Kitchen demolition sometimes uncovers a piece of a home’s history.
During one of SheBuilds’ earliest kitchen projects, Laurel and the team found something especially sweet: children’s drawings tucked inside a kitchen island.
The discovery became a favorite work memory—and an idea Laurel still shares with families planning their own kitchen remodels.
Listen in as Laurel tells the whole story: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qDTjsEhY6Rw
A Surprise Beneath the Countertop
The team was removing a kitchen island when they discovered folded papers hidden in a small space between the cabinets.
The previous homeowners had replaced the island’s countertops years earlier. Before the new countertops went on, they had their children draw pictures and tucked the papers into a gap between the cabinets. Laurel recalls there may have been hand outlines among the drawings, too.
Once the countertops were installed, the little hiding place was sealed away. The drawings stayed there until the next remodel brought them back into view.
Finding Their Way Back to the Family
Discovering the drawings was fun on its own, but what happened next made it even better.
When the team showed the current homeowners, they learned that the homeowners knew the family who had lived there before. They even knew the children who had made the pictures.
That connection meant the drawings could be returned to the family. By then, the children were much older—a small piece of their childhood had been waiting inside their former kitchen all that time.
A Tradition Worth Passing Along
That experience inspired an idea Laurel now sometimes suggests to clients with children: leave a little time capsule before the new countertops are installed.
It could be a drawing, a traced hand outline, or a letter for someone to discover in the future. It’s a simple way for children to take part in the renovation and leave a small reminder of the family who called the house home.
The timing matters. In the project Laurel describes, the papers were tucked into an existing void between cabinets while the countertop was off. Once the new countertop covered that space, the papers were out of reach until a future renovation.
If you’d like to do something similar, talk with your remodeling team before countertop installation so they can help identify an appropriate spot.
A Small Memory for a Future Remodel
Who knows when that little time capsule might be found? It could be twenty, thirty, or even fifty years before someone replaces the countertops and discovers what’s tucked underneath.
For Laurel, that possibility is part of the fun. A kitchen remodel creates a space for new memories—and sometimes offers a chance to leave one behind.
What would your family put in a kitchen time capsule?
