Plugging along...

Well we are three weeks into the remodel and the kitchen definitely doesn't look the same.  But we have made some great progress.  The tile flooring has been installed, the pantry shelving has been installed and more importantly the pantry doors have been installed.  Very grateful for a friend who knew how to hang double doors.  I would have been totally lost.  But I continue to learn a lot.  My sweet wife has as well...like when you try to move an outlet that has just been changed out, it is best to make sure the power is off before you touch it...her arm finally stopped twitching.  :o)  Since this was not my first tile installation experience, I thought I needed a challenge...ha ha.  Well, actually my wife decided what she wanted and I was crazy enough to try and tackle it.  Did I mention, I have a desk job as a career...  Though it began with a little bit of a rough start, the overall install went well, much better than I anticipated.  In 15 hours, over five days after work, it was finished.  It took another 5 hours to grout and clean afterward.  Not to bad for a non-professional.  A few pics of our progress...

Our old flooring...pink and grey swirl...not bad just not what we wanted.  

After night 1 of laying tile.  Though we began on a Saturday at 7am...we actually didn't get the first tile laid until about 6 pm...long story.  We went with a neutral tile and an oil rubbed bronze accent insert piece.

While I laid tile, Lauren worked on taping and floating sheetrock.  

Making progress...night 2

Making more progress...night 3

Night 5 after grouting...floor still wet hence the shine.  

View of breakfast area after grouting.  

New pantry with DOORS!!!  Thanks E.J.!!!

Kitchen from the breakfast area showing pantry.  I installed sheetrock over the doors. 

Breakfast area with new tile, and partially installed beadboard on the walls.  

We are making progress, like a herd of turtles.  Haven't done much with this week except get everything in the pantry as my parents are in town.  Still a lot of organizing to do but we are getting there.  I finally hooked up the fridge to the new water line, praise God, no leaks.  We have also had a very kind and generous neighbor come by to teach Lauren how to do a skim texture on the walls.  She is a designer by trade and we have really enjoyed getting to know her through this project.  She has been a total blessing!!!  Thanks, Roxanne!!!  Still have a ways to go...next task, finishing the beadboard and then getting all trim hung; then time to make some cabinets.  Never done that before, but I look forward to learning!! 

Praise God, the project has gone well thus far...

We've opened a can of worms

It has been a few weeks since the last post, I know.  We have been busy...opening a can of worms!!  My wife confidently announced a few weeks ago that our summer project was going to be the kitchen. While we have bounced around possibilities and ideas for a while now, we hadn't really come up with our master plan.  We knew we wanted to build a pantry larger than what we had but that was the extent of our final plan...and so it began.

First, let me show you a few pics of the kitchen prior to remodel.

To give a little history, our house was built in 1982 so the kitchen design is 30 years old.  A previous owner did replace counters and backsplash which are very nice.  So in all of this, our goal was to keep those in tact if at all possible.  We knew our cabinets were not real cabinets in that they are only 3 sided and are attached to the drop down ceiling.  They are also all connected meaning you tear one down, they all come with it.  We knew this going into this project.  

So my wife began by tearing down the block paneling in the breakfast area.  You can see a small portion of the bear sheetrock in the third picture above.  We were expecting to have to put sheetrock behind it but much to our surprise, we didn't need to do that, it was done.  (woohoo!!).  So while I was at work, my wife decided to begin the demolition.  

I came home from work one evening to find that one whole wall of cabinets was gone.  It was then that I knew that she was serious.  The small square hole in the drop down ceiling was so that I could stick my phone in there and take video to make sure there was no wiring or anything we needed to watch for.  Fortunately, all clear!!  So over the course of the next few evenings, I tore down the drop down ceiling while during the day Lauren continued to demo the cabinets...within 48 hours, this is what our kitchen looked like.  

This is a buddy of mine who came to help

Did I also mention that while we were building a pantry, in the mean time, we lost our pantry so our table became our pantry...temporarily.  

Can we say...CHAOS!!!  I realize now that DIY projects are not for the weak at heart.  We have now been living in this mess for two weeks.  We are working hard to get things done.  But once we tore into one soffit, we knew they all needed to come down.  

Fortunately, I talked a buddy of mine into coming to help me last Saturday.  With his help and the help of two of his family members and a 14 hour work day, we were able to make some real progress.  We put in recessed lighting, took out the fluorescent light in the middle of the kitchen, capped a water line where the fridge used to be, capped a gas line where the double ovens turned bookshelf used to be; hung sheetrock, and framed out the new pantry.  After our work day on Saturday, things were looking better.  Mind you, two nights before I was awake for over two hours thinking, "What have we done?!?"  Needless to say, I felt better after all we had accomplished.  

While she spent most of the day watching the little ones, she did jump in a time or two.  

Even Colin got to help a little.  Nailing beadboard as the back wall of the pantry.  

Measuring a piece of sheetrock.  Measure twice, cut...three times?!?  

Coolest tool ever...it beats trying to drill into 30 year old concrete slab to anchor the frame.  This tool packs a punch.  

Much lighter and brighter.  

The recessed lighting really makes a difference!!

The new pantry...in progress.  It is 5 foot wide and goes all the way to the ceiling.  We will be putting french doors on it. 

THe new location for the fridge and a tall broom cabinet.  

All upper cabinets removed.  

The crew...great guys and hard workers!!!

Hanging Sheetrock

So there you have it...Demolition is almost done.  We are tearing up the tile floor and should have it done tomorrow to lay new tile.  Pantry should be shelved tomorrow, braces are already in place; just need to cut the plywood for the shelves.  We are making progress...will the dust every end?!?  I have gotten my first lesson in taping and floating sheetrock...it is definitely an artform, but it is going well.  We have a big work day scheduled tomorrow...hopefully we will get a good portion of the flooring laid tomorrow.  We have one week to clean up all of the dust.  My parents are coming into town and we don't want this disaster awaiting them.  I also promised my dad...no projects while he is here...ha ha.  He doesn't enjoy them as much as I do.  

So after a long week...night-night!!!