Kei Keeps a Home

September 1, 2025

Week 2 Highlights: Inside Our Home Renovation

The downside of a renovation is that there will naturally be lots of waste from the upgrades. We need the old things removed so that we can make space in the house for the demolition work to be done. We are reusing or giving away many of the items that still work so that they can still have a fresh new life somewhere else. What have we accomplished in the second week?

APPLIANCES REMOVED

Remember the absolutely filthy wall in my earlier post? The cooking range still worked fine, and we gave it away to a relative. This is the room I am most excited about seeing when it is refurbished because I think it will have the biggest transformation (or not — see the master’s bathroom close to the end!).

Cooking gas range tucket in the corner wall, and the wall beside it has a large space with stripped paint, with what looks like spotted oil splattered all over the side of the cooking range. Because of this we are exploring a home renovation and home improvement project. — The filthy wall from my other post about when it is time to renovate

A dirty mop stands in the space in the wall where a cooking range used to be. To its left is a kitchen counter where the cabinets have already been removed — The filthy wall from my other post about when it is time to renovate

CABINETS DISMANTLED

I did not realize how many cabinets we had in this house until I saw this. This is not even all of the cabinet doors put together. The Action Woman had promised the workers that they can have all the cabinets (on top of the salary they are paid) for them to use as they wish. They had already brought home some from the kitchen, and the stacks that you see below are another batch from the bedrooms.

Several stacks of wooden cabinet doors lay on a tiled floor — How many wooden pieces do you think are there?

KITCHEN DRILLED DOWN

The “not dirty” kitchen is one of the rooms I have taken for granted, but have to give more credit upon looking back at pictures. I saw the foreman working on it, and it is clearly the work of a boss. I am amazed at how the kitchen was completely removed in just two weeks.

Some kitchen cabinets have been removed, while the kitchen counter is still intact. A ladder leans against the wall in the middle — Kitchen cabinets removed but counter is still intact

A kitchen with an oven on the floor, cabinet doors removed, and pull-out drawers still intact. An exhaust sits on top of a counter — Kitchen cabinets removed but counter is still intact

AIR-CONDITIONERS REMOVED

All the old air-conditioners were removed in just one day. All except two were still in good working order and were all dispatched to other places. The two that did not seem to work anymore will be further looked at by the professionals to see what can be done.

Two men are supporting an air-conditioner being removed from the wall. A third man looks on — Aircon removal in action

An air-conditioner is attached near the top of the wall, close to the ceiling. Underneath it is an opening, as if for a door, but without one — Aircon removal in action

MASTER’S BATHROOM EMPTIED

I said before that there was a plan to change the master’s bathroom layout altogether. It looks like that plan is pushing through. So now, it will be a toss-up between the kitchen (see above!) and the master’s bathroom on which room will have the bigger transformation. The master’s bathroom has a wall in the middle and it is now being torn down.

A bathtub with a wall behind it — What the original master’s bathroom looked like with the bathtub

A room with a wall in the middle that is partially drilled down. The room no longer has any tiles and it is left with the concrete walls and floors — What the original master’s bathroom looked like with the bathtub

DECORATIVE GRILLS DISMOUNTED

Last week, I shared that The Action Woman is exploring changing the room color to gray from chocolate brown. Changing the roof color will of course need to align with all the other outdoor decor colors. All the decorative grills, made to look like wood before, are now being dismounted to be repainted later.

A chocolate brown decorative grill stands near a wall — I also did not realize there were quite a few of these

A chocolate brown decorative grill stands on the corner of a wall from the outside of a house — I also did not realize there were quite a few of these

SOME THINGS HOLD ON

The Gardener, being true to his name, pointed out to me some pretty things against all the chaos of the renovation. Despite not having someone care for the garden since the house was vacated two months before by the last tenant, we found some pleasant surprises around the garden.

There was a bird that kept a nest for its young in one of the bushes, and against the wall of the house. I was shocked that the bird nested there, as the bush was just at hip level. Cats could have attacked it! The Gardener even showed me the little cracked shells, saying that the younglings probably already flew away.

The Gardener also showed me a tree full of fruit. Kamias (bilimbi) is a sour fruit that can be eaten on its own with salt, or used for cooking sour dishes. Nature surprises and survives even without human intervention.

A bird's nest sits on a bush. There are some small egg shells remaining in the nest. — A cute little bird’s nest managed to grow some young against all odds

Some fruit called "kamias" (bilimbi in English) hang from a healthy tree — A cute little bird’s nest managed to grow some young against all odds

And that’s it for week two! What did you think of our progress so far? Do you think we will be as fast in week three?

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Kei

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