Kitchen Progression

The kitchen is nowhere close to complete, but I did want to post some pictures so you could all see the progress.

As you probably remember, this is what the kitchen looked like when we first viewed the home while the previous owners were in it (prior to being damaged by them)....

Obviously, the kitchen was not in this shape when we finally moved in.  In addition, since we were replacing the cabinets we decided to open up the kitchen/eating area/den to make a true great room by extending the kitchen, adding an oversized island, and making it an eat in kitchen.

Demo began last Monday, and this is what the kitchen looked like after the demolition was complete.

Oven and sink walls

Old breakfast room and peninsula

As you can see, the house has been full of boxed cabinets and I took these pictures at the end of the day once the sun was down!  The next morning, cabinets began being installed:

Pantry cabinets
(in addition to our walk-in pantry)
 and stove base

Sink base

Location of the new island

Old built in desk area, now the bar!  :)

Slowly, but surely things began to take shape....

Stove area

Sink base

Bar area

...and things have continued to evolve into what looks more and more like a kitchen....

Stove, sink, and beginnings of the island

Fridge and oven built ins - fridge to be installed

Bar area (wine fridge to be installed)

Glorious island!!

What's left in order to complete the project?
-Cabinets and window seat under the old breakfast room window (waiting to be delivered in order to install)
-Countertops
-Flooring removal and install
-Backsplash
-Install of stove, wine fridge, and fridge
-Install of under counter lighting
-Install of light rail, toe kick, etc
-Painting of the disgusting walls!!
-Final walk through

Hope to post more pictures of progress on the kitchen soon!

Reno Hood-style!

I posted our appliances on Craigslist this morning, requiring pickup on Monday before the kitchen demo.  However, I got an email within two hours showing interest in all 6 appliances and wanting to see them before the end of the work day.  They came out the house 10 minutes later,  left me with a 50% down payment, asked to pick up first thing tomorrow morning, and agreed to haul off many of the other things we had recently removed from the house!  I couldn't say no...I took the cash and smiled!!

It wasn't until Todd got home and I was explaining that I had sold the appliances, including the fridge, and they would be gone at 7 am tomorrow morning that I realized the full gravity of the situation!  Our new fridge will not be installed until mid-next week if everything goes as planned!  We planned on a few days without a fridge, but the weekend was a whole new ballgame.  Our solution?  Of course we had one -- and it seemed fun for a little bit, but now I am just miserable and have my feet propped up! We started by reducing the amount of food and beverages in our fridge and freezer.....yes, that means we have spent the last few hours indulging in ice cream and sorbet, and making margaritas with the remainder of the lemonade and limeade in the fridge!  Then, while enjoying my margarita, I moved everything from the fridge to the wine fridge which we temporarily set up in the dining room.  Tomorrow morning, I will move what is left in the freezer into the wine fridge and hope to eat as much of it throughout the day as I can, and then cross my fingers that what is left can just de-thaw and be okay for a few days!

As if being full, enjoying a little something, and running back and forth between the kitchen and dining room wasn't enough.....I continued!  I set up a temporary kitchen for the next week in our dining room.  Need proof I really did all of this tonight on top of the glutonous eating??  Here it is:  :o)

More Reno Drama

Our chandelier for the foyer finally came in, and I was so happy to have the exposed wires in the ceiling covered!  We had our contractor hang it due to the height of the ceiling which required scaffolding.  Thank goodness he was in charge of the project because the wiring in the fixture was faulty and sent surges through our electrical system causing shorts -- I would have had no idea how to diagnose this issue!  We are now waiting for a replacement fixture in order to go through the entire process of hanging again and fixing our blown fuses.

No worries...there is plenty of other reno drama where that comes from!  In other news, the master bathroom is on hold because we are waiting on our claw foot tub to be delivered.  Our contractor wants to triple check the dimensions of the tub before building out walls that the tub plumbing will require for support before anything can be finalized and moving in a forward direction.  I don't blame him, I am a little anxious about building walls, moving plumbing, and tiling without having seen the actual tub in the space.  Also, the kitchen (which should have been complete by now) is still sitting in boxes in our garage, with a new proposed install date of October 3rd.....no one at our house is holding their breath!

Kitchen on Hold

Our kitchen demo and install were pushed back three weeks....frustrating!  I thought all along the kitchen would be done before we began the demo on our master bathroom; that was the goal at least.  However, the contractor we are using for our kitchen has decided to take a 10 day Alaskan cruise at the most inconvenient time for us and with no warning.  In the meantime, our main contractor, who has done almost all of the other major jobs in our house keeps pushing onward!

Kitchen cabinets in the garage - waiting for install

So, our garage will continue to be a cabinet warehouse until mid-September, and our master bathroom will be in reconstruction for the next few weeks.  The master bathroom and kitchen are the most major renovations you can do in a house, and it would figure we would be so lucky to going through both at the same time, despite all of our planning!  We continue to roll with the punches :)

Master bathroom - stripped down