The Six Phases of Home Improvement - Phase I: Super Excited!

Our big home improvement project for this year is a complete kitchen remodel. We're talking new cabinets, counter tops, floors and back splash. This is what we have now.

Our current kitchen

It's a charming galley kitchen, perfect for the family who designed it in 1942. But we need (OK, want) something a little more functional. 

Our new cabinets have been sitting in our basement since April, waiting for our contractor to clear his schedule. I call him the Old House Magician, and he is well worth the wait.  He arrives tomorrow. Tomorrow! The cabinets come out tomorrow (cue "Annie"). I can hardly believe it. It's finally our turn! 

In anticipation of the big event, our house currently looks like this:

Our dining room pantry

Our sun room storage area

I cannot wait to get this project underway! Yes, I am in Phase I of Home Improvement: Super Excited! I am living in my Ideal Reality where, with a strike of a hammer, my kitchen will be transported into 2014.

The Real Reality in which I will be without a kitchen for at least a month while home with two 7-year-olds while trying to interview company CEOs for freelance projects has yet to sink in. That's Phase 2 of Home Improvement: What the Hell was I Thinking? 

Stay tuned for that as well as the remaining four phases ... 

Phase 3: Unexpected (aka Expensive) Problems
Phase 4: I Don't Care If It's Not Done. I'm Ready for These People to Get Out of My House.
Phase 5: I Hate Everyone.

Phase 6: It's Beautiful!

Interested in one of our previous home improvement projects? Here's what we tackled in 2012: When Ideal Realty Becomes Real Reality: Home Improvement. I just realized I never posted our 2013 project, which was where the Old House Magician transformed our dungeon in to a third bathroom and a revamped laundry room. Maybe someday I'll at least post pics. 

What are your Phases of Home Improvement? Any tips on surviving? 

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