Home Improvement Phase 6: It's Beautiful!

Last Friday, the Old House Magician and his Trusty Assistant packed their bags and left. With the exception of a few odds and ends, our big kitchen remodel is done! And I love it! As I mentioned previously, the picture in my head is what unfolded before my eyes. I can't believe it!

Added cabinets and counter tops to this wall

The long view. Excuse the fan. 

Another gorgeous view!

Hey! Hey! Goodbye! The old kitchen

I do have a confession to make. Around Thursday of last week, I was starting to backslide toward Phase 4. The end was in sight, and I was just ready for it to be done and for everyone to get out of my house! But I held it together. 

(Side note: I doubt I'll post next Monday. I'm headed to Riviera Maya later this weekend, and a little R&R and girl time will take priority.) 

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

The Light at the End of the Kitchen Remodeling Tunnel

Here we are at the beginning of Week 6: 

See the Blue Pearl granite counter tops? See the subway tile?

Picture my stainless steel oven where the ladder is. I'm lovin' this tile job!

What do you think? I am in L.O.V.E. with this space. This is one of those rare moments in life when Ideal Reality meets Real Reality and my little world explodes in sunshine, Oreo cookies, hugs and good beer. In other words, the picture I created in my head exactly matches what is happening in my kitchen.  

The OHM and his Trusty Assistant should wrap up this week! There will be a few odds and ends that I need to take care of, such as finding some knobs and pulls that match the ones we salvaged from the tear out. That task has proven to be a tad more difficult than I expected. And, of course, we have to put everything back into the kitchen and clean the entire house, which is idling under a layer of construction dust. 

My plan is to post Phase 6: It's Beautiful! soon, with Before and After pix. 

Until then, wherever you are, whatever you're doing ... Keep It Real.

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.

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.