Kitchen Demo Surprise: Black Walls, Panic Mode, and a Wallpaper Time Capsule

The kitchen demo started out… normal

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I went into this kitchen tear-out with the usual mix of excitement and dread. You know the feeling: this is going to look amazing when it’s done paired with what if we open a wall and discover a portal to 1957?

We had our plan, our tools, and our “let’s just get it done” energy.

And then I found the black on the walls....Behind the cabinets and counter...there it was: black. Not a little shadowing. Not a smudge. Black patches across the wall behind the crazy metal backsplash that made my stomach drop.

My brain immediately went to the worst-case scenario...I stood there staring at it thinking:

Is this mold?

Is this old adhesive?

Is this soot?

Is this… something I should not be breathing?

I fully entered freaking out mode. Like...trying to stay calm while imagining every dramatic renovation horror story I’ve ever heard. If you’ve been around since my last remodel, you know why my mind went there fast—In my Texas home I had to tear out the kitchen, the sunroom, and the laundry room because of black mold, so seeing black on these walls in Colorado sent me straight into panic mode.....And because my timing is always impeccable, I’ve got 35 people coming over in one week for my friend’s bridal/groom’s ’80s-themed summer camp party—so discovering anything questionable mid-demo felt like the universe playing a prank on me.

You may think I stopped demo for a minute and did the boring-but-smart stuff:

Opened windows / got airflow going

Put on proper masks (not the “this is fine” kind)

Took photos so we could compare areas and track what we were seeing

Avoided scraping/sanding until we knew more

But nope....I didn't....I went into full panic attack mode and called my mom....THEN I read a little online - figured out it was just old adhesive and not dangerous, plastered overed it and moved on...

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Then we found the original wallpaper—and everything shifted......Not a modern “retro-inspired” print. The real thing.

It was like uncovering a little time capsule—this house quietly reminding us it has lived a whole life before we showed up with pry bars and big opinions.

The pattern was faded in places, but still so charming. The kind of wallpaper that instantly makes you picture: a tiny radio playing in the background, someone making coffee in slippers, a kitchen that smelled like toast and dish soap

And honestly? It calmed me down. Not because wallpaper cancels out scary black wall mystery—but because it reminded me that renovations are always a mix of panic + discovery.

The emotional whiplash of demo day...This is the part people don’t always talk about: demo isn’t just physical work. It’s emotional.

One minute you’re feeling powerful ripping out old materials, and the next you’re spiraling because you found something you didn’t plan for.

But enough about my panic attacks and figuring out the dishwasher and disposal were wired THROUGH THE FLOORs (another story for another day)...I moved through new phases of renovation with this kitchen

Phase 1: We hit the point where we literally had no lower cabinets—just open space, chaos, and me wondering how we were functioning at all. Then we added two cabinets...then four...(these ones are amazing, and SOOOO easy to put together - QuickLock RTA cabinets)

Phase 2: We got lower cabinets back in and a new functioning dishwasher/disposal, which made it feel almost like a kitchen again (and yes, that is veggie inspired wallpaper on the walls! check it out here on Amazon)..updated the counters with some contact paper (also from Amazon)

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Phase 3 (right now): I’m in the middle of fully designing the final version—new flooring, walls getting knocked down, a new doorway, and finally putting the fridge where it actually belongs. See the ideas below!

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And apparently the kitchen decided to celebrate this progress by handing me a black-wall jump scare...so here we are...redesigning (keeping the new cabinets - but reimaging the space)..stay tunned for the upcoming changes!

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