Remodeling

So...I may or may not have mentioned that we moved. Like, seven months ago now. I know, I know, I promised to get better about updating. We had a happy three and a half years in Jeff's bachelor pad condo and we made it work, but it wasn't going to work for us long term and we knew we needed to get out.  We'd been busily paying down and saving up for the first three years of our marriage, praying and wondering about exactly how the logistics of getting into a house while still having a condo under water were going to work out. We figured the Lord had a plan, and indeed He did.  What we got surpassed our expectations: 2,300 square feet, three bedrooms, 2.5 bath, finished daylight basement, large lot that backs to a green space WITH A DUCK POND, huge deck, epic storage, dead-end cul-de-sac (as in one end of our street is a dead end and the other is a cul-de-sac, traffic is minimal), full view of Cam's future elementary school, room to add on and grow should we decide to make it our forever house.

 

 

Ain't it purdy? It really is absolutely amazing and we are beyond thrilled.  However, all of this awesomeness does come with a catch, at least it did on our budget.  :-)   The house hadn't been updated since 1978. That's right, nineteen seventy-eight.  The year I was BORN!  The people we bought it from (original owners, how cool is that?) had done all of the big stuff for us: new roof, new windows, new heat pump, and they had redone a bathroom, presumably because the roof had leaked.  And really, they left it immaculate for us, it wasn't AT ALL like they'd let the place go.  It just...needed to be brought into the 21st century.

There was wallpaper:

Carpet in the master bath:

And the kitchen? Oh, the kitchen...

 

 

It featured a dropped ceiling with fluorescent lighting as was all the rage in the year of the my and our house's birth:

 

 

And a floor plan with the cabinets that really closed things off:

Also, all of the tracks from the drawers had come loose from the cabinets, making them "slide" in and out at impossible angles, coating the pots and pans on the shelves of the cabinets below in a layer of sawdust with each open and close. Oy.

We started by ripping off all the wallpaper and painting, and then replaced all the flooring with new carpet and laminate before we even moved in.  Cam was crawling still, not yet walking, and it needed to be done. I will work on putting together some before and after shots of that stuff.

For now, however, I want to focus on the kitchen remodel because it has been the biggest deal!  We had to do it on the cheap. We got screaming deals on our appliances at Best Buy right when we bought the house. Then, Jeff did all the demo and prep work himself: drywall, lighting, plumbing, finishing, the works. For the cabinets and countertops, we got them at Beaverton Kitchen Cabinets.  They buy in bulk so while there aren't tons of choices and the cabinets aren't custom, it does keep the cost down.

First, we tore out the cabinets.  Then, Jeff and his parents spent a whole day tearing out the false ceiling that was put in place to accommodate the fluorescent lighting.  I think they spent half the day vacuuming up cellulose insulation! Jeff was relieved to discover that, just as our amazing home inspector had said, there were actually ceiling beams up about 8 inches from where the dropped ceiling had been, just waiting for us to sheetrock.   It would have been a lot more work if he'd had to put those beams in place.  Here is what it looked like with the cabinets gone and the false ceiling ripped out:

 

 

Next, Jeff Sheetrocked the ceiling and installed the can lights.  After it was taped and mudded, I did my part of the job which was to texture the ceiling.  Feast your eyes:

 

Then, he replaced the old sheetrock and taped and mudded, I painted, and at long last, we were ready for the cabinets!

The next day was SO exciting!  The installers from Beaverton Kitchen Cabinets did it all IN ONE DAY!  Cabinets, countertops, and hardware!!! It was amazing to watch it take shape.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are close-ups of what the cabinets and countertops look like:

 

 

 



And here, drumroll please, is the FINISHED PRODUCT a few days later after Jeff had re-installed the appliances in their new homes, put in the pendant lights, and gotten MOST of the floor in (we had FIVE boxes of bad laminate!  GAH!!!)

He has finished the flooring since then and within the next couple of weeks he will finish the trim and the backsplash and then I can share a REAL after pic!

***PHEW*** That was a lot of work, both to do it AND to blog it! Just taking this walk down memory lane has stressed me out, I'm so glad it's done!

Lots more left to do, we still do not have anything except a toilet in our Master Bath, the next wave of renovations will have to wait until after the first of the year.  If you've stuck with me and read all of this, pat yourself on the back...and buy my husband a six-pack of microbrew, would you?  He worked hard to make this a reality for us!