KITCHEN REMODEL PROGRESS...IT ALWAYS GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER...

"I think gutting my kitchen and doing a complete remodel is going to be sooooo much fun", said nobody ever!!

Okay, so I knew when we embarked on this project that it was going to be long and tedious.  What I didn't know is that I would be sick the whole time.  The dust from taking down the wall between the dining room and kitchen has caused me to have a permanent sinus headache.  I have had a non stop headache for nearly three weeks now.  Not even kidding.  I even missed a day of work over it. Seriously!!  I keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in the end.  Just seeing the openness of that space has made a huge difference in this house already and I can't wait to see how it all comes together from here.

Since having this headache, it has seemed very difficult to get motivated in getting stuff done but we are moving forward if ever so slowly.  I have drywalled and patched the new opening and will be painting and trimming it out soon.  Yay.  Perhaps the dust will finally settle down once that is done.  I hope!!!

We took the cabinets out earlier this week, with the exception of the one the vent hood is attached to.  It will go bye, bye soon and you may have noticed the refrigerator has been moved into the dining room. That's always a nice look, right?

We also ripped out the old flooring because the tiles were popping up and because we noticed there were hardwoods under the backer board.  I was super, super excited about that.  I figured we could just refinish the hardwoods and save $400.00 to boot by returning the new flooring we purchased. Plus, the floors would have one continuous flow throughout which is what I really wanted....BUT...there's always a BUT, isn't there?  We discovered that the backer board under the tile had not only been nailed down with eighteen billion, three hundred million nails, but it had been glued down as well.

Yep, construction adhesive all over the hardwoods...and I do mean ALL OVER...the whole floor is coated with it...SO...I'm not sure the hardwoods can be refinished....BUMMER....we are going to give it a try though.  Can anyone say....MORE DUST!!!!  Oh my aching head!!  Maybe we should just go ahead and use the new flooring we purchased.

Whatever we do, it better be quick because I just got word the new cabinets will be arriving in 5 days and the new appliances in 12.  I guess we better kick it into high gear and get moving on this thing!!

No doubt, this kitchen is at its worst right now, but then again with any of these types of projects, it always gets worse before it gets better.

We are at the part now where its going to start getting better....YAY!!!....ummm, because it literally can't get any worse.  Hahaha.

See you next week with another update.

Ciao,

KITCHEN REMODEL....WALL REMOVAL UPDATE...

If you live in Missouri I am certain you enjoyed the weather Saturday.  It was gorgeous and I was hoping to get a good amount of work done on the kitchen remodel; but, we had to make a run to Home Depot Friday evening to pick up our flooring order and then I had play practice Saturday and church on Sunday which pretty much took up the entire weekend.  Needless to say I didn't get as much done on the kitchen as I had hoped.

I wanted to have the wall completely out, have the new drywall up and have everything trimmed out but no such luck.  We did however manage to get the wall completely removed and header in place.

Now that was a feat in itself!!!

The header weighed about a bazillion lbs. and it was just me and hubs lifting it into place.  I have to say I am SO RELIEVED that part is done though we still have some leveling to do.  I can tell you the rest of this remodel will be a piece of cake in comparison to getting that wall out!  I was on pins and needles and sick to my stomach the whole time until that header was installed.  The fear of the house collapsing on top of us was unnerving!!!!!  Anyway, that part is done and I am so thankful to have it out of the way.

Next on the list is finishing out the opening, tearing out the cabinets, removing the old appliances and installing the new flooring.

I will be back as soon as I can with updates.  Hope to see you soon.

Ciao,

KITCHEN REMODEL....PART 1....NO TURNING BACK NOW!!!

Hey all.  Had a long weekend...icy weekend...with some power outages.  Thankfully the outages were mostly at night when we were snuggled under the blankets and didn't have to worry about heat too much. UGH!.  Have I ever told you that winter is NOT my favorite time of year...but I guess I shouldn't complain because I did get an extra day off work.  YAY!!

Now any normal person would relax and snuggle up in front of the fireplace with a good book and take it easy over a long wintry weekend, right?  Well not us...we were busy....really busy doing this...

Yes, we started tearing down that wall between the kitchen and dining room.

Now you would think this would be an easy job...and it would have been...if we had a normal house that was put together with a little drywall; but, we DO NOT have a normal house!!!  There is nothing normal about it!!  Our walls are plaster...can anyone say MESSY!  Yes, this was the messiest job we have tackled to date...and the biggest one.

THERE IS DUST EV.ERY.WHERE!!!!!!!...THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE HOUSE...EVEN THOUGH WE HAD THE ROOM SEALED OFF!!

There is electrical wires to move and come to find out a heater duct too; plus, this is a loading bearing wall that will require a header beam.  YAY ME!!!

We should have that all done by the end of the week and then we will tackle all the trim work and I will show you an updated picture of the wall removed in the next post.

You know, I THINK I MUST BE CRAZY!!!...removing a wall...gutting the entire kitchen...BUT THERE IS NO TURNING BACK NOW!!

On the bright side, I will have a new kitchen when all is said and done.

I am going for this look....

Does anyone recognize this from Fixer Upper?

Anyway, here are a few of my material choices....all from Home Depot.

Traffic Master Allure Ultra Resilient flooring in Espresso Oak and quartz counter tops in White arabesque.

Hampton Bay white shaker cabinets

Liberty drawer pulls in polished nickel

I am still trying to talk the hubs into a backsplash like these...

He wants something smooth but I love this.  I guess we'll see who wins. Hehehe.

That's it for now.  Be back soon with more updates on this...I must have been crazy...adventure.

Ciao,