You Know You Have a Fantastic Contractor When You Don't Want Him to Leave

Here we are at the start of Week 5 of the Great Kitchen Remodel: 

The breakfast nook is painted and trimmed! 

The trim work around the cabinets is amazing!

You likey? ME lovey!

I'm thrilled to report that we are sailing through Phases 4 AND 5 of my Six Phases of Home Improvement program. I am NOT ready for "these people" to get out of my house, and I have yet to feel like I hate everyone. Quite the contrary. I've been scheming about how I can talk my husband into another home improvement project. (I already know the answer ... NEVER. But a girl can dream.) I wish I could keep the Old House Magician and his Trusty Assistant all to myself and always at the ready. Yes, I have a contractor crush. Hearts. Rainbows. Unicorns. 

This week's activities should include installation of the tile floor, granite counter tops and possibly the back splash as well as the cabinet doors and drawers and electrical stuff. The OHM thinks he'll be done by the early part of the next week! 

I can't wait to share the finished project!

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing ... Keep It Real.

Phase 3: Unexpected (aka Expensive) Problems

Here we are at the start of Week 4: 

Check out my new beadboard in the breakfast nook! (You may have to squint a bit.)

Thankfully, we seem to have skated through Phase 3 with our financials still intact. While there were a few unexpected problems, which I asked Old House Magician to refer to as challenges, nothing too expensive popped up, and certainly nothing that couldn't be fixed. I probably just jinxed myself.

This biggest snafu (what a fun word!) involved our counter top vendor. My salesperson has been great. Friendly, responsive, happy to take my 50% deposit with the promise the granite guy would call in a couple of days to schedule a time to make the template. Five days and two follow up phone calls later ... crickets. 

So, Old House Magician got on the horn. You don't mess with the OHM and his schedule. Turns out, the granite guy had been canned because of ... wait for it ... his unresponsive approach with customers. Oops! 

Before I could get too nervous, I received a phone call from Mike at Rocktops. Apparently, our vendor recently started contracting work with his company, and he was set to send out someone the next morning to get the job done. Jess appeared on my doorstep promptly at 8:30 a.m., and the remodeling train started chugging along. Whew! 

Phase 4 (click here for my six phases of home improvement), better known as "I Don't Care If It's Not Done. I'm Ready for These People to Get Out of My House." reared it's ugly head one day last week. But I kept it together. 

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing ... Keep It Real.

Home Improvement, Phase 2: What the H was I Thinking?

Today starts Week 3 of our kitchen remodel. Here is our current state of affairs:

Houston, we have cabinets! Sort of ...

As of yet, I have not reached the point of yelling, "WTH was I thinking?" In fact, things haven't been nearly as awful as I expected them to be. Sure, walking around Robin Hood's barn to get to the sun room to heat up food is slightly annoying, and washing dishes in the bathtub is, well, weird. But, we're dealing. We're good. It's fine.

Overall, the project is going smoothly. Probably because the Old House Magician rocks it.  

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing ... Keep It Real.

Home Improvement Phase 1.5: Kinda Super Excited

Just a quick update ... 

We survived Week 1 of our kitchen remodel. Here's where we are: 

Yikes!

We moved the 'fridge into the dining room. So now we're living like this: 

Home Sweet Home? 

The first week was all about prep work. Our back splash was cemented to the wall, so that was a bit challenging for the guys. They are adding outlets and lighting under the cabinets, moving the gas line, shifting a vent from the wall to the floor, and updating the plumbing. Next week should bring the start of cabinet installation. 

I've shifted from Super Excited to Kinda Super Excited (it didn't take long, did it?) I'm already over the daily hunt for various items, shuffling meals between rooms and washing dishes in the bathtub. 

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing ... Keep It Real.