The Remodel Continues

Day 4

First, a picture of yesterdays' final version. This includes new veneers and base shoes (I think that's what Jim said they're called) on the toekick.

The carpenters showed up bright and early today for what turned out to be a full day's work.

The first big job was leveling out the tops of the old counters, so the plywood has an even surface to sit on, so the granite has flat plywood to sit on ... you get the picture.  But it was definitely a time consuming job, as those old cabinets were particularly uneven.  No wonder when we spilled something on the counter, the liquid flowed away from the sink.

While this was going on, they discussed the fact that the border of the tile backsplash would run into the electrical outlets.  So, our resident electrician, also known as my awesome husband, relocated the plugs and switches on this wall.

Next job in the woodwork department was preparing the sink cabinet for the new farmhouse sink.  That required quite a bit of rework and reinforcement on the inner cabinets.  And, while they were at it, they replaced the bottom of the sink cabinet because that piece of wood was disgusting.  We just never got around to dealing with it before now. When they pulled up that board, they found a rat's nest.  Ewwww!  Thankfully it wasn't currently being used.

After all the basic structure was finished, some of the pretty stuff started going in. Yay! Thankfully, my bff has been such a help with the pretty stuff.  I can't wait to see how it all looks when it's finished.  But, in the meantime, the new apron front sink is in.

We really wanted the farmhouse look.  But, Jim did lots of research and found that the fireclay sink just isn't built to withstand the wear and tear that a homeschooling family of 8 can dish out.  It's not even built to hold a garbage disposal and I am not doing without a garbage disposal!  But, he continued his research and found that there is one Kohler cast iron sink that fit the bill (and the price range).  So, I still get my farmhouse sink. Yay!  And, it's big enough for an almost four year old to take a bath :)  

Back to the woodwork.  They also cut in the hole for the cooktop and added beadboard detail to the flat (aka boring) sides of the cabinets.  Can't wait to see this when it's painted. Oh, and Jim added a receptacle to this end of the counter so I will have a receptacle at each end of my new and exciting working counter.  Did I mention I'm excited about this new counter space?

I took the little guys out of the house today rather than try to deal with them in a construction zone.  We went to the park and met some new friends, then came home and had Shabbat dinner. I am thankful for my laundry room sink and counter (installed by my aforementioned awesome husband) which currently serves as a dish washing area. And, I'm looking forward to having a garbage disposal again. Amazing how we get so used to these conveniences. I'm also thankful for a working oven, Costco and Trader Joe's, which, when combined, keep my family well fed during the remodel.  

Day 5

And now, it's time for Shabbat.  All the work comes to a halt during this blessed day that God has us set aside for Him each week.  I'm ever so thankful for a day of rest.  And when Shabbat is over, we'll be back to work on the kitchen.

Kitchen Remodel

It began unexpectedly.  I decided that the crumbling grout in my kitchen counter was unacceptable.  I couldn't tolerate it any longer.  So, I decided to regrout.  But, the day Jim and I decided to start the process, he couldn't tolerate the poor job done on the tile in the first place. He didn't want to put the time into regrouting a counter that wasn't tiled right in the first place.

So, we discussed a new counter.  When we had a quote done, I didn't want to invest that much in a kitchen that I didn't really like.  I figured if I put that much money into it, I would feel bad changing it in the future.  It's always been a little small and doesn't have a real working counter.  The cupboards are pretty, but there aren't quite enough of them.

I cook ... a lot.  We make food from scratch daily and need some working space in the kitchen.  So, we thought of how we could expand the kitchen and still keep the old cabinets.  We did lots of research on counter tops, design, materials, cabinets, sinks, faucets, etc.  And, a dream kitchen started to formulate!

And then, the construction began. Well, technically, the destruction was first ...

Day 1


Start it off easy. I moved the coffee/tea counter to its new location.

Jim and the kids knocked the edge off the existing counter so we could have cabinets (that we ordered last week) installed.

Day 2


We had the new cabinets installed.  These will hold all of my baking tools and supplies and the top of this will be my working counter - 6.5 feet of working counter! So exciting!

This new space will be a slide-out trash can holder.  And this counter will be extended some, as well.  Oh, and I now have dividers in my tall cabinet. Yay!

Day 3


Busy day today.  Counters and backsplash were removed - this includes the sink and cooktop, which basically makes the kitchen non-functional. *gulp* (Take a deep breath, it won't be for long.)  New plywood was put on and the granite guys made a template for our new counter tops.  

That's it for today. :)