The Paneled Abyss

When we bought our house in 2003, I was with the understanding that one day, the ugly dark paneled kitchen would someday be renovated. Unfortunately there was always some reason it never happened—expensive repairs on something else, etc. 

Nine years later, I decided I had looked at the old dark paneling in my kitchen long enough. It was time to come down. The biggest question I had was, "What was the paneling hiding?"

Our house was built in 1925, and since there are plaster walls throughout the rest of the house, I knew there would be plaster behind the paneling. What kind of condition would it be in? I started with the wall above the door leading to the dining room...

Not too bad of condition so far… why would someone have installed this wretched paneling and ripped out the thick beautiful woodwork that used to be here? You can see where the old woodwork extended to.

Ugh… more paneling...

Now the walls are starting to look a little rougher. The one right next to the refrigerator is an old brick chimney that's been plastered over.

An exciting Craigslist find! Someone was giving away drywall scraps! This could be perfect for a ceiling repair I am going to have to make!

I've started to do some plaster patching. Lots of unevenness and busted up plaster to repair!

Unfortunately, I didn't get very far with this project. Someone else who lives in the house (a relative of mine who shall remain nameless and doesn't deal with construction chaos well) found the condition the walls were in to be especially alarming and put a stop to my progress.

This is the state my kitchen would remain in for the next year...