New Kitchen Cabinets

Today our new kitchen cabinets were installed!

No appliances or countertops yet, but you can see the white cabinets on the perimeter walls and the rich chestnut island.

Below is our new pantry with wine rack. And yes, the first thing I did was slide in some wine bottles! The glass cabinets look much better in person since the flash gave it a strange affect. I can't wait to start using this kitchen!

And here's a close up of the island, the side you'll sit at.

This is a HUGE step forward! We still need to add appliances, countertops and plumbing before it's functional, but at least now I can look at something pretty! It's been over 4 weeks that we've been without a kitchen.

The first week wasn't so bad since it was such a great excuse for eating out. The second week I was distracted by the new job. The third week we were dog/house sitting at my sister-in-law Kari's. But week 4 started to feel like a drag. Week 4 was also the same week that sheetrocking was in full swing - and no room was untouched. The dust got everywhere, and I'm not exaggerating.

Every morning before Brian and I went to work we would push the bed up against the closet and cover all of the furniture with tarps. Every evening when we would come home from work we'd rip the tarps off, try our best to reassemble our room around the fans blowing at the walls trying to dry the sheetrock, and then repeat the next morning. And even after all that, we still had to dust off our shoes each morning. Who does that?!?

So here is a picture of the "pantry" we've been using over the last few weeks, conveniently located in our bedroom!

Here is our bathroom/kitchen sink where we brush our teeth, wash our dishes, and brew the coffee. Classy!

And here's our critical, and only, oven. Thanks to Amanda, we have a pizza oven! Strategically positioned on a barstool. Luckily Brian and I adore pizza.

And below has been a sign of hope we've been walking around. It's the plumbing for the future kitchen island. This serves as a reminder that one day, not too far away, we will have a kitchen with running water!

And now as we enter into week 5 without a kitchen, we can look at our cabinets to serve as a reminder that we just need to be patient, it will all come together in time!

Insulation - Done

The walls have been insulated! Now the new addition can retain some of the heat our furnace is kicking out. Makes me feel less guilty for turning on the furnace when it gets cold. It also makes it easier to work on the new addition area since it retains the heat better.

Here's our mess of a bedroom, but it should start staying a bit wamer!


This is our new mud room, previously a bedroom which was the only access to the garage. One of the strangest and least functional bedrooms ever. We will be moving our washer and dryer upstairs into the new mud room against an interior wall. In an attempt to muffle the noise from the washer and dryer we're insulating the wall. Hopefully it works!

Future master bathroom is below.
The double vanity will be along the wall with the window, one sink on each side.

Front entryway with stairwell.

Basement family room.

Insulation under the new window in the new basement bedroom. Now you can also see the framed wall for to divide the den and 4th bedroom.

Next up is sheetrock!

Floorplan Fun

Before we started our remodeling project, we met with an architect to get our vision down on paper. After several meetings we ended up with final blueprints that I still stare longingly at and daydream endlessly about...

Below is the blueprint of the "Before" floorplan on the main level. You can see the cramped split level entrance where the front door actually brushed against the stairs. The kitchen was also noteworthy for it's cramped layout and small, crowded size and layout.

Main Level Before

Next is the "After" floorplan for the main level. Now a walk out rambler, you can see the new addition highlighted in yellow. We moved the staircase into the new addition near the entrance and reclaimed the former staircase for a larger kitchen.

We're also adding the master bedroom suite with bathroom and walk in closet. Additionally the former closet from the bedroom off the garage is being knocked out to create a larger, more functional dining room.

Main Level After

And below is the "Before" floorplan of the lower level. The left side was a family room, on the upper left is a bedroom (closet is missing from the picture) and a small bathroom with a utility room on the lower right.

Lower Level Before

The new addition is highlighted in yellow again and you can see we're adding a large oversized family room for lots of hanging out by the new fireplace with a large oversized patio door to walk out toward the lake. The former family room will be divided with a new wall to create an overflow den space from the family room and an additional bedroom, which will bring us to four total bedrooms.

Lower Level After

Inside Tour

Since my last post we've been without a computer and I've started a new job, as if we don't have enough going on! However I'm happy to report that the progress on our remodeling project hasn't slowed.

Here's our old staircase/entry way that bumps up to the new addition.

And here's the bridged gap! Those dark, narrow stairs were ripped out in no time and the neighboring kitchen wall was knocked down as well. The space feels so open!

Here's our kitchen after the capinets and appliances were removed.

And here's our kitchen now - dinner anyone?

What home remodeling project would be complete without some rotted floor boards? The old patio door wasn't installed correctly allowing rain and moisture to collect at the corner. We had to rip out this section of the floor and repair it.

The roof is on - and in the time since this photo was taken the front door has been installed and the shingles were put on!

View from the backyard. We have a total of five patio doors off the back of the home. You can't see all of them from this angle, but we counted twice just to confirm. We really have five patio doors!

