Birgit's Kitchen : The Time is Here

The time is here, the time is now.....I think that comes from a children's book, but I can't quite dredge it up. Not to worry, I am adopting it as my mantra for February. The focus of this mantra? It is my kitchen, naturally.
I have been living in this house for 13 years. When I moved in the hideous vinyl flooring was peeling up. The cabinets are the really cheap pressboard Ikea type. The cabinet doors didn't match up. You could see the drywall taping. There is a walled in brick chimney in the middle of the house. The lighting cans are only 50-75% functional. It should therefore come as no surprise that I have been considering a remodel for years.
The first obstacle was a combination of inertia and early childhood rearing. I simply didn't have the bandwidth. There was probably a bit of fear mixed in. There were other issues that took precedence: the dry rot in the bathroom shower, for instance.
The good thing about the dry rot is that it forced an issue, I had no choice. There were pillbugs in the shower! That project taught me that 1. I can do this. 2. It won't bankrupt me. 3. I really love my bathroom. 4. Beware of exploding projects. I chose to expand (explode) the project to include replacing all the pipes and switch the hot water heater with a tankless system. I don't regret those decisions. However, it took longer and cost more. Lesson learned.
There is nothing like remodeling your bathroom to make you realize that your kitchen is awful. This project is bigger though. It will cost more. It necessitated looking at the behemoth in the room: the pantry and hidden chimney. These items waste space. I won't explode it to include refinishing the hardwood floors in the house, no way.
It is my good fortune that my next door neighbor is an interior designer. She has been my visionary, and is able to translate that vision into CAD drawings. So the plans are in place. Actually, they have been largely in place for almost 2 years. Somehow, this winter, I finally found the courage and focus to take this on.
It will involve knocking down a wall and expanding the opening to the living room. French doors, replacing appliances. The highlights (to my mind) are the limestone counters---Fossils!!, and the painted cement backsplash that my friend Morgan will do for me. That, and a new stove.
The first step is to move the electrical panel, which is out of my league. To that end, above mentioned Morgan helped me demolish the drywall on a wall last weekend. This has impelled and inspired me. I want to knock it all down now! I want to get going! I want to rip up the peeling vinyl and live out of boxes (ok, maybe not quite the latter).
I will control myself for now. The electricians come on Thursday. After that however....The time is here. The time is now.