"Smashy-smash" or, How I Learned to Demolish the Kitchen

I love to cook - and all three of us have been craving a dishwasher for many years. But ain't no way I'm gonna live in a house with a kitchen under construction. Since we have four more months left on our current lease, it was clear from the beginning that our big goal before moving in would be to renovate the kitchen. But the cutest part of our house is the kitchen! Here are some 'before' pictures:

The counters are too shallow for a dishwasher. And why is the kitchen only in one small corner of the room? Kathie, our long-suffering real estate agent, told us it would be OK to tear out the cute kitchen. She's probably right.

I am kind of in love with this little island, though. It's clearly custom - the drawers go all the way through - and it looks like it's an independent unit. So if we can get the tile off the top, maybe we can save it and use it somewhere else? (Nik thinks this is crazy. But I'm telling myself it's possible we can use it somewhere else.)

So... yesterday, we headed back over and Nik showed me how to 'do smashy-smash'. It's surprisingly easy to destroy a kitchen.

Tools of the trade. Plus pliers (not shown), for yanking out 70-year-old staples.

All the tiles are off -- on one side, at least.

All the cement is gone now too. It turns out the chicken wire runs up the backsplash, which is why it would. not. come. out. from that side. Also interesting to note the lath & parplaster - only place so far that we've seen lath anywhere in the house. Nik started in on the backsplash -- but I told him to stop, as I'm not emotionally ready, quite yet, to say goodbye to the cutest part of the house.

Wondering if I could fake some of these as segments of the Berlin Wall? They're the right age...

I ran out to buy some groceries. When I got back, Nik had cleared out the rest of the cement and dismantled most of the cabinet. Amazing.