Not only is remodeling the existing home a part of this project, but so is adding the new addition. Welcome to the new entryway of our home! Quite a transformation from the dark and cramped split level it used to be.

Below is our master bedroom. This shot was taken from inside the new master closet. Can't wait to start using the new closet!

Master bathroom with the window that will be between the double vanity.

  

This is our downstairs family room! The large patio door is on the left, a fireplace will be installed in the middle and our TV will sit to the right. I can't wait to go shopping for furniture in this room - that is if there's any money left over...!

The framing crew installing the nine foot patio door in the basement.

Here's our old family room. We're putting a wall down the middle to create a den and a fourth bedroom. The window on the right used to be a patio door but has been framed for a nice sized window to make it more appropriate for a bedroom. And besides, adding a sixth patio door just seemed like one patio door too many!

We're Getting a Roof!

Morning started early, again, with the framing crew and our contractor ready for framing day two. But it's all well worth the early rise. I told Steve, our contractor, he might convert me into a morning person by the time this project is complete! But if I were a betting person I'd place my money against that.

The crew helped us carry out the granite countertops and then started right into assembling the roof!

Meanwhile Steve and Brian are pulling out the cabinets (delicately, of course... since someone's going to reuse them).

The crew is also getting ready to bridge the gap between the old and the new. Can't wait to see those stairs gone!

Since the Internet has been disconnected from the house I'm sitting here at Caribou. Gabby wasn't handling all of the commotion too well and I was missing my wi-fee's, so we took a ride to the heart of downtown-Mound. What's that? You didn't know Mound had a downtown? Silly silly... of couse it does! It's where the Caribou, gas station, bank, hardware store and postoffice are. It's pretty glamorous.

I'm learning that the Mound Caribou is quite the happening place. I've been here for over an hour and every time I turn toward the front counter there's always a line. I prefer Starbucks, but apparently Mound doesn't. So I'm just sipping hot tea since anything else Caribou makes tastes burnt. Sorry Caribou, but you need to pull yourself together and learn how to make a good Mocha. I'm just sayin.

We Have Walls

This is the sight Brian and I came home to after work on Friday:

I was so excited I think I actually started jumping up and down in the driveway. I just stood there staring, feeling amazed, stunned, overjoyed and in awe that we've come this far. It's been quite a process between the short sale offer, multiple foreclose offers, loan issues and so on. Not to mention having to live there in the meantime half unpacked and half painted! But standing there, looking up at the addition, I was overcome with so much relief and joy and gratitude that we're making progress. Here's a shot of the back of the house from the dock.

To walk through the "house" was a complete thrill! We had spent so much time pouring over our floorplans, trying to imagine how it would feel walking through them in real life. To walk through it in person was awesome. And I have to say, I am very pleased with the decisions we made and the guidance we received from our architect. Here are new stairs with the two big window openings to let in the southwest light!

Later Friday night, Brian started disassembling the kitchen. The days before, Brian and I had been busy packing away our kitchen stuff into boxes.  It will be over a month before we have our kitchen back! Good thing I don't typically enjoy cooking, this gives us a good excuse to eat out a lot… maybe too much… Looking for friends who will take us in for a night and feed us a home cooked hot meal!  You will get bonus boat rides for life ;)

Good ole Craigslist found us a buyer for the old kitchen cabinets and granite countertops. So instead of taking a sledgehammer to the kitchen (which I actually would have found quite therapeutic), he started delicately removing the countertops and sink. I can't really complain though because making money on things I would have thrown away anyway is therapeutic as well.

Getting Ready for Framing

Friday the framing kicked off. The crew was out bright and early (again...). But that didn't bother me, I still layed in bed for a good hour, didn't even mind they were wripping off the siding right outside my bedroom window. Not much gets in between me and my sleep...

Shortly after I finally rolled out of bed, I woke to find the crew knocking down the front door.  WaHoo!!!  I couldn't help but cheer. I hated that door. Not only was it poorly sealed and let bugs (gross!) and cold air in, but it was ugly and it opened into the smallest entryway I've ever seen. The guy knocking out the door didn't quite understand my enthusiasm, but who doesn't mind a good cheerleader once in a while?

That pile of wood in our driveway is soon going to be our new walls.

All siding on the west side is getting ripped down to allow for framing against the existing exterior wall.

Started to put that wood pile to good use!



Roof trusses and the van for our fantastic framing crew!

Brian and I also draped tarps over the furniture and items we weren't able to box up and store in the back bedroom or garage.  So not only do we not have a kitchen, but we also don't have chairs!  It'll all be worth it, at least that's what I keep telling myself…

Basement Floor Complete

Tuesday we were visited by another cement truck. This was their last trip since they poured the basement floor and front stoop!

Can't wait to have new carpet on that cement floor!

Turns out the wife of one of the guys who was working on the floor works at General Mills. Small world!