen.

Your house looks fine but I know how disconcerting it is when there is disorder. Good luck.

You have nice space and an adorable puppy.

How exciting!
If you're anything like me, you're going to take this opportunity to get rid of a TON of things. Remember, if you haven't used it for a year...

My house looks like this because I'm been having drywall hung & finished, then building and installing my cabinets. I admit to painting them with stuff put into them just to get it off the countertops.

I hope to see your progress. It gives me incentive and hope that someday I'll have something as nice. :)

Oh - I understand the gun cabinet thing. I had to have my DH's in the living room just in case he felt the need to shoot something. I drew the line at him leaving out the bathroom window to shoot groundhogs. At least you have a really nice cabinet. I (still) have them leaving against the wall in the corner. He's gone; I still have the guns.

C.

Prill - my neighbor got her Cavalier from Cavalier Rescue here in the northeast!! And the reason she decided to get one was because she was soooooo in love with our first pup (who we lost in May.) Now her Cavalier and mine are like long lost brothers!!!! Are they not just the greatest!?!?!?!

(Sorry - very OT)

And yes westsider, I WILL be getting out the tarps for cover-up very soon. What's my mantra again? I will LOVE my new kitchen I will LOVE my new kitchen I will LOVE my new kitchen

Wow that's the cleanest bunch of remodeling clutter I have ever seen. Your doggie is beautiful too!

OT (sort of): one day i'm going to take dh's guns to the police department and "donate" them. can i do that?

love your puppy. :)

Yes - I am planning on getting rid of plenty of stuff before the "move in" to the new kitchen. Some things I've already weeded out. Others I'm sort of waiting to see how I feel about putting them back in to the new space.

CEFreeman - I'm sure anyone who has been married to a "gun guy" would understand about the safe. When he emptied it (so that it could be moved from the kitchen) - I swear...I thought we were preparing for armageddon...end of days...a hostile government take-over. Anything that would require the amount of firearms that man owns. It was actually a great opportunity for him because he hadn't had everything out of it in the 15 years we've lived here. (Oh, and he's not a "crazy" or anything. He's someone who grew up with a dad who was (is) a competitive shooter and hunter and gun collector, and he's a hunter and police officer and guns are his "hobby.")

I love your dog! He looks like a charmer.

How on earth did you move that gun safe? Those babies are heavy!

Marti - You're not kidding on the gun safe!! Luckily we own a handtruck, and it was really pretty easy to do. My husband pushed and I just gave some guidance...

Your puppy is adorable! And he looks so calm amidst the chaos! If my dog was over in your house, those bananas hanging in the hall would not be safe- bananas are his favorite food! He'd be jumping like a pogo stick to liberate them.

Anyway, very adorable doggy! If I didn't have 2 beagles and a DF w/ a moratorium on more dogs, I'd have a king cavalier too!

Keep repeating that mantra and looking into your cute doggie's eyes, and you'll get through this with a smile.

You are so brave, I could not have lived like that. We packed up, put everything into storage and moved out.
The one great thing about that is the amount of purging of stuff we did. We wanted to keep storage costs down - so the more we recycled and donated the less we had to store and the cheaper the storage costs.

Like grandma used to say "It's gonna look a hellova lot worse before it looks a hellova lot better!"

We kept some of our old cabinets to store things in our makeshift kitchen outside (summer remodel) and kept alot in labeled boxes (more organized in my mind's eye) stacked in the DR, LR and (God bless him for not complaining) DS room!
Keep your eye on the prize!

Susie, I'd love to know what dog she has and how he's doing. You can e-mail me from my page if she would like to share.

prill - I sent you an e-mail.

Well, here it is 7:00 a.m. Nothing left to do this morning but wait for the builder to arrive...

I better have a totally gutted breakfast room by the end of this day. Just sayin...

;-) SQ

Susie, I hope your day goes as planned and that the result puts you one step closer to being organized again. Didn't mean to overlook your pooch in my first post. He's very handsome and obviously quite adept at finding a restful spot amidst the clutter.

I can't contain myself!! It's not quite 9:00 a.m. and there's now a piece of plastic hanging between my breakfast room and dining room and 4 guys in there ripping away! OK - I promise: I'm not really going to give hourly up-dates on progress. I'm just really excited right now. SQ

My house looks like this plus sheetrock dust and wood dust. I try cleaning it up everyday after the work is done but its exhausting! Very stressful time for me and the kids my youngest is 6 and a clean freak.

Ricsfan - When we did our kitchen reno in our first house my kids were young... both under five. My hubby stayed home and I took the kids down to my mom's for awhile during the worst of the construction. I can't even imagine how exhausting it must be to be at home with the kids while something like this is going on. Very stressful indeed!! Ya see - I keep telling myself there are so many up-sides to this whole getting older thing!!! As difficult as the mess is for me, I know I'm taking it much better than I would have 20 years ago. Hang in there. We're both going to love our new kitchens - I just know it!